Latest KFF Health News Stories
Florida’s Cautionary Tale: How Gutting and Muzzling Public Health Fueled COVID Fire
As the nation hollowed out its public health infrastructure for decades, staffing and funding fell faster and further in Florida. Then the coronavirus ran roughshod, infecting more than half a million people and killing thousands.
Inside the Race to Build a Better $500 Emergency Ventilator
Inspired to help during the COVID pandemic, a volunteer SWAT team of engineering and medical talent combines old-fashioned problem-solving and advanced 3D printing — but will it actually help?
Trump Is Sending Fast, Cheap COVID Tests to Nursing Homes — But There’s a Hitch
Experts say the administration’s approach with antigen tests could add cost and risk for the most vulnerable patients.
One College’s Pop-Up COVID Test: Stop and ‘Smell the Roses’ (Or the Coffee)
Forget those thermometers. Researchers, finding a surer link between the loss of the sense of smell and a coronavirus infection, suggest the symptom may be an easy and less expensive method for screening.
Democratic Convention, Night 4: ‘Facts Over Fiction’ in Biden’s Speech
The impact of the novel coronavirus, and the current administration’s response to it, were central themes in Joe Biden’s presidential nomination acceptance speech.
Viewpoints: Lessons On Flawed Government Responses To Viruses; Plan Now For A Possible Second Wave
Editorial pages address presidents’ public health responses to dangerous viruses and other public health issues.
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
Each week, KHN finds longer stories for you to sit back and enjoy. This week’s selections include stories on dry eyes, bisexuality, adolescent health care, parenting, COVID and a mystery illness.
Global news is from China, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Ireland, South Korea, Russia and elsewhere.
Researchers Start National Study On COVID’s Impact On Cancer Patients
The aim is to collect 2,000 patients who are actively undergoing treatment for cancers. News is also on the Flint Water crisis settlement, lower infections numbers in the District of Columbia and more.
Schools Take A ‘Wild, Wild West Approach’ To Reopening
Meanwhile, school nurses are finding themselves on the front lines of a high-stakes experiment.
HIV Cases Drop In D.C., But Doctors Wary Of Decline In Important Office Visits
The city has seen a 60% decline over last year in people coming in for annual checkups, which are often where people are tested for HIV. Other public health news is on fentanyl overdoses, lung cancer treatments and more.
CDC Study: Testing Of Inmates Didn’t Provide True Picture
“Broad-based testing can provide a more accurate assessment of prevalence and generate data to help control transmission,” researchers said. News on prisons is from Missouri and Michigan, as well.
Many College Students Working Online From Cars Are On Verge Of Homelessness
At least one school, Sacramento State, has converted a parking garage into a classroom where as many as 100 students each weekday park and attend class virtually on laptops, USA TODAY reports.
New COVID Cases Tied To Sturgis Motorcyle Rally
The event in South Dakota drew hundreds of thousands of people from across the country, some seen ignoring social distancing guidelines. News is on risky behavior in bars, dangers in public restrooms, good masks for wildfires and COVID, and more, as well.
Falling Case Fatality Rate Means COVID Battle Entering New Phase, Experts Say
Other topics in the news include a new, milder coronavirus strain, COVID in breast milk and antibiotic timeouts.
Faster Than Mail?: Uber Tests Prescription Deliveries In Dallas, Seattle
The ride-sharing company is partnering with NimbleRx and will expand to other cities soon. News on industry changes looks at home treatments vs. hospital stays and more.
Bayer Will Pay $1.6 Billion To Settle Lawsuits Over Essure Birth Control
Plaintiffs alleged that Essure, a metal device implanted in the fallopian tubes to prevent pregnancies, caused complications ranging from chronic pelvic pain to hysterectomy and even death.
Pelosi Won’t Call Weekend Vote On Unemployment Benefits
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told members of her caucus pushing for a vote on enhanced unemployment benefits that passing such legislation would harm broader stimulus negotiations.
Delayed Prescriptions, Dead Animals, Rotten Food: Health Fallout From Postal Service Changes
Controversial moves by U.S. Postal Service leaders to dismantle processing equipment and cut worker hours reverberate from Capitol Hill to post offices filled with bugs to patients’ medicine cabinets.
Biden Pledges National COVID Strategy He Blasts Trump For Lacking
Accepting the Democratic presidential nomination, Joe Biden said that President Donald Trump “keeps telling us the virus is going to disappear. He keeps waiting for a miracle. I have news for him: No miracle is coming.” Health care issues took center stage throughout the four days of the convention.