Latest KFF Health News Stories
In Fla., Case Counts Mount; Gov. DeSantis In The Hot Seat
The recent surge is triggering concern among the state’s tourism workers, who worry whether the increase in coronavirus will undermine the state’s ability to attract visitors.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
California Prisons Are COVID Hotbeds Despite Billions Spent On Inmate Health
At $3.6 billion a year, California spends more on prison health care than other states spend to run their entire prison systems. But despite the spending, and federal court oversight, prisons across California are struggling to contain deadly outbreaks of COVID-19.
In Arizona Race, McSally Makes Health Care Pledge At Odds With Track Record
The use of the word “always” makes this claim a stretch.
How Mis- And Disinformation Campaigns Online Kneecap Coronavirus Response
The pandemic has been marked by a significant amount of misinformation — some spread on purpose — that could prove deadly.
Easy-breezy guest writer Rachel Bluth fills you in on a healthy dose of news from this past week.
Watch: Teaching Teens How To Navigate Racism In America
KHN Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony appeared on KSDK’s “Today in St. Louis” with host Rene Knott to discuss the unwritten rules that Black teens learn to try to safely navigate other people’s racist assumptions.
Listen: What Counts In Measuring The Full COVID Death Toll? It’s Complicated
KHN senior Colorado correspondent Markian Hawryluk joined KUNC’s Erin O’Toole on “Colorado Edition” and appeared on WNHN’s “The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen” to discuss his recent story on how difficult it is to measure the full death toll from the pandemic.
Opinion writers weigh in on these pandemic topics and others.
Longer Looks: Coronavirus Coverage And Female Expertise; Prison Reform; Doomscrolling; And More
Each week, KHN finds interesting reads from around the web.
Global news reports focus on Italy, Germany, Portugal, England, France, Mexico, Russia, Japan, Nigeria, Norway, India, Pakistan, and South Africa.
Editorial pages focus on these public heath issues and others.
FDA Approves Drug For Rare Type Of Childhood Epilepsy
In other pharmaceutical industry news, Novartis will pay more than $345M to settle criminal charges in a bribery scandal.
New Studies Tackle COVID-19’s Effect On The Brain, Other Organs
In other news, researchers have joined forces to study how Alzheimer’s takes root in the brain.
‘Critical Point In Fight’: Texas Rethinks Plans, Cancels Elective Surgeries
Hospital administrations in Houston and Dallas are now saying they think they have enough beds to accommodate the additional hospitalizations due to the upsurge. In some instances, the number of COVID patients has doubled since Memorial Day. “All the hospitals have a plan to expand as necessary,” said Peter Urbanowicz, a former U.S. Health and Human Services Department chief of staff who is helping Dallas County coordinate the region’s hospitals. “They’re going to use every nook and cranny of the hospital.”
“Whenever he’d see me, he’d try to grab onto me,” Bill Hucker, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, says of his 4.5-year-old son. “And every time the little guy fell down and I could hear him cry, I wanted to be there with him. Instead of being able to help out, everything was dumped on his mom.” In other health industry news: Medical residents start rotations in a new reality; the continuing challenges of PPE; and more.
Judge Deciding On Legality Of Hawaii’s Quarantine Says She’ll Disregard DOJ’s Input
U.S. District Judge Jill Otake will decide a case that challenges Hawaii’s strict COVID quarantine policy. Although the Justice Department weighed in against the policy, Otake said the agency doesn’t have the authority to amend the lawsuit in a case where it is not a plaintiff.
‘The Equivalent Of Landlocked Cruise Ships’: Universities Grapple With How To Reopen Safely
The issue has become all the more serious as the number of young Americans with COVID continues to rise. While some schools are partnering with experts to try to make the reopening as safe as possible, others are relying heavily on digital solutions for their students.
States With Record-Breaking Numbers Are Losing Control Of Their Outbreaks, Health Leaders Warn
Texas, Arizona and Florida are now leading in the number of new cases confirmed every day, and experts are worried that the states’ leaders aren’t doing enough to get control of the skyrocketing numbers. Other news comes out of California, New York, North Carolina, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, Montana, Louisiana and Georgia.
Mental Health Industry Stretched To Breaking Point, Report Finds
In other public health topics: homeless camps, pregnancy, museums and Disney’s Splash Mountain.