Latest KFF Health News Stories
Kidneys Vulnerable To COVID Attacks; Researchers Search For Genetic Link To Severe Cases
Media outlets look at the developments that are occurring every day as scientists try to better understand the virus.
Cuba Bets Big On An Old Antiviral As It Tries To Find Its Place Amid Global Treatment, Vaccine Race
The treatment has long been used internationally to treat dengue fever, cancer and hepatitis B and C. Studies during the SARS epidemic in 2003 suggested interferons might also be useful against coronaviruses. In other pharma news: patents, global remdesivir use, and hope from doctors.
Pandemic Lays Bare The Vulnerabilities In A Hospital System Comprised Of Separate Fiefdoms
The country doesn’t just have one hospital system — it’s made up of competing organizations that are more-often-than-not siloed from each other, even if they’re only blocks away.
Insurers Increasingly Returning To Health Law Marketplace In Stark Turnaround From Early Days Of ACA
Insurers no longer view the Affordable Care Act marketplace as a black hole for profits, but rather as a boon to their bottom line — especially in the midst of a pandemic.
Gawande Plans To Step Down As Haven’s CEO To Focus On Threats To Health From COVID-19
After two years in the role, Atal Gawande says his time is better spent now in an advisory position for the health care venture. He also just published an article in the New Yorker about how to safely reopen the country.
#WeMatterToo Campaign Urging Authorities To Address Lack Of Safety Measures In Jails, Prisons
“They are the people who usually are overlooked,” said the rapper Common, whose organization launched the campaign. Meanwhile, President Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort was released from prison due to COVID concerns.
Experts have been saying since the beginning of the crisis that deaths are being undercounted because of a lack of testing, and analyses of year-over-year deaths also indicate that thousands aren’t being included in the official COVID-19 fatality totals. But President Donald Trump and his advisers are starting to sow doubts about the numbers. Meanwhile, the official U.S. death toll stands at more than 84,000.
Three children in New York have died and hundreds of others are afflicted by an immune system response doctors think is linked to COVID. News on the children’s disease is also reported from New York, California, Georgia, Michigan, California, Massachusetts, England, Spain, and Italy.
Opinion pages focus on these health care issues and others.
Media outlets report on news from New York, Alaska, California, District of Columbia, Montana, Vermont, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Georgia.
As Nations Struggle To Lift Restrictions, People Around The World Test Out ‘New Normals’
Global pandemic developments are reported out of Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Philippines, New Zealand, Japan, Britain, Thailand, Mexico, Russia, Peru and Brazil.
Small Companies With Little Experience Delivering To Food Banks Awarded $1.2 Billion To Do So
While fast-tracking emergency aid to get more food to hungry people, the Department of Agriculture passed over several big produce companies with extensive expertise in distributing perishable produce between farmers and food banks in favor of these smaller firms. In other food supply news: euthanizing pigs; Tysons lowers beef prices; the challenges of shopping in remote areas; rotting crops; and an Atlanta drive-thru food drive.
Mail-In Voting Debate Rages On Following Traditional Ideological Divide
Democratic voters massively favor mail-in-voting while Republican voters are divided. But many are looking ahead at November and wondering if Republicans’ opposition is putting the party behind as the country shifts toward the inevitable. Meanwhile, a look at Nebraska and Wisconsin’s primaries offer hints of the future.
Pervasive U.S. unemployment continues as the latest weekly jobless claims reach 2.98 million. That number continues the gradual downward decline reported over the last 4 weeks, yet the total number of Americans out of work remains at staggering levels not seen since the Great Depression.
Special Oversight Committee’s First Meeting Highlights Chasm Between Parties Over Pandemic Response
The parties started the first meeting of the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis miles apart and ended it even further away. The partisan dissonance highlights how difficult any more relief negotiations will be. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that the “American people are worth” spending $3 trillion to help.
Former Glaxo Executive Tapped To Lead Trump’s ‘Operation Warp Speed’ Push For A Vaccine
The executive, Moncef Slaoui, will serve as chief adviser on the operation and U.S. General Gustav Perna will act as its chief operating officer. Meanwhile, French drugmaker Sanofi confirmed that the U.S. might get first access to its vaccine if it’s effective. “The U.S. government has the right to the largest pre-order because it’s invested in taking the risk,” Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said. And experts are already worried about vaccine misinformation.
Several New York state lawmakers, besieged by complaints that poor staffing and shoddy conditions allowed the virus to spread out of control in the homes, said they were blindsided by the provision that was added under the radar by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). More than 5,300 nursing home residents are believed to have died from COVID-19 in New York alone.
Dr. Rick Bright, an HHS official who claims he was targeted because he opposed COVID-19 policies, will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Bright, along with projecting a dire second wave if the virus isn’t contained, is expected to talk about cronyism in the agency.
It’s Not Just About National Trends: There Are 50 Different Curves, Complicating Reopening Guidance
Reopening discussions often revolve around national numbers, but each state — and even areas within states — are being impacted differently. Some say that leaders need to take those regional numbers into better account when setting up guidance to lift restrictions. Meanwhile, tensions continue to boil up over stay-at-home orders. And even some hot-spot states are inching toward reopening.
Wisconsin’s Highest Court Strikes Down Governor’s Stay-At-Home Order
The state’s Supreme Court said that while the governor is free to use his emergency powers, the authority cannot go be extended indefinitely. The decision let stand language that had closed schools, however, and local governments can still impose their own health restrictions.
