Little-Known Illnesses Turning Up in Covid Long-Haulers
The day Dr. Elizabeth Dawson was diagnosed with covid-19 in October, she awoke feeling as if she had a bad hangover. Four months later she tested negative for the virus, but her symptoms have only worsened. Dawson is among what one doctor called “waves and waves” of “long-haul” covid patients who remain sick long after […]
Mississippi’s Black Communities Turned Around Their Covid Rates. Next Up: Make Strides on Vaccines.
At its first pop-up vaccination event on April 10, the Northeast Mississippi Coalition Against Covid 19 gave shots to nearly 40 people in Shannon, a town where roughly 60% of some 1,800 residents are African American. Though a fraction of the doses typically given out at large mass vaccination sites, the event was a success, […]
KHN Journalist Combs for Clues on Covid’s Origins
California Healthline editor Arthur Allen discussed the investigation into the origins of the coronavirus on KPBS’ “Midday Edition” on Wednesday. Click here to hear Allen on KPBS Read Allen’s “To the Bat Cave: In Search of Covid’s Origins, Scientists Reignite Polarizing Debate on Wuhan ‘Lab Leak’” Senior Colorado correspondent Markian Hawryluk discussed Colorado’s efforts to […]
Biden Administration Signals It’s in No Rush to Allow Canadian Drug Imports
The Biden administration said Friday it has no timeline on whether it will allow states to import drugs from Canada, an effort that was approved under President Donald Trump as a key strategy to control costs. Six states have passed laws to start such programs, and Florida, Colorado and New Mexico are the furthest along in plans to get federal approval. The Biden administration said states still have several hurdles to get […]
Caring for an Aging Nation
Health care for the nation’s seniors looms large as the baby-boom generation ages into retirement. President Joe Biden tacitly acknowledged those needs in March with his proposal to spend $400 billion over the next eight years to improve access to in-home and community-based care. The swelling population of seniors will far outpace growth in other […]
In California, Nursing Home Owners Can Operate After They’re Denied a License
The pandemic has highlighted poor care in America’s nursing homes, where nearly 175,000 people have died of covid-19 — a third of all deaths from the disease nationwide. Even before the pandemic, patient advocates pointed to dangerous conditions in U.S. nursing homes, including staffing shortages and infection control failures. Many nursing homes didn’t provide quality […]
Opioids Like ‘Lean’ Permeate Hip-Hop Culture, but Dangers Are Downplayed
Nykerrius Williams knows about the close relationship between hip-hop and opioid use. Williams, 27, an independent rapper from Gibsland, Louisiana, who goes by the name Young Nyke, took oxycodone pills for the first time when he was 16 and has continued patterns of misuse of those pills, as well as Lortabs, Xanax and codeine cough […]
Enough to Wreck Their Rest: $10,322 for a Sleep Study
José Mendoza’s snoring was bad — but the silence when he stopped breathing was even worse for his wife, Nancy. The sudden quiet would wake her and she waited anxiously for him to take another breath. If too many seconds ticked by, she pushed him hard so that he moved and started breathing again. This […]
Suficiente para arruinar el descanso: le cobran $10,322 por un estudio del sueño
Los ronquidos de José Mendoza eran malos, pero para su esposa Nancy era peor cuando dejaba de respirar. El repentino silencio la despertaba, y si pasaban demasiados segundos, lo zarandeaba para que comenzara a respirar de nuevo. Esto sucedía varias veces a la semana. Diagnosticado con apnea del sueño severa hace 15 años, a Mendoza […]
Confronting Our ‘Frailties’: California’s Assembly Leader Reflects on a Year of Covid
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When his 20-month-old daughter developed a rash earlier this month, Anthony Rendon did what many other parents do when their child is sick: The speaker of the California Assembly took Vienna to her pediatrician — but he did so via video from the comfort and safety of his home. Many Californians have […]