Health Care
U.S. Senate passes landmark legislation to aid veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange
WASHINGTON — U.S. soldiers deployed to bases in Afghanistan and Iraq often lived and worked alongside large pits where batteries, plastics, rubber, chemicals and other garbage would be lit on fire with jet fuel. The legacy of those burn pits followed thousands of military members back to the United States, where they have suffered from […]
As insulin costs soar, diabetics say a $35 cap on co-pays is not enough
WASHINGTON — Lacy Mason was a 21-year-old graduate student in Atlanta when she started rationing her insulin. As a Type 1 diabetic, she needs to take insulin every day for survival. But when the cost surged to $960 a month, Mason could no longer afford it. She had aged out of Medicaid and her student […]
FDA outside advisers recommend Pfizer, Moderna COVID vaccines for kids under 5
WASHINGTON — Parents of children under 5 are one step closer to vaccinating their young kids against COVID-19 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s outside vaccine panel recommended emergency use authorizations of two COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday. The 21-person Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend the FDA approve emergency use […]
Social worker and masseur accused of crossing professional boundaries
Two Iowans – one a social worker, and the other a massage therapist — are facing licensing sanctions after being separately accused of crossing professional boundaries with their clients. Gary D. Howard of Slater surrendered his massage-therapy license to the Iowa Board of Massage Therapy last week. In a signed statement to the board, Howard […]
Iowa nurse involved in prison vaccine overdose is fired and fined $500
One of the nurses fired by the state for mistakenly giving prison inmates six times the normal dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has been fined $500 by the Iowa Board of Nursing. Amanda Dodson of West Point, who began working for the Iowa Department of Corrections in 2003, was fired in May 2021 after she […]
Will it be ‘every state for themselves’ as the federal COVID cash dries up?
WASHINGTON — State and local health departments remain in limbo over whether they’ll need to single-handedly fund their own COVID-19 vaccines and treatments as a stalemate in Congress drags into its fourth month. The Biden administration has raised alarm bells about the risk of inaction after sending Congress a request for $22.5 billion in early […]
Iowa board revokes nurse’s license for $5 million Medicare-fraud scheme
The state of Iowa has revoked the license of a nurse convicted of conspiring to steal $5 million from the taxpayer-funded Medicare program. According to state records, Mark Hill, 55, who currently lives in Laurel, Mississippi, was first licensed to practice nursing in Iowa in July 2017. In September 2020, Hill was indicted in Montana […]
DM Water Works forced to use nitrate-removal system for first time since 2017
Elevated nitrate concentrations in its water supply has forced the Des Moines Water Works to begin operating its nitrate-removal system for the first time in five years. Des Moines Water Works utilizes various filtration procedures to manage issues, including nitrates, with its source water in order to provide safe drinking water to 600,000 central Iowans. […]
Nurse admits stealing patient’s drugs, citing stress from COVID-19 deaths
An Iowa nursing home worker who admitted stealing a resident’s painkillers says the stress of watching more than a dozen COVID-19 patients die alone contributed to her use of cocaine and other drugs. The Iowa Board of Nursing recently suspended the license of nurse Kelsey Baxter of Waterloo, in part for the theft of a […]
COVID cases rise again in Iowa; hospitalizations fall
New confirmed coronavirus cases in Iowa jumped 11% in the past week, which snapped a two-week streak of stagnating infection rates, according to new Iowa Department of Public Health data released Wednesday. There were 4,283 new COVID-19 cases in the past week reported to the state, or about 612 per day. That’s a new high […]
Bipartisan U.S. Senate bill aiding veterans exposed to burn pits edges toward passage
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate is set to approve a sweeping bill in the coming days that would expand health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits overseas — though a few final details linger. Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill were negotiating behind the scenes Wednesday to determine how many amendments will […]
State-run Glenwood Resource Center fined for resident death
A 30-year-old resident of the state-run Glenwood Resource Center for individuals with disabilities died of acute dehydration after facility staff failed to monitor his fluid intake, state inspectors allege. The center, which has a long history of care issues and is scheduled to close in 2024, has been fined $10,000 by the Iowa Department of […]