Latest KFF Health News Stories
“Even though we’ll end up picking at most two of them, we’re going to fund factories for all seven, just so that we don’t waste time in serially saying which vaccine works and then building the factory,” Bill Gates said. The strategy means billions of dollars will be wasted, but Gates said the loss would be worth it in the long run.
Flouting Advice From Experts In His Own Administration, Trump Again Touts Malaria Drug’s Potential
Although the malaria drug has shown promising results, the studies so far have been far too small to offer a true look at the treatment’s potential. President Donald Trump, though, continues to push for its use, despite a shortage for patients who use the medication for other illnesses. Meanwhile, patients rush to get into clinical trials for experimental drugs.
“It’s ‘Lord of the Flies: PPE Edition’,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former U.S. official who specializes in disaster response. “We need some global solidarity, and instead we have global competition.” In other news on health care workers: staff shortages, tales from the front lines, rationing gear, and more.
When It Comes To Testing Shortages, Necessity Is Proving To Be The Mother Of Invention
As diagnostic testing continues to pick up speed, shortages of some supplies and a backlog of samples push hospitals, academic medical centers and labs to create their own patchwork solutions.
‘This Is Ludicrous’: Governors Frustrated With Lack Of National Ventilator Distribution Strategy
States have been forced to compete with each other to get ventilators and other medical supplies after the federal government put most of the onus on the governors to acquire equipment. While some governors try to avoid being too critical of the Trump administration, others expressed their frustration. “To say, ‘we’re a backup’ — I mean, the surgeon general alluded to Pearl Harbor,” said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. “Can you imagine if Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, ‘I’ll be right behind you, Connecticut. Good luck building those battleships’?”
Top Health Officials Say Americans Should Brace For Tragedy This Week On Par With Pearl Harbor, 9/11
Even as President Donald Trump offered a more optimistic stance, his officials warned that this week will be tough for Americans. “This is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans’ lives, quite frankly,” said Surgeon General Jerome Adams. Meanwhile, experts fear that the number of confirmed cases in the country–which has exceeded 330,000–is only a fraction of the cases out there.
The Washington Post investigates government and White House actions during the first two months of the year when top officials knew about the threat but the country failed to rise to meet it. And AP looks at how that critical time was squandered in terms of stocking up on equipment. Meanwhile, health care was already a losing issue for President Donald Trump and Republicans, and this pandemic highlights that vulnerability.
Viewpoints: FDA Needs To Step Up Pace For COVID-19 Treatments; Pros, Cons Of Wearing Masks
Opinion writers weigh in on these health care issues stemming from the pandemic and others.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these pandemic topics and others.
Each week, KHN finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Federal investigators sent a letter to Life Care Center of Kirkland in Seattle saying it could also lose federal funding for violating guidelines to reduce the spread of disease in the nation’s first-known outbreak. One nurse reported concerns as early as Feb. 12 about a fast spreading respiratory illness, but administrators thought it was the flu. Nursing home news is also from New York.
Although the record-breaking number of unemployment claims for last week–6.6. million–were a stark reality check, there’s many who remain uncounted. Some have lost jobs or income did not initially qualify for benefits, and others, encountering state unemployment offices that were overwhelmed by the deluge of claimants, were unsuccessful in filing.
HHS Waives HIPPA Privacy Rules On Data In Order To Speed Communication About Infected Patients
“The CDC, CMS, and state and local health departments need quick access to COVID-19 related health data to fight this pandemic,” said Roger Severino, director of HHS Office For Civil Rights. Other news on technology looks at how tech giants are seeking “opportunistic” changes.
As unemployment surges, Medicaid will likely see a reflective wave of new enrollees. But hefty investments into the program will be needed to absorb those extra costs. “You definitely see in the data that as unemployment goes up, the Medicaid rolls go up,” said Josh Bivens, of the Economic Policy Institute. “That’s good, and it’s supposed to happen: It’s a safety net. But this is a quick enough shock that it could be a huge financial burden on Medicaid systems across the states.”
Doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists are leaving their states to help Tulane Medical Center and other Louisiana hospitals, but red tape is slowing the relief effort. “I literally could have arranged a trip to West Africa and been in a hospital over there in the time that it’s taken me to do this in the United States,” said Dr. James Pettey, an orthopedic surgeon from Kentucky. Media outlets report on news from California, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia and District of Columbia, as well.
Rush To Find Rooms, Care For Homeless: LA, Seattle Scramble To Protect Most Vulnerable
Advocates say relocating the nation’s estimated 560,000 homeless people to indoor shelters will connect them to health care services key to detecting and combating outbreaks. In Los Angeles, officials install hand-washing stations and try to spread the word about social distancing to people who are used to sharing. Other public health news is on easing blood-donation restrictions for gay men, disruptions in cancer treatments, primer on coronavirus vs. other ailments, mental health, and tracing how travelers quickly spread the virus, as well.
Getting goods to consumers is a complicated process that is impacting truck drivers around the world. In some states, there’s no place open to find a meal or spend the night. In other countries, long wait times at borders and public system changes delay deliveries. But one things clear: fewer drivers on the roads makes some trips faster. News on the supply chain is also on delays in shipments of fruits, controversial hiring of seasonal workers, infected Amazon facilities and an oversupply of milk, as well.
While there’s no approved treatment for the coronavirus, patients are still receiving medication to ease some of the symptoms, such as medications used to keep airways open. With the surge in demand, those drugs could be the next fronts of the shortages war.
New York state and New York City in particular have emerged as the epicenter of the outbreak in the country. The sharp rise in demand for medical equipment to deal with the crisis has forced state officials to pay about 15 times the usual price for some things. Meanwhile, state lawmakers want to protect doctors who are on the front lines of the pandemic from criminal suits.
