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A little over a year ago, Joseph Coates was told there was only one thing left to decide. Did he want to die at home, or in the hospital? Coates, then 37 and living in Renton, Wash., was barely conscious and battling a rare blood disorder called POEMS syndrome. He was too sick to receive a stem cell transplant — one of the only treatments that could have put him into remission. (Morgan, 3/20)

About 2.3 million American kids are living with a disabled veteran in their home—a number researchers said is likely an undercount. These injured service members and veterans are often called wounded warriors; their caregivers more recently earned the nickname hidden heroes. And their children? They are what the Elizabeth Dole Foundation calls “hidden helpers.” (Brookland, 3/20)

Troy Merritt, a pilot for a major U.S. airline, returned from his 30th birthday trip in Croatia in October 2022 — sailing on a catamaran, eating great food, socializing with friends — and cried. When he wasn’t crying, he slept. “I’ve got to find a therapist,” he told himself. And he did, quickly. If that therapist didn’t write down “depression,” Merritt would be OK. He could still fly planes, keep his job — as long as he wasn’t diagnosed with a mental illness. (Ouyang, 3/18)

Five years after Texas’ first COVID death, the state spends less on public health, vaccination rates have dropped and a distrust of authority has taken hold. (Klibanoff, 3/18)

Each year, the Chicago Police Department seizes about 10,000 illegal guns and arrests thousands of people for illegal gun possession. Yet guns remain plentiful and easy to acquire, and young people who live in dangerous neighborhoods say they feel unsafe without them. Now, one group is trying a different tactic, telling those youths: Keep your guns if you must, but learn how to handle them safely. (Dewan, 3/17)

Left out of FDR’s New Deal, the health insurance program for the poor was finally established in 1965. (Zdencanovic, 3/18)

A neurosurgeon who has acted as a consultant for Severance explains the science behind the show’s brain-altering procedure—and whether it could ever become reality. (Feltman, Mwangi, Amarsy and Sugiura, 3/21)