Health & Medicine

As the nation prepares to start inoculating Americans for COVID-19, public health experts worry that many people distrust the vaccine. 

The problem is especially serious among African-Americans.  During slavery and the Jim Crow era, Blacks were subjected to medical experiments without their consent, and after death their bodies were stolen from graves for use in medical schools in Richmond and Charlottesville. 

A new book details those abuses and one modern-day nightmare at the Medical College of Virginia.

The family of a Charlottesville woman is speaking out today about her tragic death and the need to change how we view our doctors and nurses. They may be heroes, but they are also human. 

Sandy Hausman reports on how the suicide of  49-year-old Lorna Breen could help other healthcare providers.

The COVID-19 pandemic caught most Americans by surprise, showing us the many ways we were not prepared for a widespread health emergency.  At the University of Virginia, two professors of nursing say we should have trained more medical professionals in how to help patients and their families face the end of life. 

Making pharmaceuticals is a labor intensive job, so more than 70% of the medications Americans take are coming from China and India, where labor costs are low. 

Now, however, Virginia Commonwealth University has set out to bring the process home.

More than half of coronavirus outbreaks in Virginia are at long term care facilities, and those outbreaks can be especially deadly.  RADIOIQ has this look at why nursing home residents are vulnerable and how their families are coping.