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PJ DiPentino felt uneasy about his local oncologist’s plan. DiPentino’s bladder cancer had returned in a lymph node, and the doctor was recommending he continue immunotherapy and wait to see if it spread. DiPentino, 61 years old, who was being treated near his home in Livingston, Mont., contacted Dr. Bogdana Schmidt, the urologic oncologist at Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City who had treated him in 2023. She and other specialists decided DiPentino should start radiation right away. Schmidt said DiPentino is one of many patients treated at the local level whom she would have treated differently had they come to her cancer center first. (Abbott, 10/22)

The home Jade Shirey bought over a decade ago was a bargain and exactly what she needed for her growing family. But she knew it needed some touch-ups, and after a few years, she turned her attention to the chipping, dark-red-painted wood under the carpet. She started sanding the painted floors, before staining the wood. She had been remodeling the stairs for two months when she took her son, Benny, to his 1-year-old checkup. A finger prick showed he tested positive for lead levels four times higher than the national standard at the time. The lead paint hidden beneath the floorboards had turned into clouds of dust, poisoning him. (Ajasa and Van Houten, 10/19)

On a chilly morning in early December 2017, attorney Anthony Spaniola awakened at his cabin on Van Etten Lake in Oscoda, Michigan, to the sight of billowy white froth bobbing along the shore. He recalled his wife peering out the window and remarking, “Hey, it snowed last night.” “And I said, ‘I don’t think that’s snow,” said Spaniola. “It was contaminated PFAS foam.” Thanks to their stain-, water-, and grease-resistant properties, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been a mainstay of commercial and consumer products for decades. Sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals” because most don’t break down naturally, PFAS (pronounced PEE-fass) accumulate in the environment and have been linked to harmful health effects, including increased cholesterol, lowered immunity, liver damage, diabetes, kidney and testicular cancer, and lower birth weight. (Carr, 10/21)

The tiny West Virginia town of Green Bank — a cell-phone dead zone by design — has become a refuge for people who feel their lives have been ruined by sensitivity to the electromagnetic waves of the modern world. (Andrews, 10/18)

Alison Stewart’s health crisis began on Feb. 22, a day jump-started by a 6 a.m. workout with her personal trainer. She was pushing herself to get back in shape after having donated a kidney to her sister six months earlier. The workout was routine, though she barely spoke, which was unlike her. As the morning progressed, she began to feel confusion; she couldn’t engage in a lucid conversation or write a coherent text message. She headed into SoHo, to WNYC Studios, where she hosts the daily interview show “All of It,” and settled into her office to practice reading an introduction to a segment, but her phrasing hit roadblocks instead of flowing smoothly. Baffled, she sought out Kate Hinds, the show’s director. (Besonen, 10/24)