health care

Health & Safety

Supplies Sent To Labs By Trump Administration To Boost Testing Are Not Always Helpful

4:05pm June 22, 2020

by Rob Stein

The program shipping swabs and other supplies to labs is one of the Trump administration's efforts to ensure sufficient coronavirus testing. But some of these supplies have turned out to be hazardous.

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Demonstrators on both sides of the abortion debate rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 19, 2018.

Study Examines The Lasting Effects Of Having — Or Being Denied — An Abortion

2:43pm June 16, 2020

by Terry Gross

In The Turnaway Study, Diana Greene Foster shares research conducted over 10 years with about 1,000 women who had or were denied abortions, tracking impacts on mental, physical and economic health.

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Matt Ford is seen in Verona, Wis., with one of his caregivers, Grace Brunette. An accident in 1987 left Ford paralyzed in all four limbs. He needs help getting in and out of bed, preparing meals, using the bathroom and driving. Brunette recently finished

Health & Safety

People With Disabilities Find The Coronavirus Has Cut Them Off From Their Caregivers

10:00am June 16, 2020

by Bram Sable-Smith

Wisconsin was already facing a shortage of caregivers who provide crucial health services and help their clients live and work independently. The pandemic has eroded this workforce even more.

Health workers and others rallied in Seattle during a Doctors For Justice event on June 6, protesting police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death. Medical training needs a hard look too, doctors say: Students of color and LGBTQ people often bear

Racism, Hazing And Other Abuse Taints Medical Training, Students Say

5:00am June 16, 2020

by Mara Gordon

More than 35% of students surveyed experienced mistreatment in a U.S. medical school. "There's a direct link between this abuse and how some ... health care disparities play out," a black doctor says.

Costs have gone up for addiction treatment centers in recent months, as they have had to invest in teletherapy and personal protective gear. "We are at risk for not having the funding that we need to keep our doors open," says one medical director.

Health & Safety

A New Addiction Crisis: Treatment Centers Face Financial Collapse

5:59pm June 15, 2020

by Yuki Noguchi

Alcohol and drug consumption have increased recently, but fewer patients have sought treatment. Most treatment centers face possible closure even as they anticipate a post-pandemic surge in need.

Who Should Pay For COVID-19 Tests?

5:22pm June 15, 2020

by Blake Farmer

Congress required health plans to fully cover COVID-19 testing, but insurance companies say they should only have to pay if tests are "medically necessary" or ordered by a doctor.

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Drivers line up for COVID-19 testing in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles in May.

What Zebra Mussels Can Tell Us About Errors In Coronavirus Tests

4:41pm June 15, 2020

by Richard Harris

The standard test for infection with the coronavirus looks for a genetic fingerprint. Laboratory errors, including contamination, can lead to false results, a problem seen with environmental testing.

Paramedics from the San Antonio Fire Department set up swabbing stations in a suburban nursing home's parking lot as part of the massive state intervention to stop the spread of infections in Texas nursing homes.

National

Texas Calls In A Strike Force To Try To Slow Coronavirus Spread In Nursing Homes

12:44pm June 15, 2020

by John Burnett

More than one-third of all COVID-19 deaths in America have been elderly residents and workers at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

San Francisco librarian Lisa Fagundes was redeployed during the pandemic to work as a contact tracer.

Health & Safety

As California Trains 20,000 Contact Tracers, Librarians and Tax Assessors Step Up

7:00am June 14, 2020

by April Dembosky

California is paying to train a huge contingent of contact tracers by July. Many of the new recruits are librarians: they're curious, tech savvy, and great at talking to strangers.

Roger Severino, who directs the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services, has long argued that "sex discrimination" protections in the Affordable Care Act aren't meant to encompass protections for transgender people.

Transgender Health Protections Reversed By Trump Administration

8:35pm June 12, 2020

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Trump has reversed Obama-era protections that prohibit discrimination in health care based on gender identity. Critics warn the rule could harm a vulnerable group — LGBTQ people — during a pandemic.