Joanne Silberner
Joanne Silberner is a health policy correspondent for National Public Radio. She covers medicine, health reform, and changes in the health care marketplace.
Silberner has been with NPR since 1992. Prior to that she spent five years covering consumer health and medical research at U.S. News & World Report. In addition she has worked at Science News magazine, Science Digest, and has freelanced for various publications. She has been published in The Washington Post, Health, USA Today, American Health, Practical Horseman, Encyclopedia Britannica, and others.
She was a fellow for a year at the Harvard School of Public Health, and from 1997-1998, she had a Kaiser Family Foundation media fellowship. During that fellowship she chronicled the closing of a state mental hospital. Silberner also had a fellowship to study the survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Silberner has won awards for her work from the Society of Professional Journalists, the New York State Mental Health Association, the March of Dimes, Easter Seals, the American Heart Association, and others. Her work has also earned her a Unity Award and a Clarion Award.
A graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Silberner holds her B.A. in biology. She has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
She currently resides in Washington, D.C.
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Congress is considering changes to the way the Food and Drug Administration handles drug safety. An FDA scientist testified that superiors pressed him to soften conclusions on the safety of profitable drugs... and that at least five drugs on the market have major problems. Hear NPR's Joanne Silberner.
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NPR's Joanne Silberner reports on the Federal Drug Administration's announcement of new warning language for labels on the drug Mifepristone, also known as RU-486. Both abortion-rights supporters and abortion opponents contend the FDA is putting politics over safety in their handling of the drug, which can be used for non-surgical termination of early pregnancy, defined as 49 days or less.
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NPR's Joanne Silberner reports on a new study that suggests scientists could develop a vaccine for malaria in the near future. Malaria is one of the world's most deadly parasitical diseases, especially in Africa, where a vaccine to prevent the illness could save millions of lives.
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A little-known part of the new Medicare drug legislation pays for some very expensive medicine -- when administered at home instead of at doctors' offices. Medicare officials call the Replacement Drug Demonstration a good deal. But far fewer people have signed up than expected, and the deadline to apply has been extended. NPR's Joanne Silberner reports.
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For those at risk of a stroke, the use of stents yields as good or better results in preventing an attack as surgically cleaning out the arteries, according to a new study. Doctors at 29 medical centers compared the two procedures. NPR's Joanne Silberner reports.
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NPR's Noah Adams talks to NPR's Joanne Silberner about the recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study that suggests antidepressants such as Prozac and Paxil may increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among children.
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An advisory committee recommends the FDA issue stronger warnings about the use of antidepressants called SSRIs in children and teenagers. The panel concludes that available research suggests the drugs can double the incidence of suicidal thoughts and attempts. Hear NPR's Joanne Silberner.
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Jordan Walton, 15, suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts until she started taking Prozac. She and her mother urge the FDA to think twice before imposing restrictions on the use of antidepressants in children and teens. NPR's Joanne Silberner reports.
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The FDA holds hearings on research suggesting antidepressants called SSRIs may raise the risk of suicidal thoughts and acts in children and teens. In the first of two reports, NPR's Joanne Silberner profiles the Woodwards, who blame SSRIs for the death of their daughter Julie.
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Four days after undergoing quadruple bypass open-heart surgery, former President Bill Clinton leaves New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center for his home in suburban New York. Doctors plan to put Clinton on an aggressive regime of cholesterol-lowering drugs and a low-salt, low-fat diet, but say he is expected to resume "normal activity" when he recovers. Hear NPR's Joanne Silberner.