Doctors Weigh Pros and Cons of Prescribing Hot-Button Alzheimer’s Drug
As physicians and health policy experts debate the merits of Aduhelm, the first new drug for Alzheimer’s disease approved in 18 years, patients want to know: “Will this medication help me — and how much?” Doctors explaining the pros and cons of Aduhelm won’t have a definitive answer. “On an individual basis, it will be […]
A Family Wellness Check: California Invests in Treating Parents and Children Together
When a parent takes an infant to the Children’s Health Center in San Francisco for a routine checkup, a pediatrician will check the baby’s vitals and ask how the child is doing at home. Then Janelle Bercun, a licensed clinical social worker, who is also in the room, will look at Mom or Dad and […]
Most Inmates Have Had Their Covid Shots — But Their Guards Likely Haven’t
When the number of covid-19 cases among inmates in Pennsylvania state prisons last fall topped 1,000 and staff cases hovered in the hundreds, the union representing 11,000 corrections officers began lobbying to get prison staffers to the front of the line for vaccinations. John Eckenrode, president of the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association, pressed state […]
Delta Variant Surges in Colorado as the Bands Play On
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Dr. Rachel LaCount grasped a metal hoop at a playground and spun in circles with her 7-year-old son, turning the distant mesas of the Colorado National Monument into a red-tinged blur. LaCount has lived in this western Colorado city of 64,000 nearly her whole life. As a hospital pathologist, she knows […]
As Covid Vaccinations Slow, Parts of the US Remain Far Behind 70% Goal
July Fourth was not the celebration President Joe Biden had hoped for, as far as protecting more Americans with a coronavirus vaccine. The nation fell just short of the White House’s goal to give at least a first dose to 70% of adults by Independence Day. By that day, 67% of adult Americans had gotten […]
California’s Highest Covid Infection Rates Shift to Rural Counties
window.addEventListener(‘message’, function(event) { if (typeof event.data[‘datawrapper-height’] !== ‘undefined’) { var iframes = document.querySelectorAll(‘iframe’); for (var chartId in event.data[‘datawrapper-height’]) { for (var i=0; i<iframes.length; i++) { if (iframes[i].contentWindow === event.source) { iframes[i].style.height = event.data['datawrapper-height'][chartId] + 'px'; } } } } }); Most of us are familiar with the good news: In recent weeks, rates of covid-19 […]
Mientras baja la vacunación contra covid, partes de EE.UU. están lejos de la meta del 70%
El 4 de julio no fue la celebración que esperaba el presidente Joe Biden. La nación no alcanzó el objetivo de la Casa Blanca de dar al menos una primera dosis de la vacuna contra covid al 70% de los adultos para el Día de la Independencia. Ese día, el 67% de los estadounidenses adultos […]
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Tips for Fighting Medical Bills from ProPublica’s Marshall Allen
Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen. Veteran health journalist Marshall Allen has been exposing health care grifters for years. Now, he’s written a book about how to fight them. Host Dan Weissmann spoke with Allen about some of the best tips from “Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the […]
Rural Ambulance Services Are in Jeopardy as Volunteers Age and Expenses Mount
DUTTON, Mont. — Vern Greyn was standing in the raised bucket of a tractor, trimming dead branches off a tree, when he lost his balance. He fell 12 feet and struck his head on the concrete patio outside his house in this small farming town on the central Montana plains. Greyn, then 58, couldn’t move. […]
Paying Billions for Controversial Alzheimer’s Drug? How About Funding This Instead?
If you could invest $56 billion each year in improving health care for older adults, how would you spend it? On a hugely expensive medication with questionable efficacy — or something else? This isn’t an abstract question. Aduhelm, a new Alzheimer’s drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration last month, could be prescribed to […]