The Covid-19 pandemic has complicated the already difficult efforts to combat substance abuse: New reports affirm how opioid abuse and drug overdoses are soaring, and vaping, while showing favorable declines for the first time in years, also may be creating a hard-core group of nicotine-addicted young people. With powerful painkillers, the Wall Street Journal reported: “Counties in states spanning the country, from Washington to Arizona and Florida, are reporting rising drug fatalities this year…

The “warp speed” race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine has gotten hit with a yellow flag. It could be a good thing that the product’s makers — Oxford University and AstraZeneca — followed medical-scientific protocols and paused their Phase III clinical trial due to a participant’s unexplained illness. Officially, the company offered spare information about the occurrence, especially because it affects the private medical information of a single individual. Continue reading…

Some fictional scenarios to contemplate: What would happen to a military leader who was briefed and admitted to knowing of severe threats but downplayed them, resulting over a few months to the United States seeing its Indo-Pacific and European Commands wiped out — combined losses of roughly 180,000 in U.S. forces? How would the governor of Maryland be treated if he was told of a public works problem but belittled it and in less than…

Although President Trump has made California a favored object of scorn, the Golden State has put itself on a path to help patients better rein in Big Pharma price gouging on prescription drugs in a way that Washington hasn’t. California lawmakers have given the green light for the state to leap into making generic drugs, notably  affordable insulin to assist diabetics. The state legislative season ended with a bill, advancing to Gov. Gavin Newsom for…

Although many fans will be sad that football won’t dominate their lives as it usually does in the months after Labor Day, the pandemic-related constriction, postponement, and cancellation of so many prep and collegiate sports may have an upside: It likely will add to declines in the need for urgent care for dangerous and damaging head injuries. Public awareness has soared about the risks of such trauma, with preventive measures leading to a sharp dip …

The Trump Administration — yet again — has sowed confusion, frustration, and anger over the federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic, creating potentially harmful credibility issues for a prospective coronavirus vaccine, the scientific concept of “herd immunity,” a possible blood-based treatment for the illness, as well as testing, contact tracing, and quarantines for the disease. The White House follies would be considered bad farce, save for the reality that the U.S. death …

It turns out there is more to be said about Maryland’s recently completed, pandemic-related checks on hundreds of nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Three facilities, indeed, got expensive rebukes from state inspectors, but dozens more were hit with milder fines that also suggest widespread issues in the institutions, notably with the crucial concern of infection control. In contrast to the Washington Post’s previous coverage of the sizable fines for Collingswood Rehabilitation and Healthcare…