Museum seeks recollections of Central State Mental Hospital
Memories of patients, staff members and neighbors of Central State Mental Hospital are being compiled for a digital archive.
Health Care
Articles
Pandemic gets tougher to track as COVID testing plunges
Experts say testing has dropped by 70% to 90% worldwide from the first quarter to the second quarter this year—the opposite of what they say should be happening with new omicron variants on the rise in places such as the United States and South Africa.
FDA restricts J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine due to blood clot risk
The vaccine was initially considered an important tool in fighting the pandemic because it required only one shot. But the single-dose option proved less effective than two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
New omicron subvariant shows virus mutations aren’t slowing down
Two-and-a-half years after it first spilled into humans, the COVID virus has repeatedly changed its structure and chemistry in ways that confound efforts to bring it fully under control.
COVID deaths no longer overwhelmingly among unvaccinated as toll on elderly grows
The pandemic’s toll is no longer falling almost exclusively on those who chose not to get shots, with vaccine protection waning over time and the elderly and immunocompromised having a harder time dodging increasingly contagious strains.
Lilly CEO has leaders talking about whether state is doing enough to grow Indiana
David Ricks’ lunchtime speech to The Economic Club of Indiana—repeated on social media by those in attendance and reported by IBJ and local TV stations—has reverberated across the state.
United States is ‘out of the pandemic phase,’ Fauci says
Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said the United States was in the “full-blown pandemic phase” in the winter, then entered a period he refers to as the “deceleration” phase. The country is transitioning, he said, to the control phase.
Administration expanding availability of COVID antiviral pill
Paxlovid, when administered within five days of symptoms appearing, has been proven to bring about a 90% reduction in hospitalizations and deaths among patients most likely to get severe disease.
White House: Without funding, U.S. will lose out on COVID treatments
Officials are expressing increasing alarm that the U.S. is also losing out on critical opportunities to secure booster doses and new antiviral pills that could help the country maintain its reemerging sense of normalcy.
COVID shots still work, but researchers hunting new improvements
COVID-19 vaccinations are at a critical juncture as companies test whether new approaches like combination shots or nasal drops can keep up with a mutating coronavirus—even though it’s not clear if changes are needed.
Indianapolis-based Telix rolls out method for detecting cancer
The imaging agent is the six-year-old company’s first commercial launch, following millions of dollars’ worth of research and clinical tests. It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December.
Justice Department to appeal order voiding travel mask mandate
The notice came minutes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked the Justice Department to appeal the decision handed down by a federal judge in Florida earlier this week.
Indianapolis Mayor Hogsett tests positive for COVID-19
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett is experiencing “mild symptoms” and is isolating at home, his office announced Sunday afternoon.
Anthem pays $4.5M to Indiana hospitals in ER billing dispute
An arbitrator ordered the payments, and the hospitals say they can claim at least another $12 million from Anthem for tens of thousands of additional claims that it says the insurer has downgraded and not paid in full.
Med-tech startup Prevounce, a newcomer to Indy, has big growth plans here
Prevounce Health, which launched in 2019 in Los Angeles, relocated its operations to Indianapolis last fall and just landed $4.5 million in investment funding which the company says will help it expand and double its workforce in coming months.
Trackers who monitor sewers find COVID rising again in much of U.S.
With official reporting of COVID-19 cases and testing data becoming less frequent and less reliable, especially as people test at home, sewage monitoring has gained increasing importance.
UPDATE: CDC extends travel mask requirement to May 3
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to extend the order, which was to expire on April 18, to monitor for any observable increase in severe virus outcomes as cases rise in parts of the country, according to a person familiar with the matter.
IU Health plans $287M expansion of Fishers hospital
The planned expansion of IU Health Saxony—which will be renamed IU Health Fishers—will more than double the number of inpatient beds. It will also add new and expanded services.
Appeals court OKs Biden’s federal employee vaccine mandate
The administration argued that the Constitution gives the president, as the head of the federal workforce, the same authority as the CEO of a private corporation to require that employees be vaccinated.
Democratic, GOP Senate bargainers reach $10B COVID agreement
The compromise drew quick support from President Joe Biden, who initially pushed for a $22.5 billion package.