These are stories of the difficult and sometimes shocking things people do to work around the American healthcare system.

On this episode: the lengths to which some diabetics go to survive, and why insulin is so expensive.

Children with severe mental illnesses encounter many barriers to treatment. But some parents have discovered a workaround of last resort: they can trade custody for treatment.

Buprenorphine is an FDA-approved medication used to treat opioid addiction, but it can be hard to get. That leaves some people suffering from addiction with a choice: keep using, or get buprenorphine on the black market.

Our prison population has been rapidly aging for years, and the additional care these elderly inmates require is expensive. But some prisons have created a surprising way to work around these costs.

Nearly 100,000 people are waiting for a kidney transplant in the U.S. Many will never get one but some doctors have found an innovative solution.

People with rare metabolic disorders need medical foods to keep from going hungry, but costs and regulations mean some go without or have to find a workaround.

The first season of the podcast “Sick,” from Side Effects Public Media, dives into the story of a fertility doctor who spent years deceiving his patients. His ethical breach was uncovered due to the growing popularity of mail-in DNA tests.