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Parents, take note! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine committee has expanded its recommendation for immunization against meningitis B, a rare but potentially deadly strain of meningitis. The committee's revised guidance, issued late last week, broadens the group of young people that the CDC thinks should consider getting the shot, and increases the likelihood that health insurance policies will pay for the injection. (Neighmond, 6/29)

When Matt Crockett's 2-year-old son, Mark, was diagnosed with autism, the Air Force Reserve technician assumed his government insurance would help cover the cost of the treatment. He discovered the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program encourages — but does not require — insurance carriers to cover the cost of the leading treatment for autism. In fact, only 23 states offer federal health insurance plans that cover Applied Behavior Analysis therapy, which leaves federal employees trapped in a patchwork of coverage that costs tens of thousands of dollars a year. (Medici, 6/28)

Dr. James Jeffrey Bradstreet’s life was full of controversy. To thousands of supporters, he was a savior: a physician who claimed vaccines caused autism and promoted radical procedures to treat those afflicted, including his own son. To many others, however, he was a crackpot: a man who, despite his medical license, ignored science and championed dangerous, discredited and occasionally deadly treatments. (Miller, 6/29)