‘It’s a Free for All’: Kratom Is Legal in Texas But Should it Be?

bySamuel Stark

Supporters tout kratom as a safer alternative to opiates such as heroin and fentanyl, but medical professionals in Texas describe it as being addictive and dangerous and call for it to be categorized as a scheduled substance.

Insulin Price Caps in Texas Provide Relief While Raising Questions About Costs

byKatie Berger

Dawn White, a nurse from Lumberton, Texas, told lawmakers this past summer she paid $500 for a one-month supply of insulin to treat her son’s type 1 diabetes. That was with insurance. If she lacked insurance, the cost would have been more than $1,000. “Texans are dying because they cannot afford their insulin,” White said. […]

Texas Veterans Desperate for Treatment Find Viable Alternative in Psychedelics

bySamuel Stark 

Combat veterans around the nation and in Texas are turning to psychedelic drugs such as ibogaine, psilocybin, DMT and ketamine to combat PTSD, depression and anxiety. Meanwhile, Texas lawmakers are attempting to legitimize the therapies by facilitating clinical research into the drug’s effectiveness.

COVID-19 Infections in Pregnancy Rise as Vaccination Rate Stays Low

byLauren Girgis

Pregnant people are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19. In recent months, health officials have been raising alarms that the group needs to urgently get vaccinated.

The highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in pregnant people in a single month of the pandemic was reported in August 2021, according to a Sept. 29 health alert from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimates only about 31% of pregnant people are fully vaccinated. This number is even lower for Black pregnant people, at 15.6%.

Survivors and Seeking Help: Suicide Prevention and Recovery

byAustin Cheatham

Depression inflicts a pain and numbness that engulfs people in ways that no aching of the body ever could. Like any other disease, it spreads until a person is fully consumed. Yet many in our society are reluctant to speak of the disease’s worst outcome. In 2019 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported there […]

Sexuality in the Age of COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many people to spend a large amount of time alone, and more and more people have turned to sex therapists to explore their sexuality. 

Visually Impaired People Face Difficulties Throughout Pandemic

byJillian Price and Mizelle Mayo

Some visually impaired people in Central Texas have struggled to schedule vaccines and faced other COVID-19-related challenges that might not occur to sighted people. About 700,000 people in Texas are visually impaired, according to the most recent numbers from the National Federation of the Blind. In a series of interviews with Reporting Texas, visually impaired Austinites and their advocates in Central Texas discussed the difficulty of getting vaccinated for COVID-19 and the challenge of avoiding the illness during the pandemic.

Black Mothers in Central Texas Helping Others Deal With Postpartum Depression

byMadelyn Gee

Black mothers in Central Texas are rising up to support women coping with postpartum depression, which disproportionately affects Black women.

A League Together

byConnor Zimmerlee and Haley Riley

For the past year, soccer for many has been a perpetual COVID-19 red card, a harsh penalty suspending play for players for only trying to do the right thing during a pandemic. On March 15 of last year, the city of Austin implemented a lockdown that prohibited gatherings of more than 250 people. For the […]

Black-Owned Plant-Based Restaurants Taking Root in Texas

byMadelyn Gee 

Many African-Americans simply are not used to having plant-based ingredients replace meat in the cuisine they grew up with. However, an increasing number of black-owned plant-based restaurants around the state are showing that going meatless is becoming more popular among African-American Texans.

UT Greek Life Struggles to Adhere to Pandemic Protocols

byLydia Wagner and Daniella Cortez

On the 2020 season’s first game-day Saturday, things seemed pretty normal for a University of Texas football weekend — pre-pandemic normal. At the Texas Rho fraternity house, dozens of UT students partied together in person. A leaked SnapChat video from inside the event showed attendees singing “The Eyes of Texas,” and standing shoulder to shoulder underneath a balcony packed […]

Sex Workers Struggle as COVID-19 Pandemic Continues

byShelby Woods and Andrew Roberts

Bars, strip clubs and brothels have been shut down as non-essential businesses across the country closed for the coronavirus pandemic, leaving many sex workers out of a job. “It has completely stopped business,” said Mistress Natalie King, a dominatrix in New York City. “There are no in-person sessions to be had.” And unlike millions of […]

Austin-based Roommates Develop Low-cost Ventilator Unit Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

byNataleah Small

Two Austin-based roommates have developed a low-cost ventilator unit made from parts widely available around the world in response to global shortages amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In vitro testing on pig lungs for their prototype could begin soon at Dell Medical School. 

Austin Life Coach Gives Recommendations for Living Through COVID-19

byHope Lenamon

As people adjust to their new realities and settle into new comfort zones, an Austin-based life coach shares 10 recommendations to better deal with life during the pandemic.

Planned Parenthood Opens its Doors Near UT Austin

AUSTIN – Planned Parenthood’s new clinic opened for business when University of Texas at Austin students returned from winter break. It is located on Medical Arts Street off Dean Keeton, right across the street from UT Austin. The new location is their fourth clinic in Austin, with other locations on Ben White in south Austin […]

Tackling the Challenges of Global Health

byKatherine Corley

Paul Farmer, a widely recognized expert in the field of international health, reflects on global health challenges.

A Community Health Model Takes Hold in Texas

byKatherine Corley

Community health workers aren’t medical professionals, but play an important role in helping patients prevent and manage chronic diseases.

Fighting ‘Anti-Science’ in the Face of a Measles Outbreak

byReid Jowers

With America experiencing its worst measles outbreak since 2000, a Texas public health expert discusses the prevalence of the disease going forward.

Texas Legislature Avoids Hot-Button Abortion Bills This Session

byClaire Allbright

Unlike Alabama, which just banned abortion except to save a mother’s life, or Georgia, with its fetal heartbeat bill, Texas anti-abortion forces are pursuing incremental steps this year.