Scottie Edwards died of COVID-19 just weeks before he would have gotten out of the Westville Correctional Facility in Indiana. Edwards, 73, began showing symptoms of the disease in early April, according to the accounts of three inmates who lived with him in a dormitory. He was short of breath, had chest pain and could…
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema formed a congressional caucus to raise “awareness of the benefits of personalized medicine” in February. Soon after that, employees of pharmaceutical companies donated $35,000 to her campaign committee. Amgen gave $5,000. So did Genentech and Merck. Sanofi, Pfizer and Eli Lilly all gave $2,500. Each of those companies has invested heavily in…
“You are the most selfish f—ing people on the planet.” I jerked my head to the left, where I saw a neighbor glaring at us from his driveway while unloading groceries from his trunk. “Where’s your f—ing mask?” he said. “Unbelievable.” My jaw dropped. I had just walked three blocks home with my toddler and…
Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on SoundCloud. The Trump administration sent its COVID-19 testing strategy plan to Congress, formalizing its policy that most testing responsibilities should remain with individual states. Democrats in Congress complained that the U.S. needs a national strategy, but so far none has emerged. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, noticing…
Justice Buress, 4, demonstrates how she hides under a table during a drill at Little Explorers Learning Center in St. Louis. Day care director Tess Trice carries out monthly drills to train the children to get on the floor when they hear gunfire.(Carolina Hidalgo/St. Louis Public Radio) ST. LOUIS — Champale Greene-Anderson keeps the volume…
Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California, is open for business this fall — but to get there, you really have to want it. Tucked amid verdant hills 23 miles east of San Francisco, accessible by a single road and a single entrance, the small, private Roman Catholic school receives almost no visitors by accident. This,…
This story also ran on CNN. This story can be republished for free (details). As states relax coronavirus restrictions, older adults are advised, in most cases, to keep sheltering in place. But for some, the burden of isolation and uncertainty is becoming hard to bear. This “stay at home awhile longer” advice recognizes that older…
Aspen was an early COVID-19 hot spot in Colorado, with a cluster of cases in March linked to tourists visiting for its world-famous skiing. Tests were in short supply, making it difficult to know how the virus was spreading. So in April, when the Pitkin County Public Health Department announced it had obtained 1,000 COVID-19…
L.A. Metro bus driver Voris Lombard sits behind a partial Plexiglas shield and wears gloves and a mask while driving. After each shift, Lombard removes his uniform and shoes before entering his home, he says. “It’s almost like you’re going through a hazmat routine.”(Heidi de Marco/KHN) LOS ANGELES — Mary Pierson boarded a nearly empty…
We recently received the death certificate for my mother, who died May 4 in an assisted living facility near New York City. “Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome” was the primary cause. And the secondary — no surprise — was “suspected COVID-19.” The White House, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the states are debating the…
Use Our Content This story can be republished for free (details). As the coronavirus threat ramped up in March, hospitals, health systems and private practices dramatically reduced inpatient, nonemergency services to prepare for an influx of COVID-19 patients. A poll released Wednesday reveals that the emptiness of medical care centers may also reflect the choices…
SOBRE NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL Noticias en español es una sección de Kaiser Health News que contiene traducciones de artículos de gran interés para la comunidad hispanohablante, y contenido original enfocado en la población hispana que vive en los Estados Unidos. Use Nuestro Contenido Este contenido puede usarse de manera gratuita (detalles). A medida que la…
Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen. About This Podcast Health care — and how much it costs — is scary. But you’re not alone with this stuff, and knowledge is power. “An Arm and a Leg” is a podcast about these issues, and its second season is co-produced by KHN. In early April,…
After she landed in the hospital with a broken hip, Parkinson’s disease and the coronavirus, 84-year-old Dorothy “Poogie” Wyatt Shields made a request of her children: “Bring me home.” Her request came as hospital patients around the world were dying alone, separated from their loved ones whether or not they had COVID-19, because of visitation…
This story also ran on NPR. This story can be republished for free (details). Back home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Richard and Denise Victor would get to see their four grandchildren almost every day. One set of kids lives around the block; the others are half an hour away, all close enough for frequent visits…
