Pharma&Tech042821 - KFF Health News

Readers and Tweeters Give Tips on Treating Diabetes and Long Covid

Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.

Backed by Millions in Public and Private Cash, Rapid Covid Tests Are Coming to Stores Near You

Hannah Norman

Over-the-counter covid tests could help speed the economy’s recovery, allowing students and workers to test themselves at home and get quick results. Could they become as ubiquitous as toothpaste and cold remedies on store shelves, or will demand dry up as the nation gets vaccinated?

FDA Seeks a New Way to Review Old Drugs Without Causing Prices to Soar

Harris Meyer

A misguided federal program called the Unapproved Drugs Initiative, which put the FDA’s stamp of approval on old drugs, led to higher prices. It’s scrapped. So now what?

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Picking Up the Pace of Undoing Trump Policies

The Biden administration has started to speed efforts to reverse health policies forged under Donald Trump. Most recently, the administration overturned a ban on fetal tissue research and canceled a last-minute extension of a Medicaid waiver for Texas. That latter move may delay the Senate confirmation of President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Medicare and Medicaid programs, as Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) seeks to fight back. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Planning for Round Two

The ink is barely dry on the recent covid relief bill, but Democrats in Congress and President Joe Biden are wasting no time gearing up for their next big legislative package. Meanwhile, predictions of more states expanding Medicaid have proved premature. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Lauren Weber, who reported the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode.

California Counties a Hodgepodge of Highs and Lows in Vaccinating Vulnerable Seniors

Jenny Gold

Like many states, California is seeing huge regional variations in covid vaccination rates for people 65 and older. Remote rural counties are in some cases struggling to give away doses to vulnerable seniors, while metropolitan areas often have more demand than supply.

The Gender Vaccine Gap: More Women Than Men Are Getting Covid Shots

Laura Ungar

A KHN examination of state vaccine statistics shows that more women than men have gotten covid vaccines. Experts cite demographic realities of those who were part of the initial rollout but also women’s greater likelihood to seek preventive health care.

Redfield Joins Big Ass Fans, Which Promotes Controversial Covid-Killing Technology

Christina Jewett and Lauren Weber

Dr. Robert Redfield, Trump’s CDC director, lends his scientific credibility to its Clean Air Systems subsidiary, which touts a “virus-killing ion technology” added to its fans. But indoor air quality experts question whether some of its technology works in the real world.

Covid Spawns ‘Completely New Category’ of Organ Transplants

JoNel Aleccia

Nearly 60 organ transplants have been performed after the coronavirus “basically destroyed” patients’ hearts and lungs.

Syphilis Cases in California Drive a Record-Setting Year for STDs Nationwide

April Dembosky, KQED

New data released Tuesday from the CDC shows sexually transmitted infections reached an all-time high in 2019. The biggest spike was in syphilis cases, which rose 74% between 2015 and 2019. Leading the country in syphilis is California, where men who have sex with men make up half the cases.

Analysis: I Was a Teenage Rifle Owner, Then an ER Doctor. Assault Weapons Shouldn’t Count as ‘Guns.’

Elisabeth Rosenthal

The United States has undergone a cultural, definitional, practical shift on guns and what they are for.

4 Things to Know About the J&J Covid Vaccine Pause

Phil Galewitz

The messaging surrounding vaccine safety and efficacy may mean as much as the science.

Ask KHN-PolitiFact: I’ve Recovered From Covid. Why Do I Still Have to Mask Up?

Carmen Heredia Rodriguez

The simple answer is that enough remains unknown about covid transmission, post-infection immunity and the threat of emerging variants that masks are still advisable.

Mysterious Ailment, Mysterious Relief: Vaccines Help Some Covid Long Haulers

Will Stone

Scientists who study the post-illness syndrome are taking a close look at patients' reports of this unexpected benefit of the vaccine.

They Tested Negative for Covid. Still, They Have Long Covid Symptoms.

Lydia Zuraw

Despite a negative covid test, people could have been infected with the coronavirus anyway. And some of them might face lingering health issues.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Pause and Effect on Covid Vaccines

Podcast panelists discuss a range of health policy developments, from the latest in the covid vaccination effort to the HHS budget, among other things.

The Shock and Reality of Catching Covid After Being Vaccinated

Steven Findlay

At least 5,800 people have fallen ill or tested positive for covid two weeks or more after being fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. “I now tell everyone, including my colleagues, not to let their guard down."

