Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Add Good to your Google News feed.
Google News Button

11 Controversial Health Innovations (That We're Still Talking About)

From pasteurization to deet, the world has seen many health innovations that have inarguably saved lives, reduced illness, and prevented severe outbreaks. Yet whether due to unforeseen consequences, changing moral or cultural attitudes, or environmental concerns, many of these innovations have become sources of controversy and debate today.

Jessica Rivera
By Jessica RiveraNov 24, 2013
Jessica Rivera
See Full Bio

From pasteurization to deet, the world has seen many health innovations that have inarguably saved lives, reduced illness, and prevented severe outbreaks. Yet whether due to unforeseen consequences, changing moral or cultural attitudes, or environmental concerns, many of these innovations have become sources of controversy and debate today.

Back in September, we launched the GOOD Pioneers of Health Challenge in search of the most creative and innovative leaders in health work across the African continent. The response we got was amazing—and diverse. Health innovation continues to highlight radical people with radical solutions to major global issues.

This is a short list of some of the issues we've found ourselves talking about with friends, family, and colleagues. We know there are dozens more that we could include. So tell us: What health innovations are you talking about?

healthinfographicsask goodgood infographics

The Latest

adult friends, making friends, friendship apps, friendship tips, socializing
Health

Social skills educator shares three easy-breezy ways for adults to meet new friends

frugality, generational divide, money savings, older generations, younger generations
Money

4 frugal habits of older generations that younger people find weird or obsolete

Jeff Bridges, Jimmy Kimmel Live, celebrity, The Dude, The Big Lebowski, Oscar-winning actor, ICE, Trump
Culture

Jeff Bridges revives classic 'The Dude' Lebowski character to tell Americans to 'calm down'

regrets, millennials, adult life, life lessons, life changes
Culture

Entering their 40s, Millennials share their regrets so others don't repeat them

More For You

Sydney Frost, viral baby, Carson, NFL, TikTok, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, chunky baby, good news, parenting

Toddler holds a stuffed animale

Canva

This 33-pound 'linebacker' baby took over TikTok and caught the NFL's eye

Earlier this year, Texas mom Sydney Frost posted a playful TikTok of her five-month-old son, Carson, that turned him into an overnight internet sensation and the NFL's most sought-after prospect... for the 2045 draft.

In the video, which has since exploded with over 17 million views, Frost jokingly uses Carson’s impressively round tummy as a rotary phone to "dial" the NFL. Her caption read: “Dialing the NFL now… Breaking news: No contract for these rolls yet. Coaches, what’s the holdup?”

Keep ReadingShow less
oncology nurse, chemotherapy, patient care, innovation, acts of kindness, Whitney Carpenter, Levine Cancer Institute, CBS News, healthcare heroes, patient dignity

Female chemo patient hugs someone

Canva

A nurse saw her chemo patients struggle with their clothes. So she invented her own solution.

For patients undergoing chemotherapy, treatment days are filled with profound challenges, both big and small. Whitney Carpenter, an oncology nurse at Levine Cancer Institute in South Carolina, noticed one of the smaller, more persistent struggles: the simple act of getting dressed. Her heartfelt solution has since grown from a personal project into an inspiring community movement.

As she explained in a CBS News feature, many of her patients receive treatment through a chest port, a small device implanted under the skin. Accessing this port often requires patients to stretch their collars or partially undress, leaving them feeling uncomfortable and exposed. While specialized "port shirts" with built-in access exist, they can be prohibitively expensive.

Keep ReadingShow less
self-care, doomscrolling, mental health, habits, addiction, phone, technology

One woman scrolls, the other reads.

via Canva/Photos

People committed to 'simple living' share the 7 things you can do instead of doomscrolling

Our brain loves repetitive patterns of easy, stimulating imagery and sound. The addictive nature is so strong that there's a term to describe it: doomscrolling. It's so easy to engage, and considerable research and investment have been made to encourage us to stare mindlessly at our phones. For some of us, it's a simple distraction. For others, its an addiction is robbing them of a big part of their lives.

