Health & Safety

Despite its central role in the COVID pandemic, the infectious diseases specialty saw 44% of its training programs for doctors go unfilled.

Health & Safety

Newest doctors shun infectious diseases specialty

3:37pm December 12, 2022

by Pien Huang

The pandemic put infectious diseases doctors in the spotlight. The 'Fauci Effect' raised the number of fellowship applicants in 2020, but this year almost half of the training programs went unfilled.

Fahir Mayow holds her nephew, eight-month-old Ahmed Noor, at Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu on Monday. Ahmed arrived at the hospital one week ago, weighing 3.5 kilograms, just under 8 pounds.

Somalia battles hunger as it braces for famine during a prolonged drought

3:12pm December 12, 2022

by Jason Beaubien

International aid groups are warning of a catastrophic food crisis, as Somalia faces what could be its worst drought in 40 years. Nearly 2 million children are suffering from malnutrition.

Health & Safety

NTSB: Plane made sputtering sound, upside down before crash

12:58pm December 12, 2022

by Associated Press

A plane that crashed last month in North Carolina, killing two people from Illinois, made a sputtering sound and was upside down shortly before hitting the ground, according to a preliminary report

Health & Safety

Two fledgling entrepreneurs win MIT prizes for their global health apps

12:02pm December 12, 2022

by Vicky Hallett

The winners confronted stigma and health equity in some countries with their tech ideas to help LGBTQI+ youth reach out for help and let women access private OB-GYN care.

Health & Safety

Doctors warn that heart attacks spike this time of year

5:00am December 12, 2022

by Allison Aubrey

We know viruses are on the rise as we head into the holiday season, but cardiologists want us to know that there is also an increased risk of heart attacks at this time of year.

A review of 90 government audits, released exclusively to KHN in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, reveals that some health insurers issuing Medicare Advantage plans have tried to sidestep regulations requiring them to document medical conditions the government paid them to treat.

How Medicare Advantage plans dodged auditors and overcharged taxpayers by millions

5:00am December 12, 2022

A KHN investigation found when some Medicare Advantage plans got a rare federal audit, they couldn't produce billing records for care they said they'd provided. Some blamed fire, flood — or doctors.

A security guard keeps watch inside a booth outside an office building in Beijing, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022.

China to drop travel tracing as it relaxes 'zero-COVID'

2:14am December 12, 2022

by The Associated Press

China will drop a travel tracing requirement as part of an uncertain exit from its strict "zero-COVID" policies that have elicited widespread dissatisfaction.

Canada is expanding categories for medically assisted death

5:20pm December 11, 2022

NPR's Michel Martin Speaks with Dr. Madeline Li about how Canada is set to expand the categories of those who can request medical assistance to end their lives to include people with mental illness.

A woman wears a mask indoors in Manhattan earlier this year, in New York City. The city's public health commissioner issued new guidance on Friday advising New Yorkers to wear face coverings in all public spaces.

Authorities are urging indoor masking in major cities as the 'tripledemic' rages

5:00am December 11, 2022

by Juliana Kim

The CDC is advising people to practice indoor masking in nearly a tenth of U.S. counties, as three highly contagious respiratory viruses sweep the country.

Health & Safety

Encore: Is lecanemab the Alzheimer's drug that will finally make a difference?

7:50am December 10, 2022

by Jon Hamilton

Researchers say the experimental Alzheimer's drug Lecanemab represents an important advance and is likely to get FDA approval in 2023, despite some safety concerns.