Patti Neighmond
Award-winning journalist Patti Neighmond is NPR's health policy correspondent. Her reports air regularly on NPR newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition.
Based in Los Angeles, Neighmond has covered health care policy since April 1987. She joined NPR's staff in 1981, covering local New York City news as well as the United Nations. In 1984, she became a producer for NPR's science unit and specialized in science and environmental issues.
Neighmond has earned a broad array of awards for her reporting. In 1993, she received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for coverage of health reform. That same year, she received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for a story on a young quadriplegic who convinced Georgia officials that she could live at home less expensively and more happily than in a nursing home. In 1990, Neighmond won the World Hunger Award for a story about healthcare and low-income children. She received two awards in 1989: a George Polk Award for her powerful ten-part series on AIDS patient Archie Harrison, who was taking the anti-viral drug AZT; and a Major Armstrong Award for her series on the Canadian health care system. The Population Institute, based in Washington, DC, has presented its radio documentary award to Neighmond twice: in 1988 for "Family Planning in India" and in 1984 for her coverage of overpopulation in Mexico. Her 1987 report "AIDS and Doctors" won the National Press Club Award for Consumer Journalism, and her two-part series on the aquaculture industry earned the 1986 American Association for the Advancement of Science Award.
Neighmond began her career in journalism in 1978, at the Pacifica Foundation's DC bureau, where she covered Capitol Hill and the White House. She began freelance reporting for NPR from New York City in 1980. Neighmond earned her bachelor's degree in English and drama from the University of Maryland, and now lives in Los Angeles.
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Early in the pandemic, people were advised to disinfect everything they touched. But now that scientists understand more about how COVID-19 spreads, all that scrubbing down may have been overkill.
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Some people have skipped care because of finances or fear of the virus, doctors say. Others find medical practices closed to new patients. Many are suffering health consequences, an NPR poll finds.
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According to data reported to the CDC, 121 children died from COVID-19 between February and July of this year. And 78% of the children who died were Hispanic, Black or Native American.
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For children, the distress shows itself in difficult moods, stomachaches or even regression to behaviors from earlier childhood. Here are seven ideas to help anxious kids feel better.
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A woman had become barely verbal, an effect of dementia. Her daughter, an opera singer, decided to try singing Christmas songs with her, and they reconnected.
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Many women get their hair dyed or straightened regularly with products that contain thousands of chemicals. Researchers are teasing out whether our hair habits could be raising our breast cancer risk.
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A national survey by psychologists shows a significant rise in U.S. stress in 2019. Mass shootings, the election campaign and concerns about health care costs and access top the list of stressors.
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U.S. adults put on about a pound a year on average. But people who had a regular nut-snacking habit put on less weight and had a lower risk of becoming obese over time, a new study finds.
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It was a warm, wet winter this year across much of the U.S., which means more snakes and a higher risk of bites. Here are some tips for avoiding vipers and their venom.
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Black and Native American women die of pregnancy-related causes at a higher rate than white women. Researchers say the gaps are driven by unequal access to health care and the experience of racism.