public health

After the filing deadline, Auditor Rob Sand is the sole Democrat still in the race for governor. On this Politics Day, Caufield of Drake University and Jim McCormick of Iowa State analyze the gubernatorial race, rifts in the MAGA movement over the war in Iran and a legal challenge to Iowa's food stamp rules.

Iowa House lawmakers voted to designate the plant-based substance kratom and its synthetic equivalents as a Schedule I controlled substance, which would make possessing the substance illegal.

Many Midwest residents distrust their tap water, opting to purchase water and ice from standalone kiosks. University of Iowa researchers recently found that these kiosks may contain at least trace amounts of lead. Rachel Schnelle investigated this research on behalf of the Midwest Newsroom. We talk with her and two University of Iowa researchers behind this study that sampled many kiosks around Iowa.

Iowa’s House and Senate leaders said Thursday they need more time to review an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that aims to increase the supply of glyphosate-based weedkillers in the U.S. It comes as the state Legislature decides whether to shield pesticide companies from certain lawsuits.

University of Iowa researchers are about a fourth of the way through a state-funded research project examining why Iowa has some of the nation's highest cancer rates.

House lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday that would end vaccine requirements for Iowans to enter elementary and secondary school.

New research on outer space, including simulating driving on the moon and studying the white dwarf stars. Then, remembering Dr. William Foege, whose public health contributions were essential in eradicating small pox.

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Art Cullen and president of Iowans for Stronger Communities Jesse Case join to discuss the new documentary series, 'What's Eating Iowa?' Then, two farmers share how their family has evolved to regenerative farming in northwest Iowa.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced changes to vaccine recommendations for children and infants — raising questions and concerns for parents and pediatricians alike. We talk with pediatrician Dr. Amy Shriver about what’s changed in the childhood immunization schedule, as well as the overturning of policy on the hepatitis B vaccine for infants. Health policy expert Jen Kates of KFF joins to explain what the changes mean for insurance coverage, how states are responding and why vaccines remain available for families. Later, husband-and-wife musicians Annie and Dave Ducharme-Jones join to discuss their latest album, 'Lumina.'

Some Iowa physicians are concerned that the federal government is reducing the number of broadly recommended vaccines for children, from 17 vaccines to 11.