In the News

Gilead is recalling vials of Remdesivir, a drug used for treating coronavirus patients, due to glass contamination. The company, also called Veklury, announced Friday it was recalling two lots of Remdesivir after receiving a customer complaint...

An estimated 22.8 million people — more than half the country’s population — are expected to face potentially life-threatening food insecurity this winter. Many are already on the brink of catastrophe.

The new omicron coronavirus variant has been found in 12 U.S. states just three days days after the first case in the country was announced. The new variant, which was first discovered in South Africa, was announced in late November and has...

He helped identify numerous viruses, including Covid-19, as well as the bioterrorism attack that spread anthrax in 2001.

The application window is open for the startup contest Pitch Perfect at INVEST March 28-30 at the Ritz Carlton in Chicago. Here’s a look at some of the participants in the contest and progressed they’ve made on their mission to improve healthcare.

Scientists in a cutting-edge laboratory do part of the work. Local health workers on foot do the rest.

KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

Pfizer's CEO on Friday said data about the effectiveness of its coronavirus vaccine in those under the age of five could be available by the end of the year.CEO Albert Bourla spoke with NBC News chief White House correspondent Kristen...

The new omicron coronavirus variant has been found in at least 10 U.S. states a little over a week after the strain was discovered in southern Africa. The variant has been found in Maryland, Utah, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New York, Colorado...

If the finding holds up elsewhere, Omicron may be more difficult to contain than previous iterations of the coronavirus, lengthening the pandemic.

A new mathematical analysis strengthens concerns about the effects of the new variant on the pandemic’s course.

Scientists often debate whether irritable bowel syndrome is a mental or physical issue. That’s not much help for those who suffer from it.

In light of the new variant, is extra protection warranted for things like flight and lodging cancellations and quarantine hotels? It depends. Here’s what you need to know.

Samantha Lewis is relearning some basic aspects of her daily life after struggling with brain fog and other lingering symptoms for more than a year since being infected by the virus.

This is the FDA’s first emergency use authorization of a Covid-19 monoclonal antibody treatment in kids as young as newborns.

Welcome to Friday's Overnight Health Care, where we’re following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. Subscribe here: thehill.com/newsletter-signup.It may not have been the homeowner's original plan to deal with a snake...

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) vetoed five bills on Friday that would have made abortion access more restrictive in the state.In a press release and a statement on Twitter, Evers said he was firmly opposed to all five bills, which would have...

The variant has also been found in California, Minnesota, Colorado and New York in the past 48 hours.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday expanded the emergency authorization of Eli Lilly's antibody therapy for treating mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms to include all children, including newborns.The treatment is a combination of two...

More than 2 million doses were administered in the 24-hour period ending Thursday, making it the largest total since May.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is calling on the Biden administration to delay an increase in Medicare premiums for 2022 that is tied in part to a controversial, pricey Alzheimer's drug.In a letter sent to President Biden on Friday, Sanders called on...

The scientist who helped discover the omicron coronavirus variant is ripping the travel bans that multiple nations, including the U.S., have imposted on certain African countries in an attempt to slow its spread.“Is that how you reward science? By...

FlexJobs recently released a list of 50 companies that allow 100% of their workers to work remotely 100% of the time. To stand out, your job application needs to be tailored for fully remote work.

Acton Academy affiliates are benefiting from the surge in interest in microschools and the growing demand by parents for private education options.

By way of an expert combination of adaptogens, nootropics, and botanics, Kin Co-Founders, Jen Batchelor and Bella Hadid, have created a drink that not only elevates your mood but also supports brain health, something entirely new to the drink category.

Vishal Garg, CEO of ‘unicorn’ mortgage lender startup Better.com—after receiving a $750 million cash infusion with a valuation of around $7 billion—bluntly informed his 900 employees that a large number of people will be fired in a cold, awkward one-way video announcement, Thursday.

Investments are still flowing in—thanks, in large part, to local entrepreneurs who have been laying the groundwork for this moment for more than a decade.

