Side Effects News

Series produced by Side Effects Public Media

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Image by: Jake Harper 

Our health journalism collaborative explores the impacts of place, policy and economics on Americans' health.

Our health journalism collaborative explores the impacts of place, policy and economics on Americans' health. We're exploring the root causes of community-wide health problems--from chronic disease, mental to behavioral health to infant mortality—and on new research and initiatives working to prevent and solve these problems.


50 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Teen Moms In Some States Are Denied Pain Relief During Childbirth
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Piece image
In 13 states, teens in labor cannot consent to their own health care. They can receive emergency services, but nothing considered to be elective. F...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh, WAMC Northeast Public Radio, and WRST-FM Oshkosh


  • Added: Nov 15, 2017
  • Length: 03:13
  • Purchases: 3
$5 Per Tooth Extractions Draw Those Without Affordable Dental Care
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: A hygienist numbs a patient in preparation for a tooth extraction at Smiles of Hope., Credit: Marissanne Lewis-Thompson/Side Effects Public Media
In many low-income communities, especially in rural areas, charity clinics provide dental care for a population whose needs are not fully met by th...

Bought by KRPS, WRST-FM Oshkosh, and KSFR


  • Added: Oct 12, 2017
  • Length: 03:43
  • Purchases: 3
In One Ohio County, Police Try Something Different: Door-to-Door Interventions For Drug Users
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Officer Ron Meyers in Ross County, Ohio., Credit: Seth Herald/Side Effects Public Media
After a string of fatal overdoses last year, a team of law enforcement officials and treatment experts from southern Ohio formed the Post-Overdose ...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh


  • Added: Oct 16, 2017
  • Length: 03:30
  • Purchases: 1
In Small Towns, Planned Parenthood Fills A Need For Transgender Health Services
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Dana Garber helps patients with transition-related medical care at the Peoria, Ill. Planned Parenthood. , Credit: Cass Herrington/Side Effects Public Media
It’s still rare to find clinics outside of major cities that offer transition-related medical care. But Planned Parenthood has started offering the...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio, WRST-FM Oshkosh, and KSFR


  • Added: Oct 12, 2017
  • Length: 03:44
  • Purchases: 3
Grassroots Bus Service Brings Healing Touch To Inmates And Families
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Janice McClain poses beside the Use What You've Got Prison Ministry bus, which connects people with their incarcerated family members., Credit: Emily Forman/Side Effects Public Media
The lack of literal human connection in prison can take its toll on inmates and their families. A grassroots bus service in Indiana transports fami...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh, KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Oct 12, 2017
  • Length: 03:40
  • Purchases: 3
First, Seek To Understand: Lessons In Poverty Teach Medical Students To Be Better Doctors
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Students wait on a bus during a tour of some of St. Louis' poorest neighborhoods., Credit: Carolina Hidalgo/St. Louis Public Radio
Every year, for the past 15 years, a group of first-year medical students in St. Louis, Missouri have boarded buses and taken tours through the som...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh and KSFR


  • Added: Sep 14, 2017
  • Length: 03:45
  • Purchases: 2
Cultural, Economic, Historical Factors Drive Black Breast-Feeding Gap
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Chelsea Goodlow and her daughter Kaylee at the Indiana Black Breastfeeding Coalition picnic in August., Credit: Sarah Fentem/ Side Effects Public Media
The "breast is best" message seems often to miss black women, who breast-feed at a rate much lower than other races. Why?

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Sep 12, 2017
  • Length: 03:45
  • Purchases: 2
A Rare Chance To Stay With A Child For Moms Behind Bars
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Current residents of the Wee Ones Nursery, Credit: Allison Greene/Indiana Women's Prison
A pregnant woman in prison typically has 48 hours with her baby after it’s born before it’s taken away. A program inside an Indiana women's prison ...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Aug 31, 2017
  • Length: 03:45
  • Purchases: 1
Victims Of Gun Violence Pay A LIfelong Price
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Aaron Murray pops a wheelie at the ParaQuad gym in St. Louis, Credit: Durrie Bouscaren
For every person shot and killed in the U.S., there are two who make it out alive. Those close calls can leave victims with a lifelong disability...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh


  • Added: Aug 29, 2017
  • Length: 03:35
  • Purchases: 1
New Moms Need Daily Addiction Help To Stay In Recovery ... And Stay With Their Kids
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Piece image
For thousands of moms with opioid addiction, this is their struggle: keeping their disease under control during and after pregnancy, in order to ke...

