Alex Smith
Health ReporterAs a health care reporter, I aim to empower my audience to take steps to improve health care and make informed decisions as consumers and voters. I tell human stories augmented with research and data to explain how our health care system works and sometimes fails us.
Email me at alexs@kcur.org.
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Donald Kauerauf, who started at the Department Of Health and Senior Services this month, lamented the public mistrust of health experts but said he "can't stand" the idea of vaccine mandates.
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As a penalty for ignoring federal safety laws, Missouri has diverted millions of dollars in road construction funds to safety programs. But critics say the state's open container policies make roads more dangerous.
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The coronavirus pandemic has inadvertently created a kind of large-scale social experiment that has tested how people fare when their social lives are suddenly upended.
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Biden administration officials announced plans for COVID-19 booster shots to be made widely available starting September 20. But local health departments and experts are scrambling to keep up with the latest guidance and research.
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In the next few decades, climate change will cause more than two weeks every summer to become too hot to safely work outside. A new study argues that quick action is needed prevent that number of dangerously hot days from doubling.
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New cases and hospitalization in the Kansas City area continue to climb, even as the statewide spike shows signs of slowing.
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Temperatures in Kansas City have swelled to around 100 degrees during several heat waves this summer, even before humidity. Studying athletes may help us learn how to adapt our bodies to worsening climates.
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Younger children, who cannot yet be vaccinated, are among those who may be more susceptible to the more-contagious variant.
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Despite rising cases, local leaders are shunning mask mandates largely because they say they don’t work.
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Vaccinations have increased in Missouri's hardest-hit areas but remain far below levels needed to stop COVID-19 from spreading.