One of the numerous societal effects that society witnessed in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests during the summer of 2020 is an increased interest in—and displays of commitment to change—towards, diversity and inclusion initiatives. On one hand, this is certainly a welcome development since lack of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in the business world reinforce systemic inequalities and injustices. These inequalities are what sparked the protests in the first place. On the other hand, it also presents a potential problem in that too many diversity programs initiatives are carried out in ways that not only lead to subpar results but can cause more harm. To avoid these pitfalls, companies need to develop better awareness and sensitivity, and that can only be done by first gaining a clearer understanding of what those pitfalls are. Focusing on the “D” in DEI A common mistake many organizations make is to expressly focus on the “D” in DEIB. Adopting just this limited view, leadership teams focus on only what’s outwardly visible or compositional diversity, so the numeric and proportional representation of different groups within an organization. This sort of effort is done more by prioritizing job applications submitted by a few target groups, followed by emphasizing hiring people from those groups. It’s not that this is wrong in itself. “D” is a component of “DEIB,” after all. The problem is when companies focus on this to the exclusion of the other parts that make up DEIB (the “equity, inclusion, belonging”). Relatedly, if we’re using the alternative the JEDI acronym, we would also use a “J” for “justice.” Part of the problem with focusing on just the “D” (and there are many problems with it) is that it creates the outward illusion of equity and inclusion. To better illustrate this concept, think of an iceberg. Ninety percent of it is underwater and not immediately visible. If “diversity” is the proverbial tip of the iceberg, then “equity,” “inclusion,” and “belonging” are the other 90% beneath the water. Unfortunately, appearances are not only deceiving, they are also very powerful. People are not conditioned to look below the surface. But as with physical icebergs, it’s that which lies beyond the immediately visible is what ship navigators must worry about. This is one of the ways in which DEIB initiatives often end up not just ineffective but damaging. However, a noticeable lack of visible diversity can at least bring attention to the fact since outside observers or the employees themselves are more likely to notice. But if an organization manages to make their workforce appear diverse but, at the same time, does little for genuine equity, inclusion, and belonging, then this is arguably worse than if they had done nothing at all since the invisible barriers and discimination can get concealed by the surface-level diversity. Performative DEI and self-serving aims Something even worse than focusing exclusively on the “D” is performative DEIB work, which is similarly common. There’s some overlap between performative DEIB work and DEIB work that focuses only on the “D” in that both are about appearances. But what makes performative DEIB even more harmful is that underlying the “performance” (i.e., diversity-themed parties or social media campaigns constructed around hashtags) are self-serving motives rooted in excessive concern for ROI. This might be more acceptable if it were undergirded by substantial work being done simultaneously in the areas of equity, inclusion, and belonging. But when done without those things, performative DEIB reaches an almost insidious level of harmfulness in that it creates additional rewards and privileges for the already privileged while doing little of substance for the underprivileged. Essentially, it’s further un-leveling an already unlevel playing field. Lack of shared accountability Another common pitfall is, instead of sharing accountability across the organization, to place all the burden of DEIB initiatives on the shoulders of a chief diversity officer. Often, this executive may be a leader who, due to their background and experience, may be better suited in a different C-suite role such as an HR officer. This often happens with Black women, who are the most common demographic chosen to serve as CDO but who, unless they have a background in DEIB and are given sufficient resources, often end up burning out. At the same time, organizations must take care not to make the opposite mistake of hiring a white, heteronormative, able-bodied male in the position of CDO. Not only is that likely to be interpreted in this current day and age as tone deaf, even well-intended white allies can suffer from “advantage blindness,” limiting their effectiveness in a CDO role. Admittedly, there may be some situations in which having a white CDO may have some potential advantages so it is not a black-and-white issue. But at the very least, an organization should not go this route without a careful consideration of its own unique situation. The cumulative result of these pitfalls is that even if their intentions are good, organizations often end up reinforcing the current system. A sentiment that’s commonly expressed is that the “system is broken,” but it is in fact working exactly as intended, which is to privilege and empower certain groups and marginalize and oppress others. Dismantling and reimagining it, therefore, is the only real way that diversity initiatives can achieve their purported aims. None of this is to dissuade organizations from pursuing initiative. These pointers are meant to help companies better understand that effective DEIB work isn’t easy and that it isn’t an area where shortcuts can be taken, at least not if companies wish to make a real difference and live up to the pledges many of them made in 2020. It requires true, sincere commitment over the long term. To again use the iceberg analogy, any visible DEIB issue that can be identified is linked to a massive body of behavior patterns, mental models, and oppressive systems of which 90% is hidden under the surface. It’s only when those systems and their connections to the visible DEIB issues on the surface can be identified that true, lasting solutions can be developed instead of short-term, reactive solutions. Michael V. Nguyen is a professor at the University of Southern California.

