Tig Notaro on Why Humor Was Instrumental to Healing After Her Cancer Diagnosis: ‘Something Has to Break the Tension’

Comedian Tig Notaro said receiving her cancer diagnosis in 2012—which followed a series of tragic events that had upended her life—was so horrific, she had to laugh. Notaro, known for disarming, deadpan-style of comedy, spoke about finding the humor in devastating moments during an interview at the TIME 100 Health Summit on Thursday. “I kept … Read more

Juul Suspends Sales of Fruit and Dessert Flavors of E-Cigarettes

(WASHINGTON) — Juul Labs stopped selling fruit and dessert flavors Thursday, acknowledging the public’s “lack of trust” in the vaping industry. The voluntary step is the company’s latest attempt to weather a growing political backlash blaming its flavored-nicotine products for hooking a generation of teenagers on electronic cigarettes. Juul, the best-selling e-cigarette brand in the … Read more

‘The Losses Have Already Been Substantial.’ Adam Silver Addresses Fallout From the NBA-China Controversy

During the first TIME 100 Health Summit on Thursday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that he’s willing to deal with the business consequences of Daryl Morey’s Oct. 4 tweet supporting protesters in Hong Kong. The Houston Rockets general manager angered the Chinese government and caused Chinese sponsors to pull away from the NBA during two … Read more

CMS Administrator Seema Verma Calls Medicare for All ‘Scary’ at TIME 100 Health Summit

Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the Trump Administration, called Medicare for All “scary” and said the government is to blame for many problems with the United States health care system during an interview at the TIME 100 Health Summit on Thursday. “A lot of the problems that … Read more

Leana Wen Wants to Have a More Nuanced Conversation About Abortion

Leana Wen, the former head of Planned Parenthood and a professor at George Washington University, addressed a controversial statement she made on abortion during the TIME 100 Health Summit on Thursday. Wen kicked off a firestorm on Twitter Tuesday when she broke with typical Planned Parenthood language and said that abortion should be “safe, legal … Read more

How the Ban on Medical Advertising Hurt Women Doctors

Between 1997 and 2016, spending on direct-to-consumer healthcare advertising skyrocketed, from $2.1 billion to $9.6 billion. Where advertising once represented 12% of total medical marketing expenditures, it came to represent 32%. There was a time when reputable doctors wouldn’t dream of such flagrant self-promotion. As medicine became more professionalized throughout the nineteenth century, doctors began … Read more

A New Study Suggests Tainted Talcum Powder Can Cause a Rare Cancer. Here’s How That Could Play Out in the Courtroom

A new 33-patient case study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine provides some of the strongest proof yet that exposure to asbestos-tainted talcum powder may cause malignant mesothelioma, a rare and deadly cancer that affects tissues lining internal organs. This isn’t only an important scientific discovery—it could also give new ammunition to … Read more

U.N. Finds One-Third of All Children Under 5 Are Undernourished or Overweight

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. children’s agency says one-third of children worldwide under age 5 — about 200 million youngsters — are either undernourished or overweight, undermining their full potential to grow and develop. UNICEF also says almost two-thirds of children aged 6 months to 2 years are not fed food that supports their rapidly … Read more