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These Secret Safety Panels Will Pick the COVID Vaccine Winners

Data and safety monitoring boards work under a cloak of secrecy meant to prevent undue influence by stakeholders, such as companies or the government. In the Trump era, some worry the anonymity could actually invite it.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Politics of Science

Republicans have all but abandoned the Affordable Care Act as a campaign cudgel, judging from their national convention, at least. Meanwhile, career scientists at the federal government’s preeminent health agencies — the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health — are all coming under increasing political pressure as the pandemic drags on. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Elizabeth Lawrence about the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment.

Dozens of U.S. Hospitals Poised to Defy FDA’s Directive on COVID Plasma

The FDA, under pressure from the Trump administration, has authorized broader use of convalescent plasma for emergency treatment in COVID patients. But several major hospitals are resisting, saying they’ll opt instead to use the scarce resource to complete a clinical trial.

Turning Anger Into Action: Minority Students Analyze COVID Data on Racial Disparities

About 70 college students are enrolled this summer in a program developed by San Francisco researchers and funded by the National Institutes of Health that allows them to explore the pandemic’s impact on communities facing health disparities.

Don’t Fall for This Video: Hydroxychloroquine Is Not a COVID-19 Cure

This statement is taken from a video in which a group of doctors air unproven conspiracy theories about the coronavirus. Dr. Immanuel’s claims were among the most inaccurate. And, before it was removed from social media platforms, thee video was viewed millions of times. President Donald Trump retweeted it.

NIH Project Homes In on COVID Racial Disparities

The pandemic has given the National Institutes of Health an opportunity to show the value of its $1.5 billion “All of Us” research program. A major effort to make the platform’s database representative of America resulted in minorities making up more than half of its more than 270,000 volunteers.