Rob Stein

Credit Emily Bogle / NPR

Rob Stein is a correspondent and senior editor on NPR's science desk.

In his reporting, Stein focuses on the intersection of science, health, politics, social trends, ethics, and federal science policy. He tracks genetics, stem cells, cancer research, the obesity epidemic, and other science, medical, and health policy news.

Before NPR, Stein served as The Washington Post's science editor and national health reporter for 16 years, editing and then covering stories nationally and internationally.

Earlier in his career, Stein spent about four years at NPR's science desk. Before that, he served as a science reporter for United Press International in Boston and the science editor of the international wire service in Washington.

Stein is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He completed a journalism fellowship at the Harvard School of Public Health, a program in science and religion at the University of Cambridge, and a summer science writer's workshop at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.

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3:29am

Wed January 23, 2013
Shots - Health News

Painkiller Paradox: Feds Struggle To Control Drugs That Help And Harm

Originally published on Wed January 23, 2013 1:38 pm

A few years ago, a doctor started prescribing Michael Israel painkillers for bad cramps in his gut. Israel had been struggling with Crohn's disease, a chronic digestive disorder, since he was a teenager.

"So he was prescribed, you know, Lortab, or Vicodin or whatever. You know, they would flip-flop it from one to another," says Avi Israel, Michael's father.

Then one day, Michael confessed that something was wrong.

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1:49pm

Fri January 18, 2013
Shots - Health News

CDC: Flu Season Is Especially Tough On The Elderly

Credit Bebeto Matthews / AP

Federal health officials say this year's flu season shaping up to be especially severe for the elderly.

According to the latest update from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of people age 65 and older who are getting the flu jumped sharply in the last week or so. They are being hospitalized at a rate of about 82 per 100,000 cases. That's the rate that is seen during severe seasons, officials said.

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2:11pm

Fri January 11, 2013
Shots - Health News

CDC Says Flu Waning In Places, But Worst May Not Be Over

Originally published on Fri January 11, 2013 2:45 pm

Credit Matt Rourke / AP

Federal healthy officials said Friday there are some early signs this year's flu season may be easing in some parts of the country. But they stressed it's far too early to tell whether the flu season has peaked.

The number of states reporting widespread flu activity is up to 47, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But flu activity nationally fell slightly in the CDC's most recent data. Five states reported less flu than a week earlier, according to the CDC.

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1:25pm

Thu January 10, 2013
Shots - Health News

Wake-Up Call: FDA Pushes Drugmakers To Weaken Sleeping Pills

Originally published on Thu January 10, 2013 6:26 pm

Credit Tim Boyle / Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it was requiring companies that make Ambien and similar sleeping pills to sharply cut the doses of the drugs.

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3:49am

Tue January 8, 2013
Shots - Health News

Can You Get A Flu Shot And Still Get The Flu?

Originally published on Tue January 8, 2013 6:06 am

Credit Barbara L. Salisbury / The Washington Times/Landov

This year's flu season started about a month early, prompting federal health officials to warn it could be one of the worst in years. They're urging everyone to get their flu shots.

But like every flu season, there are lots of reports of people complaining that they got their shot but still got the flu. What's up with that?

Well, as Michael Jhung of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains, there are lots of possible reasons.

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