Category: Kaiser Health News

An Anti-Vaccine Film Targeted to Black Americans Spreads False Information

A new movie produced by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine group tries to capitalize on the covid-19 pandemic, the racial justice movement and renewed interest in the history of medical racism.

Women Now Drink as Much as Men — And Are Prone to Sickness Sooner

Young women have closed the gender gap for excessive drinking. And that was before the pandemic. The trend is particularly troubling because women are at greater risk for blackouts, liver disease, cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers linked to alcohol use.

Zooming Into the Statehouse: Nursing Home Residents Use New Digital Skills to Push for Changes

Connecticut residents who learned how to communicate with family and friends through digital technology when their nursing homes closed to visitors last year used that skill to testify remotely during legislative hearings on bills affecting them.

Unused Johnson & Johnson Covid Doses Are Piling Up as FDA Waits to See if Shelf Life Can Be Extended

As vaccine expiration dates loom, states with hundreds of thousands of doses on hand say demand is tanking and there’s no easy way to donate to other states or countries that might want them

With Roots in Civil Rights, Community Health Centers Push for Equity in the Pandemic

Community health centers were born in the 1960s to reach low-income communities. But some rural health experts say federally qualified health centers were a missing piece in achieving early equity in the vaccine rollout.

Kidney Experts Say It’s Time to Remove Race From Medical Algorithms. Doing So Is Complicated.

When estimating how well a patient’s kidneys are working, doctors frequently turn to an equation that depends on a question: Is the patient Black? Kidney experts are now debating how to remove the race adjustment and whether the question is a function of sound science. It’s considered just the first step in dismantling institutional racism in kidney care.

Boeing Tested Air Purifiers Like Those Widely Used in Schools. It Decided Not to Use Them in Planes.

The technology that schools have been snapping up in the fight against covid “has not shown significant disinfection effectiveness” to install on its planes, Boeing found. Now the company’s study is being debated in a proposed class-action suit.

With Restrictions Tightening Elsewhere, California Moves to Make Abortion Cheaper

California lawmakers are debating a bill that would eliminate out-of-pocket costs that often prevent people from obtaining abortions, proponents say.

Trying to Avoid Racist Health Care, Black Women Seek Out Black Obstetricians

Besides shared culture and values, a Black physician can offer Black patients a sense of safety, validation and trust. By contrast, the impact of systemic racism can show up starkly in childbirth. Black women are three times as likely to die after giving birth as white women in the United States.

Covid Was a Tipping Point for Telehealth. If Some Have Their Way, Virtual Visits Are Here to Stay.

Pressure is mounting on Congress and the Biden administration to make permanent pandemic-inspired rules that fueled telehealth growth. Some fear fraud and ballooning costs.