Patti Neighmond
Award-winning journalist Patti Neighmond is NPR's health policy correspondent. Her reports air regularly on NPR newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition.
Based in Los Angeles, Neighmond has covered health care policy since April 1987. She joined NPR's staff in 1981, covering local New York City news as well as the United Nations. In 1984, she became a producer for NPR's science unit and specialized in science and environmental issues.
Neighmond has earned a broad array of awards for her reporting. In 1993, she received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for coverage of health reform. That same year, she received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for a story on a young quadriplegic who convinced Georgia officials that she could live at home less expensively and more happily than in a nursing home. In 1990, Neighmond won the World Hunger Award for a story about healthcare and low-income children. She received two awards in 1989: a George Polk Award for her powerful ten-part series on AIDS patient Archie Harrison, who was taking the anti-viral drug AZT; and a Major Armstrong Award for her series on the Canadian health care system. The Population Institute, based in Washington, DC, has presented its radio documentary award to Neighmond twice: in 1988 for "Family Planning in India" and in 1984 for her coverage of overpopulation in Mexico. Her 1987 report "AIDS and Doctors" won the National Press Club Award for Consumer Journalism, and her two-part series on the aquaculture industry earned the 1986 American Association for the Advancement of Science Award.
Neighmond began her career in journalism in 1978, at the Pacifica Foundation's DC bureau, where she covered Capitol Hill and the White House. She began freelance reporting for NPR from New York City in 1980. Neighmond earned her bachelor's degree in English and drama from the University of Maryland, and now lives in Los Angeles.
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Cooling caps haven't been studied much in the U.S., and only one is approved by the FDA. Studies of two different caps show they can reduce hair loss by half in many women undergoing chemo.
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A study tracking depression rates among U.S. teens from 2005 to 2014 finds an increase — especially among girls. A steady diet of harsh judgments from social media may play a role, researchers say. -
With drug prices climbing, you may be tempted to keep unused pills and cough syrups past their expiration date. Don't do it, pharmacists warn. And get all medicine out of the bathroom cabinet now. -
Holding a newborn on a parent's bare chest has long been used to help premature babies. Hospitals increasingly recommend it for full term babies, too. Doctors say it reduces pain and lowers stress. -
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine sorted through 10,000 studies to determine the good and bad health effects of marijuana. Tight drug restrictions impede research, they say. -
Researchers who surveyed 244 shops across the U.S. found that, despite label warnings, two thirds would recommend the dietary supplement to a 15-year-old football player trying to gain muscle. -
A decade after HPV vaccine was introduced in the U.S., many doctors still hesitate to routinely recommend that children get vaccinated against the cancer-causing virus. -
Lung cancer affects mostly older people, but they're often not offered surgery as a treatment. A study finds that most older people can tolerate surgery, and that it extends lives. -
Giving infants peanut puree as one of their first solid foods can help prevent peanut allergies, research has shown. To do that safely, start early — and only after checking with your doctor.
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About 20 states are in the process of creating a system for rating child care providers. But it's hard to decide which standards best measure quality and which are most useful to parents.
