The insects are the size of an adult's thumb and can sting multiple times, delivering a large dose of venom.

The debate over the Affordable Care Act has been at the heart of the government shutdown. Host Michel Martin asks two conservative thinkers why they think shutting down the government is a better option than allowing Obamacare to kick in.

Public health officials have been working to reduce use of antibiotics for years. But fresh research shows that antibiotics are still being prescribed where they don't do much good, for ailments like sore throats and bronchitis. Both doctors and patients are to blame for that, experts say.

Many will find better coverage with smaller monthly premiums on the exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act, insurance specialists say. But in states that decided not to expand Medicaid, some low-income part-timers are finding they don't qualify for federal health insurance subsidies.

Millions of people have shopped for insurance on the new marketplaces called exchanges since opening day on Tuesday. Officials said it was evidence of high interest. Others criticized the fumbling start, which involved computer glitches, saying the Affordable Care Act was not ready for prime time. Renee Montagne and David Greene talk to NPR's Mara Liasson and Molly Ball, of The Atlantic, about the politicking around the new health law.

When medical research is published in a peer-reviewed journal, the presumption is that the study has been reviewed for accuracy. The advent of open-access journals has made it easier to get published. But when a journalist sent an obviously faked paper, dozens of open-access journals said they'd be happy to publish it, for a fee.

A team of eight people overseeing the critical foodborne illness tracking database PulseNet has been reduced to three. And a CDC division chief says that a multistate outbreak would push the remaining staff beyond their capacity.

When the federal health law first passed, insurance brokers feared they'd lose out to the new online marketplaces. But as millions of people start looking into buying insurance, brokers say they're still needed when the purchasing decisions get complicated.

A 54-year-old California man has never had health insurance and wasn't much interested in the debate over the Affordable Care Act. But after some recent health setbacks, he is eager to sign up for coverage made possible by the law.

Artisanal meat producers face a big barrier to getting into the game: They have to come up with a complex food safety plan that can take months of research and tens of thousands of dollars to craft. A new project wants to make it easier for the next charcuterie master to open shop by creating an open-source safety plan that newbies can look to.