Medical Treatments

Health & Safety

Life After Intubation: People Face Physical, Cognitive Issues

4:24pm April 20, 2020

by Jon Hamilton

The majority of people recover from COVID-19, but some who have been in intensive care still have a variety of health problems, both physical and cognitive, after they leave the hospital.

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A January report found that 40% of U.S. counties don't have a single health care provider approved to prescribe buprenorphine, a medicine integral to helping many patients beat opioid addiction. Permitting more-distant doctors to evaluate patients online

Coronavirus Crisis Spurs Access To Online Treatment For Opioid Addiction

3:54pm April 20, 2020

by Phil Galewitz

The federal government has waived a law that required an in-person doctor's visit before patients could be prescribed drugs that quell withdrawal symptoms. That's a boon for patients, counselors say.

All 84 residents of Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Riverside, Calif., were evacuated from the facility in early April after 39 residents tested positive for the coronavirus.

Health & Safety

Discharging COVID-19 Patients To Nursing Homes Called A 'Recipe For Disaster'

9:57am April 20, 2020

by Ina Jaffe

New York and New Jersey want nursing homes to accept recovering hospital patients, regardless of their COVID-19 status, to free up space in hospitals. What's to keep the virus from spreading?

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Ambulances arrive at a hospital in New York City, where concerns are rising about the supply of dialysis equipment for ICU patients.

Health & Safety

Shortage Of Dialysis Equipment Leads To Difficult Decisions In New York ICUs

6:57pm April 19, 2020

by Fred Mogul

Hospital workers on the front lines in the New York metro area have been sounding the alarm about an insufficient supply of dialysis machines for patients with COVID-19-related kidney damage.

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Emergency medical technicians wheel a patient into the ER of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Emergency hospitalizations related to COViD-19 can be costly. Fine print in the HHS rules regarding the CARES Act seem to spare patients at least some o

In Fine Print, HHS Seems To Have Banned Surprise Medical Bills During The Pandemic

8:26pm April 17, 2020

by Emmarie Huetteman

Guidance regarding the CARES Act says health care providers who take emergency funds aren't allowed to "balance bill" coronavirus patients ― and every patient is a possible COVID-19 patient.

Mammoth Biosciences and researchers at the University of California, San Francisco are working on a coronavirus test that could run multiple samples at once, with results in 35-40 minutes. Even better, they say, it doesn't require the sophisticated, expen

CRISPR And Spit Might Be Keys To Faster, Cheaper, Easier Tests For The Coronavirus

4:45pm April 17, 2020

by Joe Palca

Researchers are racing to develop quick, home-based tests for the virus that could deliver test results in minutes. None do that yet, but several under development hold promise, scientists say.

In 1989, Fauci and then-U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Louis W. Sullivan (right) announced results of studies showing that the antiviral drug AZT had delayed the onset of disease in some people with HIV.

Long Before COVID-19, Dr. Anthony Fauci 'Changed Medicine In America Forever'

5:33pm April 16, 2020

by Dave Davies

New Yorker writer Michael Specter covered Fauci's early work in the AIDS epidemic. "He's always taken an open-minded approach to the problems," Specter says of the infectious-disease expert.

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Health & Safety

Coronavirus Precautions Pose A Particular Challenge For Alzheimer's Patients

4:20pm April 16, 2020

by Jon Hamilton

Coronavirus poses special challenges for people with Alzheimer's disease. Many cannot be isolated because they depend on caregivers. Others may not remember instructions like washing their hands.

Health & Safety

Listener Questions About COVID-19 Immunity In Recovered Patients

9:50pm April 15, 2020

After COVID-19 patients recover, do they have immunity? Dr. Celine Gounder, an epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist, answers listener questions about how the body can fight the disease.

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