Public Health
Hospitals Refused to Give Patients Ivermectin. Lockdowns and Political Pressure Followed.
HELENA, Mont. — One Montana hospital went into lockdown and called police after a woman threatened violence because her relative was denied her request to be treated with ivermectin. Officials of another Montana hospital accused public officials of threatening and harassing their health care workers for refusing to treat a politically connected covid-19 patient with […]
Todo lo que hay que saber sobre omicron y las otras variantes del coronavirus
Los estadounidenses, cansados ya por una pandemia que dura casi dos años, recibieron un nuevo golpe durante el largo fin de semana de Acción de Gracias: el anuncio de la aparición de una nueva variante del coronavirus. La variante omicron, conocida oficialmente como B.1.1.529, apareció en noviembre en varios países del sur de África. Las […]
Con el fin de las licencias pagas por covid, empleados sienten la presión de ir a la oficina
Tanto economistas como expertos en salud pública dicen que la licencia por enfermedad con goce de sueldo es una herramienta esencial, tanto como las pruebas, las máscaras y las vacunas, en el esfuerzo por prevenir la infección por covid-19 y mantener seguros los lugares de trabajo. Sin embargo, Estados Unidos se encuentra en medio de […]
Omicron and Other Coronavirus Variants: What You Need to Know
Americans, already weary of a pandemic nearly two years long, were dealt a new blow during the long Thanksgiving weekend: the announcement that a new coronavirus variant had emerged. The omicron variant, officially known as B.1.1.529, surfaced in November in several southern African nations. It set off alarm bells worldwide when public health officials in […]
With Federal Covid Sick Leave Gone, Workers Feel Pressure to Show Up at Work
Economists and public health experts alike say paid sick leave is an essential tool — like testing, masks and vaccines — in the effort to prevent covid-19 infection and keep workplaces safe. Yet the U.S. is in the midst of another covid holiday season, and federal laws that offered covid-related paid sick leave to workers […]
It Takes a Team: A Doctor With Terminal Cancer Relies on a Close-Knit Group in Her Final Days
[Editor’s note: Dr. Susan Massad, who is featured in this story, died Nov. 29.] The decisions have been gut-wrenching. Should she try another round of chemotherapy, even though she barely tolerated the last one? Should she continue eating, although it’s getting difficult? Should she take more painkillers, even if she ends up heavily sedated? Dr. […]
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Big Biden Budget Bill Passes the House
Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on PRX. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Click here for a transcript of the episode. President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” social spending bill passed the House last week, but the legislation faces a […]
Why You Can’t Find Cheap At-Home Covid Tests
While developing a rapid test that detects the coronavirus in someone’s saliva, Blink Science, a Florida-based startup, heard something startling: The Food and Drug Administration had more than 3,000 emergency use authorization applications and didn’t have the resources to get through them. “We want to try to avoid the EUA quagmire,” said Peb Hendrix, the […]
Lifting DC’s Strict Indoor Mask Mandate Triggers Mix of Confusion, Anxiety and Relief
A mile northeast of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., along what’s known as the H Street corridor, about half the people crowding the sidewalks are wearing masks. Perhaps it’s because they know that when they step into any business or establishment here, they will have to put one on anyway. The capital, after all, is […]
What Happens After a Campus Suicide Is a Form of Prevention, Too
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741. CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Ethan Phillips was 13 years old when he first heard the term “suicide contagion.” It’s the scientific concept that after one person dies by […]