President Biden plans to name Dr. Mandy Cohen, a former North Carolina health secretary who steered her state through the tumultuous first two years of the coronavirus pandemic, as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to two people familiar with the selection process. The selection of Dr. Cohen, which … Read more
Many hospitals in the United States use aggressive tactics to collect medical debt. They flood local courts with collections lawsuits. They garnish patients’ wages. They seize their tax refunds. But a wealthy nonprofit health system in the Midwest is among those taking things a step further: withholding care from patients who have unpaid medical bills. … Read more
Cory Russo, the chief death investigator in Utah, is used to asking strangers questions at the most excruciating moments of their lives. When she shows up at the scene of a suicide, a homicide or another type of unexpected death, her job is to interview the grievers about how the deceased had lived. How old … Read more
On Tuesday, a federal appeals court granted members of the billionaire Sackler family a legal golden key that they had been seeking for nearly four years: The Sacklers will be shielded from all civil opioid claims related to their company, Purdue Pharma, the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin. In exchange, they have agreed to … Read more
Why It Matters: Older Adults Are at Higher Risk. Each year, about 60,000 adults 65 and older are hospitalized with R.S.V. and about 6,000 to 10,000 die from the virus, the F.D.A. estimated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that in one year, more than 21,000 people in that age group would need … Read more
People who showed up to their restaurant jobs while sick were linked to 40 percent of food poisoning outbreaks with a known cause from 2017 to 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report released on Tuesday. Paid sick leave and other policies that support sick workers could improve food safety … Read more
The News Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, said on Wednesday that it was increasing the wages for its 7,700 pharmacists and opticians, as it expands its health business and seeks to retain the workers in a competitive environment. The retailer said the raise would push the average annual salary of its than more 3,700 … Read more
Why It Matters: Poverty is a big killer. In 2019, more than 8 percent of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty, subsisting on less than $2.15 per day, and about half the world on less than $6.85 per day. Poverty has insidious effects on housing stability, education, health and life expectancy. The pandemic drove … Read more
El bebé de Sherri Willis-Prater tenía dos meses de nacido y ella estaba a punto de regresar a trabajar en la cafetería de una escuela de Chicago. Pero cuando una noche subió el pequeño tramo de escaleras para ir a la cocina, casi se desploma, jadeando para respirar. En el hospital, a Willis-Prater, quien en … Read more
Similar scenes played out across the country this spring as medical, dental and physical therapy students assembled to offer tributes to whole-body donors and their families. At the ceremonies, students perform music, light candles, read letters and share art. (A heart diagram from Ms. Zhang’s anatomy studies, overlaid with her whimsical drawings of books, tree … Read more