Joanne Silberner
Joanne Silberner is a health policy correspondent for National Public Radio. She covers medicine, health reform, and changes in the health care marketplace.
Silberner has been with NPR since 1992. Prior to that she spent five years covering consumer health and medical research at U.S. News & World Report. In addition she has worked at Science News magazine, Science Digest, and has freelanced for various publications. She has been published in The Washington Post, Health, USA Today, American Health, Practical Horseman, Encyclopedia Britannica, and others.
She was a fellow for a year at the Harvard School of Public Health, and from 1997-1998, she had a Kaiser Family Foundation media fellowship. During that fellowship she chronicled the closing of a state mental hospital. Silberner also had a fellowship to study the survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Silberner has won awards for her work from the Society of Professional Journalists, the New York State Mental Health Association, the March of Dimes, Easter Seals, the American Heart Association, and others. Her work has also earned her a Unity Award and a Clarion Award.
A graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Silberner holds her B.A. in biology. She has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
She currently resides in Washington, D.C.
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Even with the latest buzz surrounding product recalls, it can be difficult to stay updated on what has been cleared off the shelves. One Baltimore art student missed a contact-solution recall announcement — and found out about it the hard way.
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Andrew Speaker, who traveled back and forth to Europe while carrying an extensively drug-resistant form of tuberculosis, says his doctors told him his infection posed no risk to others. Speaker's TB is considered an active case, but he has no symptoms.
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Some experts argue that antidepressants may cause suicidal thoughts in young patients. But a new analysis of data contends that these medications are a help for most depressed children and adolescents. -
Wal-Mart announces a pilot program to sell generic prescription drugs at a price of just $4 for each prescription. If it succeeds, the plan could bring changes to consumers and the prescription-drug industry alike.
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A new survey shows a significant decline in the incomes of primary care doctors between 1995 and 2003. During that same period, the U.S. was trying to get more medical students to go into primary care. The drop was largely the result of reduced payments by insurance companies. One Washington, D.C., family doctor is trying to reverse the trend.
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On Thursday, an expert panel will tell the FDA whether a new vaccine against the human papilloma virus is ready to use. HPV can be sexually transmitted and can cause cervical cancer. It affects about 10,000 American women a year, and it kills about 3,700.
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A new study comes to a conclusion that surprised even the researchers who conducted it: Middle-aged whites in England are significantly healthier than middle-aged whites in the United States. That's despite the fact that the United States spends twice as much per person on health care.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Researchers have identified clusters of genes that appear to be linked to the tiredness and lack of energy associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The findings, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, could lead to a better understanding of the condition.
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Drugs to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder prompt continued debate. An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration has recommended "black box" warnings for all, but a second panel, made up mostly of child psychiatrists and pediatricians, says the dangers do not merit such a warning.
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Medicare recipients can now sign up to get prescription drug insurance through Medicare. But a confusing array of programs and lack of easily found details are keeping some seniors from figuring out the new system, the biggest change in Medicare since it started 40 years ago.
