A large, seven-year study found 20 minutes of daily exercise reduced hospitalizations from 4 percent to 23 percent for different conditions, U.S. News and World Report reported Feb. 20.
Category: Public Health
A Law Was Meant to Free Sick or Aging Inmates. Instead, Some Are Left to Die in Prison.
The First Step Act was supposed to help free terminally ill and aging federal inmates who pose little or no threat to public safety. But while petitions for compassionate release skyrocketed during the pandemic, judges denied most requests.
Cleanup Workers Got Sick After Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. They Want BP to Pay.
After the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2020, Rodney Boblitt’s job was to patrol a 14-mile stretch of coastline in the Florida Panhandle looking for signs of oil washing ashore. Today, the 54-year-old is among thousands of other cleanup workers who are experiencing health issues and suing BP. But proving their health conditions were caused by the oil has been challenging.
The Commercialization of Covid Vaccines Is Coming. Here’s What It Means.
In this commentary for Barron’s, KFF’s Cynthia Cox and Jennifer Kates explore what will happen with costs to COVID-19 vaccines for people with and without insurance once the relevant public health emergency ends on May 11.
Ohio train derailment prompts health concerns
A Norfolk Southern freight train transporting six hazardous industrial chemicals derailed Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio, leading to concerns of long-term contamination.
Protection after COVID-19 infection on par with vaccination, large study finds
A new study published in The Lancet found immunity acquired from a COVID-19 infection reduced the risk of hospitalization and death from reinfection at levels that are “at least as high, if not higher,” than two vaccine doses. Still, experts caution va…
Spring may bring a COVID-19 uptick, data suggests
National data tracked by The New York Times indicates another increase in COVID-19 cases as test positivity rates rise and more states report admissions.
The Kids Are Not OK
A new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that teenagers, particularly girls, are reporting all-time high rates of violence and profound mental distress. Meanwhile, both sides in the abortion debate are anxiously waiting for a district court decision in Texas that could effectively revoke the FDA’s 22-year-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHN’s chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more.
CDC probing source of multistate Listeria outbreak
The CDC and FDA are investigating a multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, Food Safety News reported Feb. 16.
White House eyes plan to protect access to COVID-19 care post PHE
The Biden administration is weighing a tentative plan that would ensure COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests remain free for uninsured individuals into 2024, according to a Feb. 16 report from Politico.
