How Pharma Money Colors Operation Warp Speed’s Quest to Defeat COVID
April 16 was a big day for Moderna, a Massachusetts biotech company on the verge of becoming a front-runner in the U.S. government’s race for a coronavirus vaccine. It had received roughly half a billion dollars in federal funding to develop a COVID shot that might be used on millions of Americans. Thirteen days after […]
OSHA Let Employers Decide Whether to Report Health Care Worker Deaths. Many Didn’t.
As Walter Veal cared for residents at the Ludeman Developmental Center in suburban Chicago, he saw the potential future of his grandson, who has autism. So he took it on himself not just to bathe and feed the residents, which was part of the job, but also to cut their hair, run to the store […]
After Kid’s Minor Bike Accident, Major Bill Sets Legal Wheels in Motion
Adam Woodrum was out for a bike ride with his wife and kids on July 19 when his then 9-year-old son, Robert, crashed. “He cut himself pretty bad, and I could tell right away he needed stitches,” said Woodrum. Because they were on bikes, he called the fire department in Carson City, Nevada. “They were […]
What Biden Can Do to Combat COVID Right Now
When Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, the country was in the midst of a dire economic crisis. Twelve years later, his vice president, Joe Biden, has been elected president in the midst of a dire economic crisis and a worldwide, worsening coronavirus pandemic. In 2008, Obama’s team and that of outgoing President George […]
Surging LA
March 2020 (Heidi de Marco/KHN) November 2020: Cars wait at the corner of Hollywood and Highland, a bustling intersection that was deserted in March. Some shops on Hollywood Boulevard are open to the public, but many remain shuttered. (Heidi de Marco/KHN) On a Monday afternoon in March, four days after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the […]
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Transition Troubles Mount as COVID Spreads
Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on PRX. President-elect Joe Biden is still being blocked from launching his official transition while President Donald Trump contests the outcome of the election. That could be particularly dangerous for public health as COVID-19 spreads around the country at an alarming rate. Meanwhile, a second vaccine to […]
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: What Would Dr. Fauci Do?
Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on PRX. Since the mid-1980s, whenever there’s been a public health crisis, America — and six U.S. presidents — have turned to Dr. Anthony Fauci. As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (one of the National Institutes of Health), Fauci has helped guide […]
Take It From an Expert: Fauci’s Hierarchy of Safety During COVID
As a health journalist, a physician and a former foreign correspondent who lived through SARS in Beijing, I often get questions from friends, colleagues and people I don’t even know about how to live during the pandemic. Do I think it’s safe to plan a real wedding next June? Would I send my kids to […]
Surprise Federal Drug Rule Directs Insurers to Reveal What They Pay for Prescription Drugs
Health insurance companies will have to give their customers estimated out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs and disclose to the public the negotiated prices they pay for drugs, under an unexpected new Trump administration rule. The administration said those requirements, part of a broader rule issued Oct. 29 forcing health plans to disclose costs and payments […]
As Broad Shutdowns Return, Weary Californians Ask ‘Is This the Best We Can Do?’
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — For Tom Davis, being told by the state this week that he must close his Pacific Edge Climbing Gym for the third time in six months is beyond frustrating. The first time the rock-climbing gym and fitness center shut down, co-owners Davis and Diane Russell took out a government loan to […]