February 10, 2018 Kim Krisberg

One of the more heartbreaking ripple effects of America’s opioid addiction epidemic is a massive increase in newborns experiencing drug withdrawal. Public health officials have tracked a 400 percent increase in such cases — technically known as neonatal abstinence syndrome — with one impacted baby born every 25 minutes as of 2012.

February 5, 2018 Kim Krisberg

Public health workers have two main tools for HIV screening: a blood test that detects HIV a couple weeks after infection or a saliva test that detects the virus more than a month after infection. With a trick of chemistry, however, scientists at Stanford University have combined the best attributes of both — and the result could mean a serious boost for HIV prevention.

January 30, 2018 Kim Krisberg

It’s time for federal lawmakers to catch up with the quickly changing relationship between employers and workers; an upcoming Supreme Court case could upend public-sector unions; New York farmworker loses court case to gain organizing rights, but vows to appeal; and the country’s biggest janitorial company faces new allegations of sexual abuse in the workplace.

January 9, 2018 Kim Krisberg

Sanitation workers in the meatpacking industry face life-threatening dangers on the job; number of OSHA inspectors down under Trump; truckers feel the pressure to work while sleep-deprived; and despite increased demand for sexual harassment training, there’s little evidence it actually works.

December 13, 2017 Kim Krisberg

An Oklahoma rehab center funnels forced free labor into private industry; the National Labor Relations Board reconsiders Obama-era union election rules; farmworkers at risk from California’s wildfire smoke; and domestic workers organize for greater labor rights in Seattle.