Latest California Healthline Stories
Pandemic-Inspired Food Labeling Raises Alarms for Those With Food Allergies
The Food and Drug Administration released new “temporary guidance” for manufacturers facing supply chain shortages that allows them to make some ingredient substitutions without changing food labels. The pandemic had already made finding trusted foods difficult for some people with allergies. Now they’re worrying about what’s actually in their go-to products.
Administration Eases Rules to Give Laid-Off Workers More Time to Sign Up for COBRA
Under the federal COBRA law, people who lose health coverage because of a layoff or a reduction in their hours generally have 60 days to decide whether to pay to maintain that coverage. But under new regulations, the clock won’t start ticking until the government says the coronavirus national emergency is over, and then consumers will have 120 days to act.
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.
Montana Rodeo Goes On, Bucking Fears on Fort Peck Reservation
Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes initially opposed the Wolf Point Wild Horse Stampede this year, worrying about hundreds of people coming to their reservation for the rodeo amid coronavirus concerns. But the annual event was on private land and went ahead, highlighting the reopening tensions between resuming normal economic activities and protecting the vulnerable.
Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes Fly Free as Health Departments Focus on Coronavirus
Health departments and other public agencies tasked with protecting the nation from disease-carrying mosquitoes are overstretched amid the coronavirus pandemic — even as the nation is told it’s safest to be outside.
A Coronavirus Vaccine: Where Does It Stand?
Under ordinary circumstances, these phases of vaccine development can take years to complete. But now, during the age of coronavirus, the timeline is being shortened. Here’s an inventory of where things stand.
Why Doctors Keep Monitoring Kids Who Recover From Mysterious COVID-Linked Illness
About 1,000 children worldwide have had the condition known as MIS-C — Multisymptom Inflammatory Syndrome in Children. Children’s hospitals around the U.S. are trying to keep tabs on young people after they recover from the ailment, to gauge any long-term effects.
California School Districts Grope for Sensible Reopening Plans
Some districts want to bring everyone back to the classroom and some are planning distance-only learning, while most others are settling on one of a variety of options in the middle. Whatever their leanings, they all face vast, troubling uncertainty.
Conspiracy Theories Aside, Here’s What Contact Tracers Really Do
Recently, the idea has triggered a lot of conspiracy-theory talk. But it’s actually a tried-and-true public health tool being applied to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Azar Says Federal Law Had Preexisting Conditions Covered Before ACA. Not So Much.
This appears to be an overstatement.