This story also ran on NPR. This story can be republished for free (details). From late March into April, Timothy Regan had severe coughing fits several times a day that often left him out of breath. He had a periodic low-grade fever, too. Send Us Your Medical Bill Do you have an exorbitant or baffling…
SOBRE NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL Noticias en español es una sección de Kaiser Health News que contiene traducciones de artículos de gran interés para la comunidad hispanohablante, y contenido original enfocado en la población hispana que vive en los Estados Unidos. El doctor Albert Hsiao y sus colegas del sistema de salud de la Universidad de…
The Friday Breeze Want to read the best and most provocative stories from the week? Welcome to the Friday Breeze, where we compile them all — so you’re set with your weekend reading. The news this week did seem dominated a bit by President Donald Trump. And most of it was trivial: Do we believe…
SOBRE NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL Noticias en español es una sección de Kaiser Health News que contiene traducciones de artículos de gran interés para la comunidad hispanohablante, y contenido original enfocado en la población hispana que vive en los Estados Unidos. Use Nuestro Contenido Este contenido puede usarse de manera gratuita (detalles). Los hospitales de todo…
Dr. Albert Hsiao and his colleagues at the University of California-San Diego health system had been working for 18 months on an artificial intelligence program designed to help doctors identify pneumonia on a chest X-ray. When the coronavirus hit the United States, they decided to see what it could do. The researchers quickly deployed the application, which dots X-ray…
Use Our Content This story can be republished for free (details). AUSTIN, Texas — It took three weeks, but Lawrence and Arlene Maze finally persuaded their younger son, Gregory, of Los Angeles, to get on a flight home to Austin. “He basically shut his business down to come here and has to restart his business…
This story is part of a partnership that includes WPLN, NPR and Kaiser Health News. This story can be republished for free (details). Hospitals around the country are afraid to send out hundreds of thousands of bills related to COVID-19 testing. That’s because Congress mandated there would be no copays and no out-of-pocket costs for…
Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on SoundCloud. At least so far, states that reopened their economies are not seeing a major spike in cases of COVID-19. But it remains unclear if that is because the coronavirus is not spreading, because the data is lagging or because the data is being manipulated. Meanwhile,…
SOBRE NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL Noticias en español es una sección de Kaiser Health News que contiene traducciones de artículos de gran interés para la comunidad hispanohablante, y contenido original enfocado en la población hispana que vive en los Estados Unidos. Use Nuestro Contenido Este contenido puede usarse de manera gratuita (detalles). Tom Peeling quería una…
SOBRE NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL Noticias en español es una sección de Kaiser Health News que contiene traducciones de artículos de gran interés para la comunidad hispanohablante, y contenido original enfocado en la población hispana que vive en los Estados Unidos. Use Nuestro Contenido Este contenido puede usarse de manera gratuita (detalles). Desde su laboratorio en…
This story also ran on NBC News. This story can be republished for free (details). Tom Peeling wanted his teeth cleaned and wasn’t going to let the coronavirus pandemic get in the way. Luckily, his six-month regular appointment was scheduled for earlier this month, just days after dental offices were allowed to reopen in Florida…
This story also ran on Time. This story can be republished for free (details). From her laboratory in the far western reaches of Montana, Elizabeth Fischer is trying to help people see what they’re up against in COVID-19. Over the past three decades, Fischer, 58, and her team at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories, part of…
If there is a silver lining to the flawed U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, it is this: The relatively high number of new cases being diagnosed daily — upward of 20,000 — will make it easier to test new vaccines. To determine whether a vaccine prevents disease, the study’s subjects need to be exposed…
This story is part of a partnership that includes WPLN, NPR and Kaiser Health News. This story can be republished for free (details). To reopen businesses and public spaces safely, experts say, states need to be testing and contact tracing on a massive scale. But only a handful of states are doing enough testing to…
This story also ran on Fortune. This story can be republished for free (details). Jill Goodridge was shopping for affordable health insurance when a friend told her about O’NA HealthCare, a low-cost alternative to commercial insurance. The self-described “health care cooperative” promised a shield against catastrophic claims. Its name suggested an affiliation with a Native…
