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![Larry Yarbroff visits his wife Mary at Chaparral House in Berkeley, Calif. in July. California health authorities had allowed some visits to resume, and now federal regulators are doing the same, with measures to try to block the spread of the coronavirus.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ap_20194182533658-428dd5163ca5e4891850ed67773ac1766a4da5d1-scaled-e1600455067458-900x422.jpg)
Nursing Homes Given Federal Go-Ahead To Allow More Visitors
By: Ina Jaffe | NPR
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Nursing homes visitors have been banned since March because of COVID-19. Now the federal agency that regulates the facilities has outlined terms for resuming visits immediately.
![An ambulance pulls up outside a nursing home in Brooklyn, N.Y. Two members of Congress have called for an investigation of five states, including New York, which ordered nursing homes to admit patients who tested positive for COVID-19.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/gettyimages-1219615841-2eca2ab821a7da8206b8e52bbdcc11c6d26fe7d8-scaled-e1593545800165-900x422.jpg)
Lawmakers Call For Investigation Of States’ Nursing Home Policies During Pandemic
By: Ina Jaffe | NPR
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Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Greg Walden question some states’ requirement that nursing homes accept COVID-19-positive patients from hospitals.
![Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Seema Verma, pictured at a White House event last month, says her agency will be stepping up fines for nursing homes that fail to sufficiently control infections.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/verma-97ec00b23363a3273962a12c750055ebb24c1445-900x422.jpg)
Nearly 26,000 Nursing Home Residents Have Died From COVID-19, Federal Data Show
By: Ina Jaffe | NPR
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says about 80% of nursing homes nationwide reported data to the CDC as required. The remaining 20% could face fines if they don’t comply.
![From 2012 through 2016, federal health inspectors cited 87% of U.S. hospices for deficiencies. And 20% had lapses serious enough to endanger patients, according to two new reports from the HHS Inspector General's Office.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/gettyimages-619266666-ffd4f7173f9ef39c9f060d7edb3a59d77a2591de-e1562693872779-900x422.jpg)
HHS Inspector General Finds Serious Flaws In 20% Of U.S. Hospice Programs
By: Ina Jaffe | NPR
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Two new reports from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have found widespread problems in hospice care and say the government needs to open its scorecards on hospice care to the public.
![About a decade ago, the FDA started requiring drugmakers to add black box warnings to labels and prescribing information for Soroquel and other antipsychotic drugs. The agency made the change after the medications were linked to an increased risk of death among elderly dementia patients.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/gettyimages-94865845seroquel-212dafa92d59141eb698b29c945961042e8bdd2b-e1533663018641-900x422.jpg)
‘Dear Doctor’ Letters Use Peer Pressure, Government Warning To Stop Overprescribing
By: Ina Jaffe | NPR
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Researchers found that a simple letter to doctors, focusing on their high prescribing rates, reduced their tendency to give risky antipsychotic drugs to their patients, including some with dementia.
![Good hospice care at the end of life can be a godsend to patients and their families, all agree, whether the care comes at home, or at an inpatient facility like this AIDS hospice. Still, oversight of the industry is important, federal investigators say.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/gettyimages-86080446-hospice-808e20139d506a7e49973e9382746e5ed3fd5a9b-e1533054422348-900x422.jpg)
HHS Inspector General’s Report Finds Flaws And Fraud In U.S. Hospice Care
By: Ina Jaffe | NPR
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Medicare pays more than $16 billion a year for hospice services. But a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services says hospice patients don’t always get the care they’re promised.
![Residents walk the halls at the Easton Home in Easton, Pa.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ap_401002386070-2f0f2ad417230b998e13acf4fed77213830155f2-e1525711742569-900x422.jpg)
Some Dementia Patients Increasingly Given Antipsychotics, Study Finds
By: Ina Jaffe | NPR
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The drugs are intended to treat serious mental illness and are not approved to treat dementia. But the AARP finds more patients living at home or in assisted living facilities are getting them.