Scott Hensley
Scott Hensley edits stories about health, biomedical research and pharmaceuticals for NPR's Science desk. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has led the desk's reporting on the development of vaccines against the coronavirus.
Hensley has worked on award-winning investigations in collaboration with journalistic partners.
He was the lead NPR editor on an investigation with the Center for Public Integrity in 2018 that exposed drug industry influence on the choices of preferred medicines by Medicaid programs. The work won the 2019 Gerald Loeb Award for audio reporting.
In 2017, Hensley was the lead NPR editor on an investigation with Kaiser Health News that showed how the pharmaceutical industry exploits government incentives intended to encourage the development of treatments for rare diseases. The stories won the 2019 digital award from the National Institute for Health Care Management.
Hensley has been editing in his current role since 2019. He joined NPR in 2009 to launch Shots, a blog that expanded to become a digital destination for NPR health coverage.
Before NPR, Hensley was a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal. He was the founding editor of The Wall Street Journal Health Blog, which focused on the intersection of health and business. As a reporter, he covered the drug industry and the Human Genome Project.
Hensley served on the board of the Association of Health Care Journalists from 2012 to 2020.
He has a bachelor's degree in natural sciences from Johns Hopkins University and a master's in journalism from Columbia University.
Before becoming a journalist, Hensley worked in the medical device industry. He remains, now and forever, a lover of Dobermans, lacrosse and Callinectes sapidus.
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Cheerleading has become a competitive activity in its own right, and it carries a considerable risk of serious injury, including concussion, spinal damage and broken bones. American Medical Association delegates meeting in Chicago will consider a resolution to support the designation of cheerleading as a sport. -
While there's been quite a debate lately about whether salt in the modern American diet is risky, there's no question that a massive amount of salt ingested quickly can lead to death. A young man in Virginia who chugged a bottle of soy sauce survived after prompt, aggressive medical treatment. -
There's more evidence that the anesthetic ketamine, sometimes abused as a club drug, has potential as a fast-acting treatment for depression. But patients relapse quickly after treatment with the drug. -
The Komen foundation has attributed the drop in walk participation, in part, to a crummy economy. But it's clear the organization underestimated the reaction to its short-lived decision in early 2012 to discontinue funding for breast cancer screening by Planned Parenthood.
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Prescriptions for testosterone have surged for men 40 and older. Drugmakers have touted use of drugs to manage symptoms attributed to low testosterone, such as fatigue and a drop in libido. But those symptoms can also be caused by depression and normal aging.
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The World Health Organization says lab tests have confirmed the infections in a 2-year-old girl and a 42-year-old woman with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus. Both patients are close contacts of someone who traveled to Jordan recently. -
All told, the fatality rate for confirmed infections with the virus has been more than 50 percent. But the true fatality rate won't be clear until the fuller extent of cases, some probably much milder, becomes known. -
Doctors in China concluded that early treatment of bird flu cases with Tamiflu could help patients even days after infection. But the doctors also found in two cases that the virus apparently became resistant to the antiviral drug. -
Some economists argue it's time to rethink restrictions on incentives for blood donors. In the last few years there have been some real-world experiments with incentives that suggest they can help increase donations without causing trouble.
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Even cancer patients with health insurance can face steep copayments for drugs, a sizable share of hospital bills and significant incidental expenses. So wouldn't it make sense for doctors and patients to talk about financial issues up front?
