Category: NPR

The FDA Has Been Without A Permanent Leader For 8 Months, As COVID Cases Climb

Dr. Janet Woodcock, an administrative veteran of the Food and Drug Administration since the 1980s, has been acting director of the agency since January. Why is the permanent job so hard to fill?

The Best Time For Rehabilitation After A Stroke Might Actually Be 2 To 3 Months Later

Intensive rehabilitative therapy that starts two to three months after a stroke may be key to helping the injured brain rewire, a new study suggests. That’s later than covered by many insurance plans.

The Affordable Care Act Can Help Au Pairs Avoid Medical Debt

Child care workers from outside the U.S. often buy health coverage through an agency. But those policies can have big gaps, critics warn. ACA plans are comprehensive and, with subsidies, can be cheap.

Overwhelmed With COVID Patients, Oregon Hospitals Postpone Surgeries And Cancer Care

Patients with advanced cancer and heart disease are among those who have had to wait for surgeries and other procedures as critically ill, unvaccinated COVID patients strain the medical system.

Data Mining Helped Medicare Advantage Plans Commit Fraud, Justice Department Alleges

In a civil suit filed this week, the Justice Department accuses a New York medical analytics company and two consultants of helping health plans for seniors cheat Medicare out of millions of dollars.

This Doctor Spread False Information About COVID. She Still Kept Her Medical License

Simone Gold isn’t alone. NPR found other physicians who retained their licenses despite spreading misinformation online and to the media about effective COVID-19 vaccines and unproven treatments.

A N.Y. Hospital Will Stop Delivering Babies As Workers Quit Over A Vaccine Mandate

Lewis County General Hospital in upstate New York is pausing maternity services later this month after dozens of staff members quit because they refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Idaho’s Hospitals Are Overwhelmed, But Many Locals Remain Skeptical Of Vaccines

At least 10 hospitals in the state started rationing care for everyone because they’re filled with COVID-19 patients. But there’s deep distrust of authority.

Yes, Gov. DeSantis, Studies Do Show Masks Curb Covid-19 In Schools

Several studies over the past year and a half have arrived at the same conclusion: mask wearing significantly limits transmission of the coronavirus in schools.

A Teen Called For Masks In School After His Grandma Died Of COVID. Adults Mocked Him

“If they laugh at me about a personal story about my grandmother, that’s just disrespectful, I feel,” Tennessee teenager Grady Knox reportedly said.