Many retirement developments serve as a tranquil refuge for older people who can no longer travel to faraway places or engage in bold adventures. But residents of hundreds of senior living communities can return to their days of wanderlust and thrill-seeking when staff members schedule a date for them to take turns donning virtual reality headsets. The headsets may transport them to Europe, immerse them in the ocean depths or send them soaring on hang-gliding expeditions while they sit by each other. Although VR can be isolating, a Massachusetts company has turned the technology into a catalyst for better cognition and social connections in 800 retirement communities in the United States and Canada.

Doctors say just 1 in 30,000 pregnancies occur in the abdomen instead of the uterus. And Ryu Lopez is among the rare cases. He developed outside his mom’s womb, hidden by a basketball-sized ovarian cyst. It's a dangerous situation so uncommon that his doctors at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles are planning to write about the case for a medical journal. Ryu was born in August, weighing in at 8 pounds. Doctors removed the cyst during the same surgery. Ryu's parents say they feel blessed that their son defied all odds.

A new Department of Health and Human Services report reveals Medicaid programs made over $200 million in improper payments to health care providers between 2021 and 2022 for people who had already died. The inspector general report, released Tuesday, suggests that a new mandate in Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill could help reduce these kind of payments. The bill requires states to audit Medicaid beneficiary lists against the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File. Privacy laws currently restrict access to this file. The report recommends states comply with the new mandate to conduct quarterly death checks to prevent further improper payments.

They say laughter is the best medicine. Michael Miller, a cardiologist and medical professor at the University of Pennsylvania, says they’re right. Laughter is an obvious stress reliever. But Miller says it’s even good for your heart. Madan Kataria — a physician in Mumbai and the founder of laughter yoga — agrees. Laughter yoga involves breathing exercises, light stretches, and silly movements and sounds that force you to laugh. Kataria suggests bringing laughter into your daily life, even at things that might not seem funny. Recently, he demonstrated what he calls "credit-card-bill laughter.” He held out his hand as if looking at a statement, and burst into a roiling, infectious laughter.

Getting the most out of a doctor’s visit requires some advance preparation. Even the professionals plan ahead.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that nine drugmakers have agreed to lower the cost of their prescription drugs in the U.S. Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis and Sanofi will now charge Medicaid what they charge in other developed countries. New drugs made by those companies will also be charged at the so-called “most-favored-nation” pricing across the country, including commercial and cash pay markets as well as Medicare and Medicaid. Merck, GSK and Bristol Myers Squibb also agreed to donate significant supplies of active pharmaceutical ingredients to a national reserve.