PBS Newshour - Rx for Reform

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioHARI SREENIVASAN: U.S. health officials say the recent measles outbreak that began at Disneyland in Southern California continues to ripple across the nation. Approximately 100 cases have been reported so far. How great a risk does it pose? And what can be done to stop its spread? I spoke about this yesterday with Dr. Anthony Fauci. He is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Washington. So, Dr. Fauci, we know that...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSAppeal growing among kids, FDA cracks down on ‘wild west’ of e-cigarettes What can the food and beverage industry do to improve American health? FDA designs new smoking prevention ad strategy to target teens JUDY WOODRUFF: Let’s turn to a different story on the domestic front today, one that could affect many Americans and their dietary habits. The Food and Drug Administration announced new rules that require chain restaurants to list calorie...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioJUDY WOODRUFF: The World Health Organization reported the Ebola outbreak is still racing well ahead of efforts to stop it. West Africa needs at least 4,000 more hospital beds and thousands more workers. In addition, the first case in Mali was confirmed today. And while drugs and vaccines are still being developed, there’s a push to see if science can find new and different answers. The president’s team had a meeting on that subject today. Shortly afterward,...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSWhy Ebola runs a different course in different people 70 percent Ebola death rate? Here’s how they calculate it Ambulance nurse confronts death and desperation in the heart of the Ebola epidemic GWEN IFILL: Now to an update on the Ebola crisis. As more potentially infected individuals have emerged from quarantine and treatment in the U.S., in recent days, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a new set of protocols designed...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioHARI SREENIVASAN: For more about West Africa’s fight against Ebola, we are now joined from Washington via Skype by Helene Cooper of The New York Times. She recently returned from Liberia. So, I understand you were out and about when you first got home. In fact, we saw you on “Meet the Press” last Sunday. And now you’re on some sort of self-imposed quarantine. Tell us about that? HELENE COOPER, The New York Times: It is sort of a modified quarantine as well....

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSBefore Ebola, Ellis Island’s terrifying medical inspections Second Texas hospital worker tests positive for Ebola, flew on airplane These six diseases should worry you more than Ebola JUDY WOODRUFF: The appearance of another new Ebola case in Dallas sent fresh tremors through the health care system today. They radiated all the way to Washington and the White House. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We are going to be monitoring carefully the health...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSCDC training hospitals to ‘think Ebola’ after first case contracted in U.S. These six diseases should worry you more than Ebola This is how you get Ebola, as explained by science JUDY WOODRUFF: It’s a question that drove this day: Just how well-prepared are hospitals, doctors, nurses and others to handle Ebola cases? We ask that of two people watching this closely. Katy Roemer is a registered nurse who works at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioJADE MAR: I don’t like Gatorade — its 2 dollars. WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It’s Wednesday afternoon — school’s out — and 13 year-old Jade Mar is doing what thousands of kids in San Francisco do after school: debating what drink to get at the corner store. JADE MAR: Chocolate milk? Or Sprite… Coke. WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The attempt to try and steer the choices of what kids like Jade drink — really what all Americans drink — has become a big political fight in San...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioJUDY WOODRUFF: The Liberian man who was diagnosed in Dallas with Ebola died today. Thomas Eric Duncan showed no symptoms when he arrived in Texas last month, but he became the first confirmed case inside the U.S. Officials said his body will be cremated. Hours later, the head of the CDC announced new screening, including fever checks for travelers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, Director, Centers for Disease Control and...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSWhat’s on the minds of those heading for Ebola’s front lines? These six diseases should worry you more than Ebola Officials consider new steps to screen travelers for Ebola – Part 2 Dallas Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan dies, hospital says GWEN IFILL: This was a sobering day in the battle against the Ebola outbreak. As the death toll climbed, the first patient diagnosed in the United States died, and plans for screening ramped up at major...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSHow can the spread of Ebola be stopped in the US? This is how you get Ebola, as explained by science Spanish nurse contracts Ebola, the first case of transmission outside West Africa GWEN IFILL: President Obama spent part of this day focusing again on the government’s response to the Ebola outbreak in Africa and measures to contain it from spreading here in the U.S., including how airline passengers will be screened for symptoms. Jeffrey Brown...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSHigh school football players discuss the pressure to stay in the game, despite concussions What a concussion looks like inside your brain Would changing the ‘culture of resistance’ in sports reduce youth concussions? GWEN IFILL: As the fall football season heats up, the Friday night lights dimmed somewhat last week with news that three young players died from injuries sustained on the field. Tom Cutinella, a 16-year-old, collapsed following a...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSHow worried should Americans be about Ebola? Washington hospital reports patient with Ebola-like symptoms NBC News freelance journalist tests positive for Ebola JUDY WOODRUFF: Even as top administration officials were answering questions at the White House about the federal response to Ebola, much of this day’s attention was focused on the latest developments in Texas. Hari Sreenivasan has the story. HARI SREENIVASAN: A hazardous materials team...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSHow worried should Americans be about Ebola? Washington hospital reports patient with Ebola-like symptoms NBC News freelance journalist tests positive for Ebola HARI SREENIVASAN:This was a day when even one of the government’s top health officials said there were things that didn’t go the way they should have.We look at those concerns and other moves by the government with Stephen Morrison, the director of the Global Health Policy Center at the...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSHow Growth of Elderly Population in U.S. Compares With Other Countries Twitter chat: What are the care options for older American singles? Insured for old age? An economist explains the dangers of long-term care insurance Reinventing Old Age: The Good We Do When We Work Forever JUDY WOODRUFF: Next: a provocative piece of writing from one of the country’s leading health care experts. In the current “Atlantic” magazine, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel argues...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSThis is how you get Ebola, as explained by science CDC confirms first case of Ebola in United States What’s the worst-case scenario if Ebola can’t be slowed? HARI SREENIVASAN: We further explore the efforts to contain and deal with the first case of Ebola diagnosed in the U.S. Officials sought to reassure Americans there are systems in place to control its spread, even amid local reports of a possible second case and new confirmation that others...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSThis is how you get Ebola, as explained by science CDC confirms first case of Ebola in United States What’s the worst-case scenario if Ebola can’t be slowed? HARI SREENIVASAN: U.S. Navy engineers have now broken ground on a new Ebola facility in Liberia to house 25 patients. Dr. Tom Frieden is the director of the Centers for Disease Control, the government’s top point person on all of this. And he joins me now for the latest. So, local officials...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioJUDY WOODRUFF: We begin with breaking news this evening. For the first time, Ebola has been diagnosed inside the United States. Dr. Tom Frieden of the Centers for Disease Control announced late this afternoon the patient was infected in Liberia and is now in an isolation unit at a Dallas hospital. DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: It is certainly possible that someone who had contact with this individual, a family...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSWhy more Americans need to broach end-of-life conversation Debating the Ethics of Rationing End-of-Life Care Quiz: How much do you really know about long-term care? JUDY WOODRUFF: And finally tonight to California. We have partnered with inewsource, a San Diego-based journalism nonprofit, to take us inside special nursing home units where thousands of people live on life support. The state spends millions of dollars on this type of care designed...

Watch Video | Listen to the AudioRELATED LINKSCDC: Ebola cases could reach 1.4 million by January. How likely is that? What’s the worst-case scenario if Ebola can’t be slowed? How Nigeria has succeeded in containing Ebola JUDY WOODRUFF: For a closer look at recent calls for increased urgency in addressing the Ebola outbreak and at conditions on the ground in West Africa, we turn to Dr. Joanne Liu. She is president of Doctors Without Borders, an organization at the forefront of the effort to...