Past Articles by Carrie Feibel
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Houston Experts Say Gene Patent Ruling A 'Win' For Cancer Patients The U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gene patents could have a big impact on cancer treatment. Cancer researchers at MD Anderson — and local experts in biotechnology — have praised the decision. |
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Federal 'Sequester' Squeezes $7 Million From Houston Rent Subsidies The Houston Housing Authority is cutting $7 million from its rental voucher program. The reason is the federal budget sequestration. Up to 10,000 local families could be affected. |
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Southern Baptists Gather In Houston, Oppose Boy Scouts For Welcoming Gay Members Southern Baptists wrapped up their annual convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. The convention, which represents the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., voted to criticize the Boy Scouts for its new policy on gay members. |
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Use Of Artificial Testosterone Triples Among Men Over 40 A new study shows the number of men over 40 who are taking testosterone has more than tripled since 2001. A researcher at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston says the rise in prescriptions parallels an increase in marketing that centers on a problem called "low T." |
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Border Crossing Deaths Rise In Texas A new report looks at the number of migrants who die while attempting to cross the border from Mexico into Texas. The border deaths in Texas now exceed the deaths in Arizona for the first time. And activists say something must be done to identify the bodies left behind. |
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Do You Know What Cipollino Is? Or If That Word Was Said, Could You Spell It? The National Spelling Bee finals concluded last night in Washington, D.C. the winner was a young man from Queens, New York. He beat out Syamantak Payra, the local favorite from Friendswood. Still, the 12-year-old says he learned a lot at the competition and plans to go back. |
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Teenage Pregnancy In Decline, But Texas Still #1 For 'Repeat' Teen Births It's hard enough having one teen pregnancy, but what happens when you have two or more? |
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Health of Seniors In Texas: 39th Out Of 50 States A healthcare foundation has released its first-ever ranking of the health of senior citizens across the United States. Texas ranked 39 out of 50 states, about where it ranks for the health status of younger residents. |
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Why A Houston Leukemia Doctor Is Calling Out Drug Companies More than 100 leukemia experts from around the world have signed an opinion piece objecting to the high prices of cancer drugs. The letter appeared in a prominent medical journal and was drafted by Dr. Hagop Kantarjian, the head of the leukemia department at MD Anderson Cancer Center. |
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State Will Spend $5 Million To Help Mentally Ill Inmates In Harris County Jail The state of Texas has agreed to send Harris County $5 million to help stop the warehousing of mentally ill people inside the county jail. It's part of the new state budget, which includes more spending on mental health treatment for the next two years. |
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What's Inside The New Manual For Psychiatry? Psychiatry will reach a historic milestone tomorrow, with the national release of a new diagnostic manual. It’s the most important book in the field of mental health, determining what types of mental illnesses get diagnosed and perhaps more importantly, whether and how insurance will reimburse for treatment of mental illness. |
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Options Narrow In Legislature For Helping Low-Income, Uninsured Adult Texans A bipartisan bill that would have created health insurance for some uninsured adult Texans has failed in the Texas House. Now the bill's supporters are looking for other legislative solutions before the session ends in two weeks. |
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Report: Texas Kids Benefit From Child-Focused State Spending, and Suffer When Spending Drops A new report out this week looks at the public money that Texas spends on kids. The report from the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin shows that when the state invests in children's education, health, and nutrition, the money is actually making a difference. |
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NRA Annual Convention Kicks Off In Downtown Houston The annual meeting of the NRA officially kicked off today at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. More than 70,000 members are expected at the three-day event. KUHF's Carrie Feibel dropped by and spoke to members as they browsed the convention floor, examining new guns, holsters and hunting equipment. She also spoke to protestors outside. |
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Rice Team Nabs Major Inventor’s Prize Two professors of bioengineering at Rice University are the winners of a $100,000 prize for global innovation. Although they are free to spend it as they wish, the two women have decided to use the money to help premature babies in Malawi. |
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Texas Bill Would Abolish Death Penalty A bill to abolish the death penalty in Texas will finally have a committee hearing in the State House. The bill's sponsor says this represents progress in a state where support for capital punishment remains strong. |
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Baylor Opens Eighth Health Clinic For Teens Baylor College of Medicine has opened another health clinic for Houston teenagers, and it's the third one that is based at a high school. |
