Latest KFF Health News Stories
Safety Protections Lacking For Millions Of Essential Workers, Report Says
ProPublica reports on thousands of complaints filed by workers to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration at a time when the agency has issued a series of guidelines that roll back safety standards and eliminate most non-health care workers from government protection. News on workers is on the call for hazard pay, sick leave and unclear directives for Indiana businesses, as well.
Media outlets report on news from California, Texas, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Michigan.
New EPA Mercury Pollution Rule Loosens Restrictions On Coal-Plant Emissions
The Trump administration rolled back an Obama-era regulation that required U.S. coal plants to cut back emissions of mercury and other air pollutants by revising the math the government uses to value human health. “We have put in place an honest accounting method that balances,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist.
Blood-Shortage Aid: Group Of Doctors Pushes For FDA To Let Gay Men Donate Blood
The FDA started banning donations from gay men in 1983, early in the AIDS epidemic. While the agency recently shortened the wait period when blood donations dropped during the pandemic, doctors say science-based evidence shows that ruling doesn’t go far enough. Other public health news reports on domestic violence rising in New York City, Facebook misinformation, divorce attorneys awaiting business, extremists’ perfect storm, and tech efforts to track data, as well.
Scientists around the globe race to unlock the mysteries of the novel coronavirus. Sometimes it gives up its secrets and sometimes the answers just lead to more questions.
Stress Of Pandemic Reveals Just How Fragile That Booming Economy Was In The First Place
In four weeks, the country has plunged into Great Depression-levels of unemployment, and the swift economic devastation shows just how vulnerable the system was at a time that appeared like great growth and prosperity. “We built an economy with no shock absorbers,” said Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel-winning economist. “We made a system that looked like it was maximizing profits but had higher risks and lower resiliency.”
Only about $30 billion has been distributed thus far from a pot of $100 billion earmarked for hospitals and health-care providers. In addition to that, the distribution of the relief money didn’t take hot spots into account, so the places that in most need say they are getting shortchanged.
Despite The High Stakes, Congress Unable To Shake Off Shackles Of Partisan Disputes
The emergency fund for small businesses ran out this week, but lawmakers haven’t been able to reach an agreement on supplementing the relief money. The swift, bipartisan action seen on the $2.2 trillion stimulus package has become the exception instead of the rule even in the midst of staggering economic devastation. Meanwhile, as that cash is being dispersed, there’s still little oversight on the spending, even though Democrats pushed hard for that concession.
The alarming discovery also casts a broader spotlight on the devastation that the pandemic is wreaking on the nation’s nursing homes. “These numbers keep spreading like wildfire,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said.
The coronavirus has exacted a severe toll on the patchwork of community clinics and storefront doctors in New York City’s central Queens neighborhoods. In other news on health-care providers: a respiratory therapist talks about working “code to code;” workers staying at hotels; recovered doctors go back to the front lines; and more.
Demand Sends Costs Of Protective Gear Skyrocketing: ‘There’s No End In Sight’
The cost of N95 masks surged from $0.38 to $5.75 each (a 1,513% increase), the cost of vinyl exam gloves went up from $0.02 to $0.06 (300% increase); and the cost of isolation gowns went from $0.25 to $5.00 (2,000% increase), according to a report on the spiking cost of gear. In other news on personal protective equipment: decontamination of masks, an investigation into the VA’s mask supply, shortages spark innovation; and more.
FEMA Braces For A Multi-Front War As Wildfire And Hurricane Seasons Loom
FEMA is already leading a historic response effort to the pandemic, but the overtaxed agency will also have to take the lead when the next natural disaster hits. Other preparedness news focuses on ventilators and medical equipment from China.
Commercial Labs Sitting On Excess Capacity For COVID-19 Testing But They’re Going Unused
President Donald Trump said that the sharp drop-off in commercial testing was a good sign because it indicated that “states are moving to faster, more local testing solutions including on the spot tests.” But experts say the U.S. is nowhere close to testing the amount it needs to in order to reopen and commercial labs remain frustrated that they’re not being used to full capacity.
“The best news is that most of our patients have already been discharged, which is great. We’ve only had two patients perish,” said Kathleen Mullane, of the University of Chicago, in a video obtained by Stat. The antiviral had been singled out in the early days as one that might offer the most hope as a coronavirus treatment. But the trial does not include what’s known as a control group, so it will be difficult to say whether the drug is truly helping patients recover better. In other pharmaceutical news: the dangerous rush to approve hydroxychloroquine; a look at where all treatment studies stand; herbal remedies growing in popularity; and more.
Moderna, NIH Bringing Older Americans Into Vaccine Trials And Get $483M To Accelerate Development
The trial originally focused on healthy younger Americans, but the NIH and Moderna are now reaching out to more vulnerable populations, as well. Meanwhile, the company receives a large infusion of money that experts say shows the vaccine’s development has moved far along enough that preparations are under way to test it further and to expand manufacturing.
The prior record was 2,569, reported the day before. COVID-19 is on pace to become the largest single killer of Americans, given the normal number of deaths in an April week. Meanwhile, most experts agree it’s hard to get an accurate count due to spotty testing and the actual number of both cases and deaths are likely higher.
Texas Becomes Mail-In-Voting War’s Next Battleground
As Texas Democrats push for mail-in-voting, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a letter saying someone already ill with COVID-19 could vote by mail, but that the mere fear of contracting the illness wouldn’t qualify. Across the country, tensions are rising as states and election officials try to ensure voters will be able to safely made their voice heard in November.
Midwest States Are Latest Regional Area To Form Coalition To Reopen Economy
Seven Midwestern governors are banding together to plan a way to gracefully restart their economies, stressing that they’ll take “a fact-based, data-driven approach.” The neighbors’ partnership is just the latest — following in the footsteps of West and East Coast states — in a tacit agreement that disease knows no state boundaries. Meanwhile, some Americans grow weary of the shutdown, but a majority worry that states will reopen too soon.
By Keeping Conversations Informal With Economic Panel, Trump Can Circumvent Transparency Laws
The Federal Advisory Committee Act requires outside advisory committees to hold open meetings and issue public reports, but since the conversations with members of the economic panel are being characterized as casual, they don’t have to be recorded. Notably, the White House also avoided the term “committee” in its announcement. In other news on the Trump administration’s to the crisis: the president’s WHO decision draws backlash, Trump’s former personal attorney released from prison early amid virus fears, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s popularity soars, and more.
Trump Releases 3-Phase Plan To Reopen Country, But Admits Governors Are At The Wheel
“We are not opening all at once, but one careful step at a time,” President Donald Trump said. The plan leans heavily on the idea that some states that have not been as hard-hit can reopen quicker than hot spots. Trump also walked back prior claims that he has “total” authority on lifting shut-down measures. “You’re going to call your own shots,” he told governors on a call to discuss the guidelines.
