Courtenay Harris Bond

courtenay harris bond

Courtenay Harris Bond is the staff writer covering health for PhillyVoice. She enjoys writing about behavioral health, maternal health and inequities in the healthcare system, as well as human rights and criminal justice. A veteran daily newspaper reporter, Courtenay has also written for national outlets, including KFF Health News, Undark Magazine and Filter. She was a 2018 Rosalynn Carter Fellow for Mental Health Journalism and has master's degrees from Columbia Journalism School and the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education.

courtenay@phillyvoice.com

December 24, 2025

Children's Health

Pennsylvania, New Jersey join lawsuit against federal rules restricting gender-affirming care for minors

Pennsylvania and New Jersey joined a 19-state lawsuit challenging federal rules that would cut funding to hospitals providing gender-affirming care to minors.

December 24, 2025

Marijuana

Smoking 'a few harmless joints' a month can hurt school performance, study says

Using cannabis products just once a month was associated with worse grades and more emotional turmoil in teenagers, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics.

December 23, 2025

Health News

Philadelphia sues pharmacy benefit managers, drug makers for inflating insulin prices

Philadelphia is suing several pharmacy benefit managers and insulin manufacturers for allegedly inflating the price of the diabetes medication while falsely claiming they were working to lower prices.

December 23, 2025

Illness

With norovirus cases on the rise, here's how to prevent the 'stomach bug'

Norovirus, also called the 'winter vomiting disease,' causes vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps for about three days. With cases on the rise, here are tips to guard against it.

December 19, 2025

Parenting

People test out parenthood by getting dogs — but not cats

People test out parenthood by getting dogs and then moving on to having babies, new research from Taiwan suggests. Getting a dog increases the probability of later having a child by 33%, the researchers found. Getting a cat does not increase the likelihood.

December 18, 2025

Adult Health

Waking up with headaches and jaw pain? You might be grinding your teeth at night

Waking up with headaches and jaw pain may signal that you are grinding your teeth at night. Also called bruxism, unconscious, repetitive teeth grinding can also cause tooth erosion. Mouth guards are one of the common treatments.

December 18, 2025

Health News

Virtua Health, ChristianaCare decide not to merge operations

Two of the Mid-Atlantic region's largest health systems have abandoned plans to merge. Virtua Health in New Jersey and ChristianaCare in Delaware had been exploring a potential $6 billion merger since July.

December 17, 2025

Adult Health

A loving relationship boosts recovery from heart disease, study finds

People with heart disease who are in supportive relationships make healthier behavior choices and show evidence of improved mental health and cardiac outcomes, research published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology shows.

December 17, 2025

Prevention

Drinking tea instead of coffee may be better for your bones

Drinking tea may be better for your bone health than coffee. Compounds in tea called catechins may help promote bone health and slow degeneration in bone density, researchers say. Coffee has been shown to affect calcium absorption, which is critical for strong bones.

December 16, 2025

Healthy Eating

Trying to slow the aging process? A little dark chocolate may help

Eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate may help slow the body's aging process, a new study says. Other health benefits of dark chocolate include lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and improved heart health.

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