Martha Bebinger

People who were addicted to OxyContin or lost loved ones who were addicted to the drug expect very little in compensation from the multibillion-dollar Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement.

A growing body of research shows the many ways trees improves our mental and physical health. There's a push to understand more.

In Massachusetts, heat in the winter is a public health necessity. Now with summer temperatures climbing, some public health experts say cooling aid is becoming a health priority too.

Vermont and Massachusetts lead the nation, with more than 70% of adults having had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Southern states such as Tennessee lag far behind.

The nation as a whole fell short of President Biden's July Fourth vaccine goal — giving at least one shot to 70 percent of adults. Some states exceeded expectations, and others didn't come close.

The practice of housing children who are in psychiatric crisis in local ERs — often for days, while they await appropriate in-patient treatment — has become even more prevalent during the pandemic.

For years, people who used drugs were treated like criminals, often given long sentences. Now there's growing acceptance that addiction is a treatable disease, but shame and discrimination linger.

Data from a Boston hospital showed that Latino patients who did not speak English well had a 35% greater risk of death from COVID-19. The hospital has added interpretation capacity.

Brigham and Women's Hospital wanted to find out why minority patients were dying at higher rates from COVID-19. Its probe showed that those at the highest risk of dying primarily spoke Spanish.

People living together — including married couples — are finding themselves on opposite ends of COVID-19 vaccinations, a situation that will only persist as supplies remain low and eligibility tight.