The Columbian

Health Wire

Residents carry the Communist Party flag and the Chinese national flag as others prepare to take part in the first round of mass COVID tests in the Jingan district of western Shanghai, China, Friday, April 1, 2022. As residents of western Shanghai start a four day lockdown for mass testing, some in eastern Shanghai about to end their lock down are being told they will be confined to their homes for at least 10 more days. It was the latest wrinkle in the lockdown of China's largest city as it struggles to eliminate an omicron-driven coronavirus outbreak under China's zero-COVID policy.

Shanghai moves to 2nd part of lockdown as testing lines grow

April 1, 2022, 7:59am Health

About 16 million residents in Shanghai are being tested for the coronavirus during the second stage of the lockdown that shifted Friday to the western half of China’s biggest city and financial capital. Read story

From left, Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., Rep. Lucy McBath, Ga., talk about their legislation aimed at capping the price of insulin, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 31, 2022. The bill would keep consumers' out-of-pocket costs at no more than $35 per month. (AP Photo/J.

House passes $35-a-month insulin cap as Dems seek wider bill

March 31, 2022, 3:40pm Health

The House on Thursday passed a bill capping the monthly cost of insulin at $35 for insured patients, part of an election-year push by Democrats for price curbs on prescription drugs at a time of rising inflation. Read story

FILE - A student walks down a hallway between classes at a high school in Kansas City, Kan., on the first day of in-person learning Wednesday, March 30, 2021. According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Thursday, March 31, 2022, nearly half of U.S. high school students said they felt persistently sad or hopeless during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many said they suffered emotional or physical abuse by a parent or other adult in the home.

Pandemic took a toll on teen mental health, US study says

March 31, 2022, 10:49am Health

More than 4 in 10 U.S. high school students said they felt persistently sad or hopeless during the pandemic, according to government findings released Thursday. Read story

Washington task force recommends faster action on sexual misconduct involving health care professionals

March 31, 2022, 7:32am Health

A task force formed by the Washington Department of Health has recommended taking faster action on sexual misconduct cases against health care professionals, according to a draft report reviewed by The Seattle Times. Read story

Kristin Travis, right, a community outreach doula, picks up home COVID-19 test kits Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, from Stacey Silver, left, a program administrator at Open Arms Perinatal Services before going out to visit some of her clients in Seattle. The kits were provided by the King County Public Health Dept. and distributed by community-based organizations as a way of providing more accessible testing and faster results. (AP Photo/Ted S.

New COVID-19 variant now dominant strain in Washington, but cases and hospitalizations still low

March 31, 2022, 7:25am Health Free

A new, highly infectious COVID-19 strain, BA.2, has become the dominant strain in the state, according to state health officials. This happens as Chelan and Douglas counties see the lowest COVID-19 rates and hospitalizations in almost a year. Read story

RaDonda Vaught, a former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse charged with in the death of a patient, listens to the opening statements during her trial at Justice A.A. Birch Building in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Vaught was charged with reckless homicide for accidentally administering the paralyzing drug vecuronium to 75-year-old Charlene Murphey instead of the sedative Versed in December on Dec. 26, 2017. Vaught admitted the error as soon as she realized it, and the state medical board initially took no action against her. Prosecutors say Vaught made multiple errors that day and "recklessly ignored" her training.

Nurses worry conviction for dosing mistake could cost lives

March 30, 2022, 5:18pm Health

The moment nurse RaDonda Vaught realized she had given a patient the wrong medication, she rushed to the doctors working to revive 75-year-old Charlene Murphey and told them what she had done. Within hours, she made a full report of her mistake to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Read story

FILE - A sign for the Food and Drug Administration is seen in Silver Spring, Md., on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. On Wednesday, March 30, 2022, federal health advisers narrowly ruled against an experimental drug for the debilitating illness known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a potential setback for patient groups who lobbied for the medication's approval. A majority of advisers to the FDA voted 6-4 that a single study from Amylyx Pharmaceuticals failed to establish the drug's effectiveness in treating the deadly neurodegenerative disease known also as ALS, for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

FDA panel narrowly sides against experimental ALS drug

March 30, 2022, 4:37pm Health

Federal health advisers on Wednesday narrowly ruled against an experimental drug for the debilitating illness known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, a potential setback for patient groups who have lobbied for the medication’s approval. Read story

More Republicans have died of COVID-19. Does that mean the polls are off?

March 30, 2022, 8:30am Health

Doctors and demographers recently noticed another tragic example of how polarization shapes America: The pandemic has killed more people in the nation’s Republican enclaves than its Democratic strongholds. They explain the gap by pointing to Republican resistance to vaccines and the GOP’s more cavalier approach to combating the virus in… Read story

Administration, health experts nervously eye new virus variants

March 30, 2022, 8:13am Health

The new COVID-19 subvariant isn’t yet causing concern among public health officials, but experts warn that the U.S. is not prepared for future variants or surges. Read story

President Joe Biden rolls up his sleeve before receiving his second COVID-19 booster shot in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, Wednesday, March 30, 2022, in Washington.

Biden receives 2nd booster, presses Congress on virus funds

March 30, 2022, 7:43am Health

President Joe Biden is set to receive a second booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, the White House announced, a day after federal regulators approved a fourth shot for those aged 50 and older. Read story