Pandemic Shaming Can Backfire. Here’s a Better Way.
As the pandemic continues to rage, the safest thing to do this holiday season is to avoid gatherings with friends and extended family. But blanket demands for abstinence can backfire. A better guiding...
View ArticleU.K. Regulators Approve Use of Covid-19 Vaccine
On Wednesday, U.K. regulators approved public use of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The swift decision to greenlight the vaccine — the authorization process is slightly slower in...
View ArticleBook Review: The Hidden Costs of Medical Implants
After a mishap with her implanted defibrillator, Katherine E. Standefer launched an investigation to uncover the origin of the medical device. What she found, recounted in her memoir, “Lightning...
View ArticleWill Rising Temperatures Make Superweeds Even Stronger?
Herbicide-resistant weeds already pose problems for many farmers. Now, as the world warms, a growing body of evidence suggests that high temperatures could make common weeds even tougher to kill. Some...
View ArticleCommunicating Covid-19 Information to Indigenous Immigrants
It’s estimated that people from Latin America make up 40 percent of Oregon’s agricultural workers, including meatpackers and farmworkers. Many speak only one language. In the wake of a rural Covid-19...
View ArticleExperts Push for New Cancer Drug Dosing Recommendations
Common oral cancer drugs are often prescribed at the highest tolerated dose, which must be taken while fasting, despite studies suggesting that lower doses might be just as effective and less risky....
View ArticleTo Prevent the Next Covid-19, We Must Prioritize Biodiversity
Planetary neglect and ecosystem mismanagement helped pave the way for the novel coronavirus to spill over from animals into humans. To prevent the next pandemic, and to address our many other health...
View ArticleBook Review: The Power of Chance in Shaping Life and Evolution
In “A Series of Fortunate Events,” Sean B. Carroll explores the randomness at play in the development of life on Earth, from asteroid collisions to genetic mutations and viral diseases. Finding that...
View ArticleHard-hit Nursing Homes Prepare for New Covid-19 Vaccine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon authorize emergency use of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. Following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control...
View ArticleKidney Dialysis Is a Booming Business. Is it Also a Rigged One?
A bill signed last fall by California Governor Gavin Newsom seeks to prevent dialysis companies from increasing corporate profits through a scheme to bankroll patients’ health care premiums. A last...
View ArticleShould Your Kidney Doctor Have a Financial Stake in Dialysis?
Joint ventures between nephrologists and for-profit dialysis centers have expanded access to treatment. But critics say it raises inherent conflicts of interest for doctors to have a financial stake in...
View ArticleAn Uncertain Future for a Key Missing Persons Program
Established in 2007, NamUs offers a public database and free forensic services, like DNA testing. Since its inception, according to the program’s website, it has helped resolve more than 2,700 missing...
View ArticleFor the Poor and Disenfranchised, Higher Hurdles to Transplants
Black and Hispanic kidney failure patients are often slower to be diagnosed, and they face a tougher path to transplants than their White counterparts — even though they are disproportionately burdened...
View ArticleThe Lifesaving Potential of Less-Than-Perfect Donor Kidneys
The arrival of better HIV and hepatitis C tests, along with a new generation of antiviral medications that cure upwards of 95 percent of infections, now has doctors and patients considering donor...
View ArticleFew Kidney Patients Can Access Palliative Care or Hospice. Why?
Individuals dying from cancer and, to a lesser extent, heart and lung disease, have increasingly opted for palliative or hospice care rather than pursuing a cure to the bitter end — though such options...
View ArticleAs U.S. Covid-19 Deaths Top 300,000, Vaccine Rollout Begins
On Monday, critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay made history as the first person in the U.S. — according to New York state officials — to receive a Food and Drug Administration-approved Covid-19 vaccine,...
View ArticleWater or Mineral? In Chile, a Debate Over Lithium Brine
In October, Chilean citizens voted to rewrite their constitution, setting the stage for a dramatic reassessment of the nation’s relationship with the environment. The country’s classification of...
View ArticleWhen Should Kids Be Part of Covid-19 Vaccine Trials?
As the window for having an FDA-authorized Covid-19 vaccine available to children before the next school year narrows, some pediatricians are urging vaccine makers to expand their clinical trials. But...
View ArticleEp. 51: Defining ‘Habitat’— and the Future of Conservation
This month: A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on the dusky gopher frog now has conservationists and developers squaring off over the legal definition of the term habitat. The accepted meaning will...
View ArticleThe Trump Administration’s Lasting Impact on Indian Country
From environmental rollbacks to an ineffective Covid-19 response, Native American communities say the Trump administration has repeatedly pushed them aside. The administration’s actions have not slowed...
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