Snag a Vaccine Appointment, Then Face the Next Hurdle: How to Get There?

Rae Ellen Bichell

For some, a vaccine appointment a few hours away is no biggie. For others, it’s a major barrier to gaining protection from the coronavirus.

Public Health Experts Worry About Boom-Bust Cycle of Support

Michelle R. Smith, The Associated Press and Lauren Weber and Hannah Recht

Congress has poured tens of billions of dollars into public health since last year. While health officials who have juggled bare-bones budgets for years are grateful for the money, they worry it will soon dry up, just as it has after previous crises such as 9/11, SARS and Ebola. Meanwhile, they continue to cope with an exodus from the field amid political pressure and exhaustion that meant 1 in 6 Americans lost their local health department leader.

After a Deadly Year on the Roads, States Push for Safety Over Speed

Rachel Bluth

Lawmakers in California and other states are rethinking how they set and enforce speed limits, and they’re proposing to hand more power to local authorities to slow drivers in their communities.

Censorship or Misinformation? DeSantis and YouTube Spar Over Covid Roundtable Takedown.

Victoria Knight

The Florida governor considers the pushback he received from the online video platform to be “Orwellian.” But the scientists featured at the event made specific statements YouTube deemed as “misinformation,” at odds with current public health recommendations for controlling the spread of the covid virus.

Another Soda Tax Bill Dies. Another Win for Big Soda.

Samantha Young

A bill that would have allowed California cities and counties to once again pursue taxes on sugary drinks was just shelved in the legislature without a hearing. Public health advocates blame the political — and financial — clout of the soft drink industry.

Strides Against HIV/AIDS Falter, Especially in the South, as Nation Battles Covid

Sarah Varney

Public health resources have shifted from one pandemic to the other, and experts fear steep declines in testing and diagnoses mean more people will contract HIV and die of AIDS.

California and Texas Took Different Routes to Vaccination. Who’s Ahead?

Anna Almendrala and Sandy West

California stresses equity for minority groups. Texas is all about personal choice and liberty. Both are struggling to vaccinate Latinos and contending with vaccine hesitancy among conservative communities.

Doctors Scramble to Understand Long Covid, but Causes and Prognosis Are Elusive

Michelle Andrews and Lydia Zuraw

Medical experts are struggling to define or explain the lingering, debilitating symptoms some covid patients experience. Part of the problem is the wide range of symptoms, but doctors say getting a better understanding will mean tracking patients and their outcomes and establishing clinical trials.

Only One Vaccine Is OK’d for Older Teens. It’s Also the Hardest to Manage in Rural America.

Katheryn Houghton

Of the three covid vaccines the U.S. government has authorized, only one is available to 16- and 17-year-olds: the Pfizer shot. It’s also the most complicated to manage in rural settings, with their small, dispersed populations. That forces some teens and their families to travel long distances for a dose — or go without.

Virtual Care Spreads in Missouri Health System, Home to ‘Hospital Without Beds’

Eric Berger

In 2015, St. Louis-based Mercy health system opened what officials called the world’s first “hospital without beds.” Since the pandemic, Mercy has incorporated telehealth throughout its system, part of a national acceleration in virtual care that proponents laud but critics say is happening too fast.

Pandemic Imperiled Non-English Speakers More Than Others

Martha Bebinger, WBUR

Covid patients who did not speak English well were 35% more likely to die, data from one Boston hospital shows.

Ohio’s Amish Suffered a Lot From Covid, but Vaccines Are Still a Hard Sell

Anna Huntsman, WCPN-Ideastream

Despite high mortality and infection rates, the counties of northeastern Ohio, where many Amish people live, have the lowest vaccination rates in the state.

Doctors More Likely to Prescribe Opioids to Covid ‘Long Haulers,’ Raising Addiction Fears

Liz Szabo

Chronic pain from covid can linger for months after patients appear to recover from the disease.

You Don’t Have to Suffer to Benefit From Covid Vaccination — But Some Prefer It

Arthur Allen

In the times of smallpox, vaccination was accompanied by blood, sweat, fire and brimstone. Nowadays, a slight fever may make you feel as if you’ve earned the reward of immunity from covid. But you’re protected even without a nasty reaction to the vaccine.