Articles by Robert Langreth and John Lauerman

COVID-Like Bat Virus Discovered by Researchers in Chinese Lab

Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China said they discovered a new coronavirus in bats that enters cells using the same gateway as the virus that causes COVID-19. This virus hasn’t been detected in humans, merely identified in …

Bullets in UnitedHealthcare CEO Death Inscribed With ‘Depose,’ ‘Delay’

The words “delay” and “depose” were written on a shell casing and a live round recovered in front of the New York Hilton Midtown, where UnitedHealth Group Inc. insurance chief Brian Thompson was fatally shot on Wednesday, according to people …

Coronavirus Epidemic Could Infect Two-Thirds of World’s Population: WHO Scientist

As the number of coronavirus cases jumps dramatically in China, a top infectious-disease scientist warns that things could get far worse: Two-thirds of the world’s population could catch it. So says Ira Longini, an adviser to the World Health Organization …

States Study Tobacco Lawsuit Tactics for Fight Over Opioid Costs

State and local leaders fighting a worsening opioid abuse epidemic are studying tactics used in the tobacco lawsuits of the 1990s, as they try to claw back billions from the companies who make and sell the powerful painkillers. More than …

Parrot Bite? In-Law Woes? Whatever the Health Claim, There’s an Insurance Code

There are 70,000 ways to get sick, hurt or mortally injured, and the U.S. is making them official. Last Thursday, U.S. hospitals, doctors and other care providers had to start using internationally developed standards called ICD-10 codes to bill government …

Dartmouth College Considering Campus Ban on Serving Hard Liquor

Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, is considering banning hard liquor on campus as part of a series of measures to curb student alcohol abuse and sexual assault. President Philip Hanlon is expected to propose the change in a speech …

Obamacare Tax Stalls ‘Cadillac’ Health Plans

Large employers are increasingly putting an end to their most generous health-care coverage as a tax on “Cadillac” insurance plans looms closer under Obamacare. Employees including bankers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and college professors at Harvard University are seeing …

UVA May Extend Ban on Fraternity Activities as Board Pledges Improved Safety

University of Virginia leaders said Tuesday that a ban on fraternity activities may be extended and pledged to increase campus safety and change the school’s sex, alcohol and fraternity culture after a searing report of an alleged gang rape at …

CDC ‘Go’ Team Sprints to New York as City Faces First Ebola Case

Start packing for New York, the “go” team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was told. A doctor there was back from a West African hot zone with Ebola-like symptoms. The disease experts traveling tonight are Pierre …

‘More Stringent’ Ebola Safety Guidelines In the Works; Travel Ban Debated

The safety protocol used by healthcare workers to treat Ebola patients in Dallas wasn’t adequate because it didn’t require that all skin be covered, said Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. A Dallas …