When a For-Profit Company Takes Over the ER
Commentary by Clayton Dalton Earlier this year, I stood outside the hospital in New Mexico where I worked as an emergency physician. I was, for the first time, picketing. The next day I would be…
Health
This Is a Pandemic of Attrition
Commentary by Joe Vipond, Julia M. Wright, and Dan Furst It’s time for our society to admit that we’ve made a mistake and change course. The COVID-is-mild experiment, despite the wishing and the hoping, has…
Reporting on Long Covid Taught Me to Be a Better Journalist
Commentary by Ed Yong In the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, when many people who are now still sick were first infected, the common wisdom was that the coronavirus either sent you to an…
Medicare Advantage Plans Disadvantage Many Elderly and Disabled People
By Eleanor J. Bader When retired veterinarian Richard Timmins went on a Medicare Advantage plan in 2016, he admits that he knew very little about Traditional Medicare (also called Original Medicare) or the more than…
Medicare Needs Modernization and Expansion—
Not Privatization By Jamila Headley & Nicole Jorwic For 58 years, Medicare and Medicaid have provided lifesaving and life-sustaining care for millions of Americans, but they are rapidly being weakened by politicians who insist on…
We Need a Public Option for Pharmaceuticals
Commentary by William Haseltine America is currently facing dual public health crises of record drug shortages and skyrocketing prices. Several critical medicines are in short supply, including at least 14 essential generic cancer drugs, ADHD…
Rethink Drug Legalization
Commentary by Carl Hintz Many people support the legalization of marijuana, and few people believe that tobacco, alcohol, or caffeine should be illegal. However, “hard drugs” such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and opioids should also be…
Oregon Officials Seek to Ban Public Drug Use
By Mike Baker After years of rising overdoses and an exodus of business from central Portland, Gov. Tina Kotek of Oregon said on Monday that state and city officials are proposing to roll back a…
Logistical Challenges to Abortion Rise
with Increased Restrictions By Rachel Crumpler “I don’t know how I’m gonna afford this.” “I don’t know how I’m gonna find a babysitter. Who’s gonna take care of my kids?” “My car is not running…
Migrant Worker’s Death Prompts Calls for
Extreme Heat Labor Laws By Anne Blythe As the sun dipped toward the horizon, pulling the last streaks of daylight from the sky over North Carolina’s capital city, dozens of migrant workers raised flickering tealights….