Medicine & Business

As hospitals prepared for a surge of COVID patients, officials advised people to avoid emergency rooms if possible. But soon ER physicians noticed that even truly urgent cases were not coming in.

While seizures at the nation’s international mail facilities have periodically spiked during the past two decades, the latest crackdown is distressing many older customers whose goal is to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Climate change presents many threats across the country: Heat stress can exacerbate mental illness; Air pollution worsens respiratory problems; High temperatures can weaken the effectiveness of medications. But is the topic too political for the exam room?

The global pandemic has put medical staffing shortages in stark relief — and prompted a halt to the system overhaul. Veterans and military advocates say that, with the focus on fighting COVID-19, now is not the time to pursue major changes.

Across the U.S., thousands of pediatric practices that provide front-line care for the nation’s children are struggling to adjust to a dire new reality.

State officials are scrambling to obtain Abbott’s highly touted COVID-19 test after it said they could detect the novel coronavirus in as little as five minutes, or give a negative test result in about 13 minutes.

Doctors identify steps that should be taken by insurance companies and others to support physicians and their practices during the COVID-19 emergency.

For people who are able to get tested for COVID-19, there can be a frustratingly long wait for results — not just hours, but often days.

Hospitals and practices have recently added telemedicine services to keep patients concerned about the coronavirus from clogging their offices and emergency rooms.

Demand is outstripping what’s available due to a damaged supply chain heavily reliant on China and a struggling Strategic National Stockpile. U.S. manufacturing giants like 3M have not yet made up the difference.