At work every day, Agnes Boisvert attends to ICU patients "gasping for air" and dying from COVID-19. But communicating that harsh reality to her skeptical community has been a challenge.
As states suddenly expand the categories of people eligible for the first scarce shipments of vaccine, who will be watching to make sure those hit hardest by the pandemic aren't left behind?
One of my patients in this devastating year stands out — a veteran who'd survived PTSD, cancer and family estrangement. Assisted living raised his COVID-19 risk, but also brought him community.
The state has a law strictly regulating nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in hospitals. But the governor recently said hospitals could lift those limits in pandemic times, and nurses are crying foul.
In the U.S., front-line health care workers are likely first in line to get immunized with a COVID-19 vaccine, once the FDA says yes. But what about the rest of us? Here's what we know so far.
The rule would require health officials to review about 2,400 regulations on everything from Medicare benefits to prescription drugs approvals. Those not analyzed within two years would become void.
Gen. Gustave Perna says as soon as the FDA deems a vaccine safe and effective, his team is ready to coordinate deployment of tens of millions of doses as early as next month.
A team of independent advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a science-based outline for deploying a vaccine when it's ready. The goal is to stop deaths and viral spread fast.
Nurses say COVID-19 patients have sometimes been housed in the same units as uninfected patients. While officials have penalized nursing homes for such failures, hospitals have seen less scrutiny.
America's rural hospitals were struggling even before the pandemic. Now, the loss of revenue from months of deferred treatments and surgeries have pulled more to the brink, as federal relief fades.
Young African American doctors say they hope to change the lack of access to medicine in underserved communities. But many say the system that trains them also alienates them.
Dr. Danielle Ofri says medical errors are more common than most people realize: "If we don't talk about the emotions that keep doctors and nurses from speaking up, we'll never solve this problem."
More than 35% of students surveyed experienced mistreatment in a U.S. medical school. "There's a direct link between this abuse and how some ... health care disparities play out," a black doctor says.
Off-duty nurses, security guards, ambulance workers and others have joined protests against racism and police brutality to work as medics. "When we see suffering, that's where we go," says one.
The unconscious man was a Beatles fan, his sister said. When she couldn't be with him in his final ICU hours she asked Dr. Daniel Colón Hidalgo to play music and say the words she wanted him to hear.
Dr. Ming Lin was let go in March from a hospital in Bellingham, Wash., after posting criticisms and suggestions on social media. The ACLU is helping him sue for damages and job reinstatement.
More than 60,000 health care workers have contracted the coronavirus, up from 9,000 in April. Workers say they face unnecessary risks because of ongoing shortages of protective gear like masks.
A young medical resident learns new ways to reach and comfort his ill hospital patients — despite protective barriers that keep them far apart. He starts by turning down the noise.
Call them victory anthems. Every time a patient with COVID-19 is well enough to be discharged, hospitals in New York and elsewhere play songs of celebration over the intercom. A doctor explains.
What if you don't have COVID-19 symptoms, but do have a fierce earache or infected bug bite or a child with a sudden rash? These days, many more people are getting diagnosed via calls or video chats.
As the health industry focuses on COVID-19, there has been a big drop in nonurgent visits for primary care and specialty care. Medical practices are being forced to furlough or lay off staff.
Trauma surgeon David Nott has volunteered in war zones and disaster areas around the world. Now he's treating COVID-19 patients in London. He calls the pandemic a "disaster zone for the whole world."
Even many symptomatic patients and exposed health workers who are able to get a COVID-19 test must wait nearly a week to get results. Others get results in hours. Here's why it varies so much.
Whole pallets of personal protective equipment have reportedly been stolen from hospitals, and some health care workers have even become targets of violence, a nurses' union says.
To stop COVID-19, retired doctors are signing up to take clinical shifts. Specialists, including dentists, could move to front line care. And med students are fielding calls in overwhelmed clinics.