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Why Catholic Hospital Chain Wants In On The Houston Market Houstonians in the healthcare community are still digesting the news that St. Luke's Episcopal Health System will be sold to a large Catholic hospital chain based in Colorado. |
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State Legislators Release Grim Statistics On Texas Versus Other States A group of Texas legislators has released a report ranking Texas against other states on several key measures such as health, education and the environment. The Lone Star state lags behind on several crucial ingredients needed for long-term prosperity. |
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What You Need to Know About the Measles Case In Harris County Harris County is still investigating a rare case of measles in a young boy. Although the boy appears to have contracted the virus overseas, health officials are still taking the case very seriously. |
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Interview With Local Healthcare Leader Ron Cookston About Obamacare's 'Individual Mandate' The health reform law known as Obamacare goes fully into effect next year. Americans without health insurance will have to obtain some kind of policy, and many Texans will turn to online marketplaces to shop for them. KUHF Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel sat down with Ron Cookston. He directs Gateway to Care, a local coalition that is getting ready to launch a massive outreach campaign to the uninsured. |
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Will You Get A Health Insurance Subsidy From Obamacare? 2.6 million Texans Are Eligible The health reform law known as "Obamacare" goes fully into effect at the end of this year. At that time, almost 2.6 million Texans will start receiving assistance from the law — in the form of help paying for health insurance. |
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Walking The Streets Of Houston To Speak With The Uninsured Governor Rick Perry has made it clear that he doesn't want Texas to join other states in expanding Medicaid, the taxpayer-funded health plan for the poor. But he's being pressured by some county judges, hospitals, and public health advocates to change his mind. On Thursday, activists took the fight to the streets of Houston, fanning out through the East End to find uninsured workers. |
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Texas Legislature Weighing 5 Key Proposals To Limit Abortions The bills favor policies that would impose more regulations on abortion clinics. |
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In Texas, Abortion Issue Heats Up, Bills Introduced Could Restrict Access Political fights over abortion are heating up in the Texas Legislature. Pro-life lawmakers have introduced more than a dozen bills that would restrict abortion access or clinic operations. |
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Major Flu Vaccine Plant Will Be Built At Texas A&M GlaxoSmithKline will build a major biopharmaceutical plant at Texas A&M in Bryan-College Station. The partnership with the university system is part of a major federal grant to grow the nation’s biological defenses against natural threats like epidemics or bioterrorism. |
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Mars Journey: Researchers Test Methods For Doing 'Astrosurgery' In Zero Gravity NASA is hoping to send humans to Mars within twenty years. In the private sector, companies are working on plans to mine asteroids and launch tourists into orbit. This all means humans will soon be spending longer and longer amounts of time in space, and potentially getting sick or injured up there. As KUHF Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel found, researchers are already developing the techniques to conduct surgery in space. |
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KUHF Conversations: Dr. Scott Parazynski UTMB in Galveston recently became the new medical contractor for U.S. scientists working in Antarctica. UTMB has hired doctors and assistants for three polar research bases and also provides drugs and supplies. The new director of the program is Dr. Scott Parazynski, a former shuttle astronaut who lives here in houston. He is currently touring the medical clinics in Antarctica. Kuhf Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel spoke with him before he left. |
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UT Brings Dentists To Houston Schools What chronic childhood disease is five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever? What is a disease that causes pain, deformity and millions of hours in school absences? It's tooth decay. Yes, cavities are still a silent epidemic in this country, particularly among poor children. KUHF Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel looked into what Houston's dental school is doing about the problem. |
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First Year Of Harris County Mental Health Court Gets Good Review From Judge Harris County has established a special weekly court to deal with defendants who have a mental illness. The idea is to treat the illness that leads to crimes, and keep people from cycling in and out of jail unnecessarily. |
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MD Anderson Strikes Deal With Drug Company With Up To $335 million MD Anderson has struck a deal with GlaxoSmithKline to bring a new cancer treatment to market. To date, it's the largest financial partnership the cancer hospital has made with an outside pharmaceutical company. |
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Two Astronauts To Spend Full Year In Orbit Two astronauts, one American and one Russian, will spend a year in outer space on board the International Space Station. NASA scientists say they need to know more about how extended periods in orbit affect the human body, so they can plan for long-haul missions to Mars or other places. |
