News Stories
Your birth order affects your future, but not for the reason you think
Being born first is better bet in life, the data shows. A landmark 2005 study found that younger siblings fare worse than firstborns on lifetime earnings, educational achievement, mental health and, for women, teen pregnancy. However, firstborns are not special. Parental attention is a finite resource that makes a world of difference.
Historic decline in U.S. overdose deaths threatened by changing street drug supply
Drug overdose deaths continue to drop in the U.S., but experts say new street drugs made from synthetic chemicals are emerging rapidly. NPR's Brian Mann talks with the Buehler Centers Director Lori Post about the changing drug landscape.
High Health Care Costs Are Fueling a New Fight Over Old Laws
The White House wants states to drop certificate of need laws in hopes of lowering health care costs. Researchers and state leaders are split. Listen to Dr. Jill Horwitz, a law professor at Northwestern and member of the Buehler Center, on the podcast: Tradeoffs as she breaks down the current and future state of certificate of need legislation.
The 2025 Drug Overdose Spike That Wasn’t: Neither Politics nor Data Errors Explain the Anomaly
A new Northwestern University study has found that surge was not real, and the apparent spike was a statistical modeling artifact, not a true reversal in overdose trends. In fact, the study found overdose deaths have continued to decline following a peak in August 2023, marking the longest sustained decrease in more than four decades.