The nation’s nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are in dire need of drastic overhaul to dramatically improve the quality and safety of their treatment of the aged, sick, and disabled. They too often now get what one expert has described as “ineffective, inefficient, inequitable, fragmented, and unsustainable” care. To repair the glaring, longstanding….
Continue ReadingInfections
CDC, battered by pandemic, will undergo major rethink of its work
A public health agency once held up as the world’s gold standard will put itself under the microscope and try to diagnose swift, appropriate remedies for the relentless criticism it has received for months of faulty performance in dealing with one of the most lethal infectious disease outbreaks in a century. The federal Centers for….
Continue ReadingNew focus on battling long Covid underscores infection’s persistent risk
Even as the coronavirus pandemic’s pause shows signs of faltering, medical experts are continuing their deeper digs into the novel infection’s long-term effects including how to treat debilitating long and medium Covid and the calamitous intersection between Covid and chronic conditions like diabetes. The Biden Administration — taking fierce criticism for not acting sooner and….
Continue ReadingEven if pandemic lull lasts, more health care challenges are coming
The coronavirus pandemic does not have a magical on-off switch, and even if its current lull turns out to be longer lasting — and signs suggest this may not be so — the lethal infectious outbreak will keep sending shocks through the U.S. health care system that will affect us all. Experts are expressing growing….
Continue ReadingAlcohol abuse spiked during coronavirus pandemic, killing 100,000
Alcohol abuse blew up from a rising concern to a significant killer during the coronavirus pandemic, with 100,000 Americans losing their lives to booze-related causes, a 25% increase year-over-year in the first 12 months of the global infection’s outbreak. The figures from research newly published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows the….
Continue ReadingIn pandemic lull, the push is on for shots for kids and older adults
After months of experiencing how the coronavirus vaccines safely can slash infections, avert serious illnesses that can lead to hospitalizations, and prevent epic numbers of deaths, young and older patients soon will be asked to show (again) their confidence in the life changing and life saving value of Covid-19 shots. The pandemic-weary U.S. public, though,….
Continue ReadingPatient safety’s new perils: Lack of medical staff and their mental wellness
The coronavirus pandemic and the wrenching demand this public health nightmare has put on the U.S. health care system and its people have become such a worry that staffing shortages and workers’ mental health have become top safety concerns in 2022. That is the evidence-based view of ECRI, aka the nonprofit, independent Emergency Care Research….
Continue ReadingVaccine makers seek OK for 4th shot as fears rise about another surge
Moderna and Pfizer have given a boost to the idea that Americans should get another dose of coronavirus vaccines. Pfizer is seeking federal approval for another dose for patients 65 and older and Moderna is calling for another shot for all adults, notably those who already have gotten three inoculations of its vaccine. The drug….
Continue ReadingThe pandemic may be quieting, but its politics are not.
While the coronavirus pandemic keeps dimming into one of its quieter phases in some time, the political jostling over how best to battle the disease isn’t lessening. Congressional Democrats and Republicans made this clear with their inability to provide $15.6 billion request by the Biden Administration to pay for coronavirus vaccines (especially promised, global supplies), testing….
Continue ReadingAs masks and other safeguards go off, wariness about virus remains
The battle against the coronavirus pandemic has shifted anew with lingering wariness about the fast-ebbing Omicron surge, persistent concern about the still-high disease deaths, sustained worries about potential new viral variants, and mixed emotions and reactions by regular folks to the rapid easing of public health measures. The pandemic, experts caution, is not over, especially….
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