Given that the average person spends over four hours a day staring at their phones, imagine what could happen if we used that time for something more positive and productive. Doomscrolling isn't just bad for our mental health, but it's a time thief that prevents us from engaging in activities that build us up.

Keep ReadingShow less
bob ross, pbs, local television, auction, local tv advocacy

Bob Ross' work is helping local television stations.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons/Canva

After being gutted by federal funding cuts, Bob Ross’ paintings are saving public TV stations

After Congress passed a bill cutting federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Public Broadcasting Service, and National Public Radio, local television stations have been scrambling to find ways to continue operating and provide programming.

Eliminating the $1.1 billion that was initially allocated for public broadcasting has left 330 PBS stations and 246 NPR stations wondering how they can afford licensing fees for popular programs. Luckily, those stations will get some financial help from one of public television’s most popular personalities, Bob Ross.

Keep ReadingShow less
predictions, Millennials, life in the future, 2020s, economy

Millennials predicted life in 2020—and some of them were strangely spot-on.

Photo credit: Canva, Syda Productions (left, cropped) / chonesstock (top right) / Truecreatives from TrueCreatives (middle right, cropped) / san isra from Pexels (bottom right, cropped)

Millennials revisit scarily accurate predictions made 13 years ago about life in 2020

One of Conan O’Brien’s funniest Late Night bits was a long-running and reliably absurd sketch called "In the Year 2000." For decades, crossing over into the "new millennium" had sounded like the stuff of science fiction, with people envisioning all sorts of technological and societal leaps. And despite first appearing in the 1990s, O’Brien’s segment was given the feel of a space-age melodrama, with the host and his trusted sidekick, Andy Richter, making increasingly dumb predictions about our bold new future.

With that temporal milestone now in the rear view, people have been forced to push their daydreaming to some other round number. Thirteen years ago, for the bored denizens of the Internet, that target happened to be 2020. What changes—both positive and negative—would be in store for us then?

Keep ReadingShow less
woman, journaling, mindfulness, mental health, happiness

Woman journaling on balcony with a mountain view.

Image via Canva - Photo by TrueCreatives

Simple neuroscience hack trains your brain to find happiness and positivity everywhere

Finding the right mindset is crucial to having a positive outlook on life. With so many negative things happening in the world, it's easy to get lost in a cycles of sadness.

The good news is there's a way to train your brain to find happiness in more places than you did before. Some exercises and habits can guide our thinking toward a more peaceful and positive worldview. Neuroscience has come to the rescue, developing a simple habit that cultivates happy thinking.

Keep ReadingShow less
child safety, school bus, left on bus, Natalie Sellars, working mom, 911 call, parenting, Uniondale School District, emergency preparedness, child trauma

(L) A schoolbus parked on the road. (R) A mom giving an interview on camera

Canva; YouTube | CBS New York

A video call to her son made mom dial 911 after she noticed one detail in the background

For Natalie Sellars, it was a phone call that plunged her into every parent's worst nightmare. On what should have been a normal afternoon, she dialed her 6-year-old son, Michael, for their daily after-school check-in. The words he said next stopped her cold.

"He told me, 'Mommy, the bus stopped and I'm on the bus by myself,'" Natalie recounted.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ethan Kross, WOOP method, emotional regulation, neuroscience, goal setting, motivation, mental health, brain hacks, self-improvement, psychology

A woman relaxes on the couch with a cup of coffee

Canva

A neuroscientist shares the 4-step 'brain trick' to tackle hard things 'almost effortlessly'

We all have goals we want to achieve, but often, the biggest hurdles aren't external—they're the internal emotions and obstacles that get in our way. According to neuroscientist and psychologist Dr. Ethan Kross, PhDPhD, there's a simple, science-backed tool that highly successful people use to regulate their emotions and push through challenges.

The four-step method is called WOOP, inspired by the work of psychologist Gabriele Oettingen. Dr. Kross, who has studied emotional regulation for over 25 years, breaks it down into a simple exercise:

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025