Even before the pandemic, burnout, anxiety, and disillusionment were already endemic in the medical community. Then came the hit-or-miss response to Covid-19, which has left U.S. health workers exposed to infection — and ill-prepared to care for thousands of vulnerable patients.

Now, there’s simmering anger, and a deep sense of betrayal among health professionals who say they feel forsaken by their government.

Even before the pandemic, burnout, anxiety, and disillusionment were already endemic in the medical community. Then came the hit-or-miss response to Covid-19, which has left U.S. health workers exposed to infection — and ill-prepared to care for thousands of vulnerable patients.

Now, there’s simmering anger, and a deep sense of betrayal among health professionals who say they feel forsaken by their government.

STAT interviewed more than a dozen physicians and scientists around the country, and one after another, they leveled strikingly similar critiques at both the federal and local levels: That the Trump administration neglected scientists and public health experts and downplayed the severity of the disease, helping stoke a spread of misinformation. That many state leaders, toeing party lines, were too paralyzed to act in a timely fashion. And that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, once a venerable institution, bungled a critical component of pandemic control — diagnostic testing….

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With the sense of urgency rightly focused on slowing or stopping the spread of Covid-19, it seems like everything else in the news, and in health care, has come to a grinding halt. Yet important decision-making continues in the background, including some that could have long-lasting effects on health care today and in the future.

One of these is the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to hear California v. Texas, a case that will decide whether most or all of the Affordable Care Act should be overturned.

With the sense of urgency rightly focused on slowing or stopping the spread of Covid-19, it seems like everything else in the news, and in health care, has come to a grinding halt. Yet important decision-making continues in the background, including some that could have long-lasting effects on health care today and in the future.

One of these is the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to hear California v. Texas, a case that will decide whether most or all of the Affordable Care Act should be overturned.

The story of how the case got back to the Supreme Court is a long one, but there is an underdiscussed component of the ACA that the court’s decision could affect: the fate of the U.S. biosimilars market, which is key to lowering health care costs. The outcome of the cases could affect biosimilars because embedded within the ACA is the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA). This act created a regulatory pathway for biosimilar medicines and marked the beginning of a new era for biologic treatments in the United States….

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As we approach the three-month mark since we all learned about a new virus triggering serious respiratory infections in China, the amount of information that’s been gained about the new coronavirus is staggering.

In 2003, when SARS first emerged in China, it took weeks for laboratories to figure out what was causing new and sometimes deadly cases of pneumonia there and elsewhere.

As we approach the three-month mark since we all learned about a new virus triggering serious respiratory infections in China, the amount of information that’s been gained about the new coronavirus is staggering.

In 2003, when SARS first emerged in China, it took weeks for laboratories to figure out what was causing new and sometimes deadly cases of pneumonia there and elsewhere.

This time, rumors of a possible new coronavirus were reported in China at the end of December, roughly the same time the country alerted the World Health Organization that it had a dangerous outbreak on its hands. By Jan. 10, the full genetic sequence of the virus had been shared with scientists around the globe….

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The World Health Organization said Wednesday that it would launch a multiarm, multicountry clinical trial for potential coronavirus therapies, part of an aggressive effort to jumpstart the global search for drugs to treat Covid-19.

Four drugs or drug combinations already licensed and used for other illnesses will be tested, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Ten countries have already indicated they will take part in the trial.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that it would launch a multiarm, multicountry clinical trial for potential coronavirus therapies, part of an aggressive effort to jumpstart the global search for drugs to treat Covid-19.

Four drugs or drug combinations already licensed and used for other illnesses will be tested, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Ten countries have already indicated they will take part in the trial.

The mere fact the WHO is sponsoring the trial suggests that efforts in China to test these drugs may not have come up with enough data to indicate whether any were of use to prevent patients from developing severe disease or save those with severe disease from death….

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In the months since the novel coronavirus rose from a regional crisis to a global threat, drug makers large and small have scrambled to advance their best ideas for thwarting a pandemic.

Some are repurposing old antivirals. Some are mobilizing tried-and-true technologies, and others are pressing forward with futuristic approaches to human medicine.

In the months since the novel coronavirus rose from a regional crisis to a global threat, drug makers large and small have scrambled to advance their best ideas for thwarting a pandemic.

Some are repurposing old antivirals. Some are mobilizing tried-and-true technologies, and others are pressing forward with futuristic approaches to human medicine.

Here’s a guide to some of the most talked-about efforts to treat or prevent coronavirus infection, with details on the science, history, and timeline for each endeavor….

— Read the full Stat article