Kristian Foden-Vencil
Kristian Foden-Vencil is a veteran journalist/producer working for Oregon Public Broadcasting. He started as a cub reporter for newspapers in London, England in 1988. Then in 1991 he moved to Oregon and started freelancing. His work has appeared in publications as varied as The Oregonian, the BBC, the Salem Statesman Journal, Willamette Week, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, NPR and the Voice of America. Kristian has won awards from the Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists and the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors. He was embedded with the Oregon National Guard in Iraq in 2004 and now specializes in business, law, health and politics.
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Anesthesia revolutionized surgery by vanquishing patients' pain. But many of the chemicals are greenhouse gases. One Oregon doctor who has done the math says some are much less damaging to the planet. -
Clinics in the Pacific Northwest are ordering 10 times the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella as they normally do because some who have avoided vaccines are changing their minds. -
In a recent study of patients treated by emergency medical responders in Oregon, black patients were 40 percent less likely to get pain medicine than their white peers. Why? -
Scientists credit the crab and oyster industries with noticing a change in oxygen levels in coastal Pacific waters. -
In response to a spike in syphilis and gonorrhea cases, one Oregon county is sending medical sleuths to break the bad news in-person. Some people have no idea they've been exposed to an infection. -
Last summer, the Oregon Legislature passed a package of state taxes to cover Medicaid's expanding rolls. But Oregon voters Tuesday could throw a wrench in that plan by refusing some of the taxes. -
Health care forms increasingly ask about more than just medical history. That's because doctors are beginning to understand that patients' stress, and how and where they live, influence health, too. -
Health officials hoped giving more people health insurance would curtail their use of expensive emergency rooms for routine medical care. But data from Oregon suggest their overall ER use didn't drop. -
A judge in Oregon has allowed 52-year-old Jamie Shupe, a retired Army tank mechanic, to identify as "non-binary" instead of male or female. It's widely believed to be the first such case in the U.S. -
Acupuncture and massage haven't been proven to ease pain better than drugs — and may cost more. But Oregon hopes these sorts of alternatives to pills will reduce the societal costs of opioid abuse.
