On Disabilities

Ventilators can be a temporary bridge to recovery — many patients in critical care who need them for help breathing get better.

As The Pandemic Spreads, Will There Be Enough Ventilators?

3:11pm March 14, 2020

by Patti Neighmond

In severe cases of COVID-19, as lungs become inflamed, membranes that transfer oxygen into the blood can become blocked. Some hospitalized patients need mechanical breathing support to recover.

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In a widely shared graphic, a tan curve represents a scenario without social distancing measures and where the U.S. hospital system becomes inundated with coronavirus patients.

Flattening A Pandemic's Curve: Why Staying Home Now Can Save Lives

7:21pm March 13, 2020

by Maria Godoy

From school closures to event cancellations, the disruptions are real — and vital. It's all to slow the spread of coronavirus, so hospitals don't get so overwhelmed that they can't treat the sickest.

A passenger checks flight information at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy. President Trump imposed a 30-day ban on most travelers coming from from European countries, beginning late Friday E.T.

Public Health Experts Question Trump's Ban On Most Travelers From Europe

11:35pm March 12, 2020

by Jason Beaubien

A key medical adviser to the president on COVID-19 defends the travel restrictions as "the right public health call." But others dismiss the move as "remarkably pointless" or, potentially, dangerous.

President Trump signs an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill in the White House Friday. That's significantly more than he originally requested from Congress.

Where That $8.3 Billion In U.S. Coronavirus Funding Will And Won't Go

1:33pm March 07, 2020

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

President Trump and Congress Friday authorized a package of emergency funding to help and treat and slow the spread of COVID-19. About $950 million is designated for state and local response.

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The Trump administration said Wednesday that inspectors will be dispatched to determine whether staff at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., followed infection-control rules in the weeks leading up to deaths of residents there from COVID-19.

Health & Safety

Trump Administration Announces New Scrutiny Of Nursing Homes

11:39am March 05, 2020

by Jordan Rau

Health inspectors are to be "hyperfocused on infection control right now," officials say, as they suss out what allowed COVID-19 to spread in a Kirkland, Wash., nursing home.

Scientists at the Casey Eye Institute, in Portland, Ore., have have injected a harmless virus containing CRISPR gene-editing instructions inside the retinal cells of a patient with a rare form of genetic blindness.

In A 1st, Scientists Use Revolutionary Gene-Editing Tool To Edit Inside A Patient

12:41pm March 04, 2020

by Rob Stein

Doctors used CRISPR to edit genes of cells inside a patient's eye, hoping to restore vision to a person blinded by a rare genetic disorder. A similar strategy might work for some brain diseases.

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Sarah Ziegenhorn and Andy Beeler shared a selfie while hiking in Texas' Big Bend National Park in December 2018. Beeler died of an opioid overdose last March. Ziegenhorn traces his death to the many obstacles to medical care that Beeler experienced while

Health & Safety

They Fell In Love Helping Drug Users. But Fear Kept Him From Helping Himself

3:41pm February 24, 2020

by Will Stone

Sarah and Andy were in love and also advocates, determined to keep drug users from dying. But when his own addiction reemerged, Andy's fear of returning to prison kept him from the best treatment.

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The house that John High rents with his son in Norman, Okla., doesn't even have a windowless room he could retreat to in a tornado, he says, and he can't afford to build a a wheelchair-accessible storm shelter.

Health & Safety

Many Tornado Alley Residents With Disabilities Lack Safe Options In A Storm

1:43pm February 18, 2020

by Jackie Fortier

Oklahoma used to have more public shelters that could accommodate wheelchairs. But many have closed, and there's still no financial aid for renters with disabilities to build safe alternatives.

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This image from an electron microscope shows a cross-sectional view of an oligodendrocyte (blue) among nerve fibers coated with myelin (dark red). In models of autism spectrum disorder, oligodendrocytes appear to create too much or too little myelin.

Researchers Link Autism To A System That Insulates Brain Wiring

5:45pm February 03, 2020

by Jon Hamilton

Brains affected by autism appear to share a problem with cells that make myelin, the insulating coating surrounding nerve fibers that controls the speed at which the fibers convey electrical signals.

Overall, U.S. health spending is more than twice the average of other Western nations, and it's not just a matter of high drug prices. No wonder voters list health and the high price of care as one of their major election concerns as they head to the poll

U.S. Elections 2020: Understanding What's At Stake For Health Care

1:02pm January 29, 2020

by Julie Rovner

With the Iowa caucuses and first primaries just weeks away, many voters say they're still confused about how presidential candidates differ on health care. Here's a guide to key issues and terms.