Pharma&Tech102121

What Will It Take to Boost Vaccinations? The Scene From Kentucky’s Back Roads
By Sarah Varney With Kentucky in the grip of a covid surge, public health workers are taking their vaccination campaign house to house and church to church, trying to outmaneuver the fantastical tales spread on social media and everyday hurdles of hardship and isolation.

The Public Backs Medicare Rx Price Negotiation Even After Hearing Both Sides’ Views
By Amanda Michelle Gomez But Americans generally have little confidence that the White House or Congress will recommend the right thing, a new poll shows.

What the Stalemate on Capitol Hill Means for Your Drug Prices
By Sarah Jane Tribble Despite big 2020 campaign promises to deliver lower costs on prescription drugs, Democrats have failed to unite around a legislative plan.

Alzheimer’s Drug Targets People With Mild Cognitive Impairment. What Does That Mean?
By Judith Graham The condition can be an early signal of Alzheimer’s disease, but not always. Other health concerns could be causing thinking or memory problems, and the new drug, Aduhelm, would not be appropriate for those patients.

From the FDA’s Empty Seat to Chock-Full ICUs, Journalists Recap the Week’s Stories
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

Watch: Going Beyond the Script of ‘Dopesick’ and America’s Real-Life Opioid Crisis
KHN teamed up with Hulu for a discussion of America's opioid crisis, following the Oct. 13 premiere of the online streaming service’s new series “Dopesick.”

Insurance Focused on Virtual Visits? The Pros and Cons of a New Twist in Health Plans
By Julie Appleby New, often lower-cost plans capitalize on the convenience of telemedicine — and patients’ growing familiarity with it. But consumers should weigh costs and care options before enrolling in a “virtual-first” plan.

A Daily Pill to Treat Covid Could Be Just Months Away, Scientists Say
By JoNel Aleccia At least three promising antiviral treatments for covid-19 are being tested in clinical trials, with results expected as soon as late fall or winter.

Q&A: How Will California’s New 988 Mental Health Line Actually Work?
By Jenny Gold California Assembly member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, who authored legislation to create and fund the state’s new 988 phone line for mental health emergencies, spoke with KHN about the effort and what more will be needed to create a full-fledged response network for people experiencing mental health crises.

A Colorado Town Is About as Vaccinated as It Can Get. Covid Still Isn’t Over There.
By Rae Ellen Bichell San Juan County, Colorado, is one of the most vaccinated counties in the U.S. Leaders across the country continue to expound on the vaccine as the path forward in the pandemic. But San Juan’s experience the past few weeks with its first covid hospitalizations shows that, even with an extremely vaccinated population, masks are still necessary.

Covid Testing, Turnaround Times Are Still Uneven This Far Into Pandemic
By Rae Ellen Bichell The availability of covid testing and turnaround times for results still vary widely around the country, some 19 months since the pandemic was declared a national crisis. A jumbled testing system, technician burnout and squirrely spikes in demand are all part of the problem.

A Covid Test Costing More Than a Tesla? It Happened in Texas.
By Aneri Pattani A patient from Dallas got a PCR test in a free-standing suburban emergency room. The out-of-network charge: $54,000.

Journalists Drill Down on Covid Vaccine Boosters, Misinformation Online
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

Student Nurses Who Refuse Vaccination Struggle to Complete Degrees
By Michelle Andrews The Biden administration is requiring workers at health care facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid payments to be vaccinated. For the minority of nursing students who have refused a shot, the new policy could mean they can’t get the training they need in a hospital or other health care venue.

Needle Exchanges Are Targeted by Eco-Rooted Lawsuits. A New California Law Will Stop That.
By Rachel Bluth Opponents of free needle programs in California are using environmental regulations to shut them down. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will end that strategy.

California Vaccine Mandate Extends to Aides for People With Disabilities
By Jackie Fortiér, LAist Even though they perform the same intimate tasks as nursing home and hospital workers, in-home health aides initially were left out of California’s vaccine mandate. They must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 30.

NY Reaches Agreement With DOJ Over Vaccine Access for Blind People
By Lauren Weber and Hannah Recht Following a February KHN investigation into covid vaccine accessibility, the Department of Justice reached an agreement with five New York government agencies to make their websites accessible to people who are visually impaired.

Organ Centers to Transplant Patients: Get a Covid Shot or Move Down on Waitlist
By JoNel Aleccia At issue is whether transplant patients who refuse the shots are not only putting themselves at greater risk for serious illness and death from covid-19, but also squandering scarce organs that could benefit others.

Journalists Examine Vaccination Rates Among Student Nurses and in Covid Hot Spots
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

Journalists Tell How Covid Complicates Organ Transplants and the Health of Rural America
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Politics of Vaccine Mandates
Like almost everything else associated with the covid-19 pandemic, partisans are taking sides over whether vaccines should be mandated. Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are still struggling to find compromise in their effort to expand health insurance and other social programs. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews best-selling author Beth Macy about her book “Dopesick,” and the new Hulu miniseries based on it.

Científicos dicen que una píldora diaria para tratar covid estaría a meses de distancia
By JoNel Aleccia Los medicamentos que se están investigando tendrían el potencial de interferir con la capacidad del virus para replicarse en las células humanas.