Expectant parents, doctors, and regulators need to reconsider the rising use of gee-whiz genetic testing as doubts emerge about popular blood screenings to detect rare prenatal disorders and a costly test relied on by couples undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. This is what the New York Times reported about what researchers have found about preimplantation….
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U.S. finding more and more ways to undercut efforts to quell pandemic
Hundreds of Americans keep dying each day due to the coronavirus. Tens of thousands of people across the country are reporting they are newly infected with the disease, even as at-home testing lowers this count. Thousands of patients still are hospitalized due to the virus that has killed at least 1 million in this country…..
Continue ReadingOpioid crisis takes a new scary turn: Mass casualties at once
The opioid abuse and drug overdose crisis has veered into a frightening new phase in which the rise of the easy-to-make, exceedingly powerful synthetic painkiller fentanyl is causing multiple, interconnected deaths at one time. The nation’s capital already has experienced this grim situation, which only shows signs of worsening, the Washington Post reported on April….
Continue ReadingAs U.S. shatters death record, trauma and grief grow unrecognized
Death has not taken a holiday in this country. It has, instead, had a field day, with 2021 breaking records, recording 3.465 million American lives lost — 80,000 more than in history-setting 2020, federal statisticians say. The coronavirus pandemic gets much of the blame for the nation’s grim toll, which was made all the worse….
Continue ReadingMedicare angers patient groups with limits on Alzheimer’s drug coverage
Although Medicare officials have slammed the door for now on paying for widespread use of a drug targeted for Alzheimer’s treatment, patient advocacy groups have thrown themselves into the battle over Aduhelm and whether taxpayers should pay its hefty price. Aduhelm is the risky, costly prescription medication with sparse evidence of its purported benefits 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 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 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….
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