  • Added: Aug 16, 2017
  • Length: 04:30
Missouri Finally Has Prescription Drug Monitoring, So Why Can’t Prescribers Use It?
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Piece image
One proven way to help people with addiction is to give health care providers access to their patient's prescription narcotic history. For years, M...

  • Added: Aug 03, 2017
  • Length: 03:31
Afraid To Treat Pregnant Women, Doctors Drop Addicted Patients At A Vulnerable Time
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Dr. Tara Benjamin(left) specializes in high risk pregnancies. Most of her patients are in treatment for opioid addiction., Credit: Grace Hollars
Doctors who can prescribe a medication for opioid addiction, and accept Medicaid, are already scarce. But even fewer will treat pregnant women. At ...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Aug 02, 2017
  • Length: 03:44
  • Purchases: 1
Moms-To-Be With Addiction Face Obstacles At Every Turn
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Piece image
Insurance companies set rules that sometime make patients go for days without opioid addiction medicine. These rules are especially tough on pregna...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Jul 26, 2017
  • Length: 03:30
  • Purchases: 1
To Survive, Rural Hospitals Need To Grow—But The Demographics Don’t Add Up
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Earl Bullington, advisor for Focus Bank, which rescued the struggling Pemiscot County hospital in 2013. The pictures on his wall depict the farmland in Pemiscot County, Missouri., Credit: Bram Sable-Smith/Side Effects Public Media
Dwindling populations put hospitals in rural areas in a catch-22 situation. Their communities rely on the institutions, but aren’t big enough to su...

  • Added: Jul 19, 2017
  • Length: 03:33
Smoking Rates Remain High In Low-Income Neighborhoods With Easy Access To Cigarettes
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
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A new study finds where there are dense clusters of tobacco retailers, there’s a higher rate of smoking. Those clusters are mostly in lower-income ...

  • Added: Jun 29, 2017
  • Length: 03:42
Kentucky Bet On Medicaid Expansion Under Obamacare. Now It Has A Lot To Lose
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Cara Stewart and Emily Beauregard, Credit: Sam Horton/Side Effects
As Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell works to drum up votes for his health care bill in Congress, people in his home state worry about what they cou...

  • Added: Jun 28, 2017
  • Length: 03:26
18,000 Could Lose Health Coverage In Missouri’s ‘Bare Counties’ As State Faces Tough Choices
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Tony Twitty, a St. Louis mechanic, purchased coverage for himself and his son on Healthcare.gov. He told St. Louis Public Radio last year that before the Affordable Care Act, buying coverage on his own was unaffordable., Credit: Durrie Bouscaren
Across the country, the clock is ticking down on filing deadlines for companies who want to offer plans on the healthcare.gov marketplace. Several ...

  • Added: Jun 21, 2017
  • Length: 04:13
For Rape Survivors, Specially-Trained Nurses Offer A Bridge To Justice
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: A rape kit (pictured) is used to collect evidence after a sexual assault. How well the kit is completed matters in a prosecution., Credit: Esther Honig/Side Effects Public Media
In Ohio, sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE nurses) can help administer rape kits to victims and bring perpetrators to justice. But in rural area...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Jun 20, 2017
  • Length: 03:37
  • Purchases: 2
For Rural Hospitals Already on the Brink, GOP’s Proposed Medicaid Cuts Would Hit Hard
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Piece image
Under the GOP health plan, 14 million fewer Americans would be insured through Medicaid over the next 10 years. That’s a problem for small rural ho...

  • Added: Jun 19, 2017
  • Length: 03:18
GOP Health Care Bill Would Hit Rural America Hard
From: Side Effects Public Media
Series: Side Effects News
Caption: Darvin Bentlage, a cattle farmer in Barton County, Mo., was uninusred before the ACA and worries he could be again under the GOP replacement plan., Credit: Screenshot/Department of Health and Human Services
The Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act would change health care in many ways. And rural communities have a lot on the line. Reporte...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio


  • Added: Mar 21, 2017
  • Length: 03:34
  • Purchases: 1