If You Don’t Give Your Kids Shots, At Least Give Me Your Address

California Might Not Stop Parents from Opting Out of Vaccinations, But Everyone Should Know Who They Are

Shouldn’t we know where they live?

California’s measles outbreak has touched off a debate about how to reduce the number of parents who choose—in defiance of all credible public health information—not to vaccinate their children. So far, the debate has focused on tightening California laws that make it easy for parents to obtain exemptions from school vaccination requirements. Newly introduced state legislation would eliminate the “Personal Belief Exemption” that thousands of anti-vaccine parents have used.

I’d be more than happy to see this proposal become law. But the politics of reducing …

by Joe Mathews | February 11, 2015

I Can’t Cure Your Child’s Obesity

Growing Up, I Imagined a Magical Solution to My Weight Issues. There Isn’t One, But My Clinic Is Finding Ways to Help Families of Overweight Kids.

by Leticia Ibarra | December 4, 2014

Of the 10 children in my family, I was the only one who was obese. I didn’t know it at the time, but my family mirrored obesity trends in Holtville, …

Desperate to Be Quarantined

When Cancer Treatment Made Me Radioactive, I Was Terrified I’d Expose Someone—But the Hospital Sent Me Home

by Becca MacLaren | November 6, 2014

I walked through a hospital door marked “Nuclear Medicine Department” knowing that when I left, I’d be radioactive.

It took just a few minutes for the doctor to administer a …

Are Ebola Patients America’s New ‘Lepers’?

A Century Ago, Panic over Leprosy Led to Rampant Stigma and Bizarre Quarantines

by Marcia Gaudet | October 30, 2014

The reaction to Ebola isn’t new. Few things alarm people as much as the perceived danger of a deadly or devastating disease. History shows that responses to epidemics often lack …

Public Health Official Tangerine Brigham

A Committed But Intense Public Servant

October 22, 2014

Tangerine Brigham directs the office of managed care at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services; previously, she directed Healthy San Francisco, a program that subsidized medical care for …

The ‘Hot, Foul, Sultry Air’ of Ellis Island

What It Was Like at the Main Gateway to the U.S. in the Early 20th Century

October 17, 2014

Immigrants arrive in the U.S. today at thousands of entry points, by plane, boat, car, and foot. But for decades at the turn of the 20th century, the harbor at …