health

At about 5 a.m. on March 19, a New York City ER physician named Frank Gabrin texted a friend about his concerns over the lack of medical supplies at hospitals. “It’s busy ― everyone wants a COVID test that I do not have to give them,” he wrote in the message to Eddy Soffer. “So […]

A new report points to cases in Australia and Iran as warnings that high temperatures and increased humidity may do little to curb outbreak. “There have been 10 influenza pandemics in the past 250-plus years — two started in the Northern Hemisphere winter, three in the spring, two in the summer and three in the

Health professionals say even young patients can look healthy one minute and then be at death’s door. In other public health news: assisted living facilities, baby booms, origin of New York’s virus, tracking down cases, recovery, mask tips, domestic violence, and more.

As outbreaks spread in facilities across the country that care for older Americans, developments are reported out of California, New Jersey, Missouri, Virginia, Texas, Maryland and Louisiana.

[UPDATED at 5:30 p.m. ET] As city leaders across the country scramble to find space for the expected surge of COVID-19 patients, some are looking at a seemingly obvious choice: former hospital buildings, sitting empty, right downtown. In Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, where hospitalizations from COVID-19 increase each day, shuttered hospitals that once

A coronavirus test made by Abbott Laboratories and introduced with considerable fanfare by President Donald Trump in a Rose Garden news conference this week is giving state and local health officials very little added capacity to perform speedy tests needed to control the COVID-19 pandemic. “That’s a whole new ballgame,” Trump said. “I want to

Editorial pages focus on these health care topics and others.

Opinion writers weigh in on these health topics and others.

Editorial pages express focus on the president’s call to reopen the economy during the pandemic and other health issues.

Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.

While the media and public health officials have reported outbreaks at dozens of facilities, other information vital to families’ and doctors’ decisions about how to deal with older patients is going unreported. “That’s just not right. It’s not ethical. It’s not humane,” said John BaRoss, who pulled his mother out of a long-term care facility

Meanwhile, states and Congress are trying to make it easier for Americans who lose health coverage because their job has been affected by the outbreak to get insurance. And CMS withdrew its proposed rule to crackdown on state Medicaid eligibility.

During the height of the opioid epidemic, Walmart kept filling suspicious prescriptions despite protests from its own pharmacists. Justice Department prosecutors were prepared to file criminal indictments against the company, ProPublica found in its investigation. Walmart executives escalated concerns to political appointees at the agency though, who then ordered attorneys to stand down. In other