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Energy, Medicine And NASA Swap Ideas Today At Houston's 'Pumps & Pipes' Conference Today scientists from Houston's medical and oil-and-gas industries will come together to share research and ideas. It's the sixth annual "Pumps & Pipes" conference at Methodist Hospital, a conference that could probably only happen in Houston. |
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Texas Children's Hospital Operate On Baby With Rare Heart Defect Doctors at Texas Children's Hospital have saved the life of a baby who was born with part of her heart outside her body. KUHF Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel has the story of the extremely rare condition and how the Houston surgeons fixed it. |
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UTMB Gets $2.6 Million In Federal Money For Med School Scholarships The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston has been awarded a $2.6 million grant to help disadvantaged students pay for medical school, and avoid huge debts. The problem of medical school debt is closely linked to the shortage of primary care doctors in Texas and nationally. |
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Should Governor Appoint Houston's Port Authority? County Judge Says No. A proposal to overhaul how the Port of Houston is governed has some local officials scratching their heads. The change would essentially turn over control of the Port Authority to the governor's office. |
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After the Election: Texas At A Crossroads With 'Obamacare' The re-election of President Obama means that his signature health care law, known as Obamacare, is here to stay. That means Republican governors like Rick Perry, who had been holding back on implementing parts of the law, will now have some decisions to make. |
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Texas Planned Parenthood Wins Temporary Court Reprieve To Stay In Women's Health Program Planned Parenthood won a temporary court injunction today that will allow it to remain in the Women's Health Program. The organization is trying to prevent state officials from kicking it out of the government program, which provides gynecological exams and birth control to low-income women. |
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A referendum on whether METRO should continue to share its transit tax revenues passed by almost a 4 to 1 margin. The agency will continue to divert revenue to Harris County, Houston and other municipalities, which can then use the money for roads and bridges. |
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Texas Children's To Offer On-Site Lawyer For Patient Families Texas Children's Hospital now has a full-time attorney on site to help patients negotiate legal programs that arise during illness. The program is part of a national trend in which hospitals try to bridge the gap between health problems and the outside world. |
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Texas Voters Say 'Obamacare' Influencing Their Vote With Election Day looming, voters say the economy and budget deficit are still their top priorities. But health care is not far behind. In many polls, voters rate the Affordable Care Act — otherwise known as "Obamacare" — as the fourth most important issue in the presidential race. |
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Houston Scientists Probe Obesity-Cancer Connection Researchers in Houston are examining the connection between obesity and cancer. A newly published study involving fat and thin mice has important lessons about how body fat can fuel the growth of a tumor. |
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Tech Research From Rice University: Genders Use Emoticons In Different Ways Psychologists at Rice University have been investigating how people use their smartphones, and their latest study revealed some interesting data about how people use emoticons. |
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Galveston Hosts Conference For Disaster Response Across Southeast Texas Emergency medical responders from at least 20 counties around Houston are gathered today in Galveston to learn the newest response techniques. While good equipment, like ambulances and helicopters does help, the best response begins with coordination. |
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SpaceX's Commercial Capsule En Route To Space Station NASA says a private cargo vehicle is on target to reach the international space station Wednesday morning. The flight represents yet another step in the commercialization of the space program. |
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Latest Medicare Fraud Crackdown Could Have Political Implications The latest nationwide crackdown on medicare fraud involved 91 doctors, nurses and others in seven cities, including Houston. KUHF Health and Science reporter Carrie Feibel has more on what happened and how this could play out politically in the upcoming election. |
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Ragweed and Ozone Causing Air Problems in Houston If you've been having respiratory problems, it's not just your imagination. Houston is having a particularly bad air day today. Residents are contending with a double whammy of ozone and ragweed pollen. |
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Houston Focused On Controlling Syphilis, HIV In the wake of an outbreak of syphilis in Harris County, health educators are calling on the public to re-focus its attention on sexually-transmitted diseases, and HIV in particular. |
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Arts And Culture Pouring Millions Into Greater Houston Economy The arts and culture industry in Houston is thriving, according to a new national survey. Our region even expanded its creative sector over the past five years, despite the recession. |
