Patti Neighmond
Award-winning journalist Patti Neighmond is NPR's health policy correspondent. Her reports air regularly on NPR newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition.
Based in Los Angeles, Neighmond has covered health care policy since April 1987. She joined NPR's staff in 1981, covering local New York City news as well as the United Nations. In 1984, she became a producer for NPR's science unit and specialized in science and environmental issues.
Neighmond has earned a broad array of awards for her reporting. In 1993, she received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for coverage of health reform. That same year, she received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for a story on a young quadriplegic who convinced Georgia officials that she could live at home less expensively and more happily than in a nursing home. In 1990, Neighmond won the World Hunger Award for a story about healthcare and low-income children. She received two awards in 1989: a George Polk Award for her powerful ten-part series on AIDS patient Archie Harrison, who was taking the anti-viral drug AZT; and a Major Armstrong Award for her series on the Canadian health care system. The Population Institute, based in Washington, DC, has presented its radio documentary award to Neighmond twice: in 1988 for "Family Planning in India" and in 1984 for her coverage of overpopulation in Mexico. Her 1987 report "AIDS and Doctors" won the National Press Club Award for Consumer Journalism, and her two-part series on the aquaculture industry earned the 1986 American Association for the Advancement of Science Award.
Neighmond began her career in journalism in 1978, at the Pacifica Foundation's DC bureau, where she covered Capitol Hill and the White House. She began freelance reporting for NPR from New York City in 1980. Neighmond earned her bachelor's degree in English and drama from the University of Maryland, and now lives in Los Angeles.
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A study of seven popular fitness trackers found they are generally good at measuring heart rate, but may mislead consumers about how many calories they have burned. -
OB-GYNs and primary doctors disagree on whether women need a pelvic exam every year. When women were told a medical society recommended against it, they were much less likely to have the exam. -
A high school in New Mexico is experimenting with light-shielding lounge chairs where frazzled students can rest. Research suggests it leads to calmer, less anxious teens who do better in school. -
People with heart disease should keep their weight down, but it can be hard to lose weight and keep it off. Now a study shows big fluctuations may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. -
About 35 million Americans suffer some hearing loss, but most don't do anything about it. There's a growing effort to make hearing aids easier and cheaper to buy. -
Physically manipulating the spine appears to offer a modestly effective alternative to medication for lower back pain, according to a new evaluation of scientific studies. -
A new study finds that people who are overweight, but not obese, have shorter life spans. It's the opposite of a 2013 study that got a lot of attention by finding a few pounds might be good for you. -
Cytomegalovirus is everywhere, and it usually doesn't make people sick. But if a woman gets infected while pregnant, in rare cases it can cause serious problems for the baby. -
There's not enough good evidence to make the call as to whether an annual pelvic exam is a good screening tool, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says. -
A majority of models say they're threatened with job loss if they don't shed pounds. Researchers worry this contributes to poor body image and might increase eating disorders among teenage girls.