The omicron variant of Covid-19 has sparked great fear. With time, we may find the fear to have been justified, but we may find the opposite: that this is good news for the economy.

During this holiday season, 70% of Americans are putting "me time" on hold, but here are 10 tips on how to stay engaged and productive and enjoy the meaning of the season.

Local search is changing. Here's what marketers need to know

Whether you call it the Great Resignation or rebrand it the Great Reprioritization, all signs point to a massive shift in workplace culture. Employees across industries and all levels of work are calling it quits. They’re not ambiguous about their reasons for leaving, either. Many admit the pandemic was a wake-up call to seek out more supportive environments with better benefits, work-life balance, and culture. This transformation has sent tremors through the job market. Scrambling to fill open positions, companies are rolling out an unprecedented array of perks, offering higher salaries, debt-free education benefits, and hiring and retention bonuses to lure in new workers. These benefits are welcome improvements. But, as the CEO of an expense management platform, I’d argue that there’s one element many companies are overlooking in their efforts to support the needs of today’s diverse, modern employees—their expense policies. Expense policies take employees time, money, and identities for granted Most expense policies require workers to make purchases out of pocket while letting the employer off the hook to pay them back any time up to several weeks later. I can’t name another situation where asking an employee for an interest-free loan would be appropriate. Placing the up-front burden of spend on employees isn’t equitable given that many staff members experience financial or cash flow challenges on a regular basis. Some are in debt, and may now face special COVID-19-related expenses such as hospital bills, back rent, and more.  But current expense policies don’t accommodate employees with poor financial health. If they have a low credit limit or a finite checking account, paying for big-ticket items like client dinners, flights, and hotel rooms might lead to financial hardship, cause an overdraft, or force them over their credit card limit—which can trigger extra fees, higher interest rates, and a blow to their credit score.  The long waiting period before getting reimbursed (most expense reports that are put through antiquated expense systems take more than a week to process, and 15% of companies take more than two weeks) is also based on the assumption that employees have ample funds to incur company-related expenses in advance. But as anyone on the adverse end of the massive American wealth gap will tell you, even one unexpected expense or late source of income can snowball into a real financial crisis—affecting their ability to pay bills on time, and ultimately negatively impacting their credit score. There’s partiality too, in which vendors and which expenses are eligible for reimbursement. Many policies direct employees to preferred hotel chains and airlines. If you’re not going to give employees a choice, you need to check your vendors’ politics. Consider adding a step in the RFP (request for proposal) process to research whether your potential partners are donating to causes or politicians that infringe on the rights of marginalized employees. I’d also be remiss not to give credit to working mothers for calling out how expense policies fail to consider childcare a reimbursable expense because it’s not tax deductible. I hear that—and I also believe gender bias is just the tip of the iceberg. Expense policies reinforce existing social structures The standard corporate expense policy is designed with the most privileged members of society in mind, most of whom are men in their forties and fifties who are white, married, and financially comfortable. Who does the policy fail to support? In particular, Americans who have less disposable income and lower credit limits, a high percentage of whom are Black, Indigenous, and people of color or millennials and Gen-Zers. There’s also a remarkable disparity in credit limits. Across income levels, Black and Latinx households are almost twice as likely as white households to be denied credit or to be approved for stingy credit lines, according to a 2020 Federal Reserve survey. Younger Americans are also trapped in a desperate cycle. Millennials in particular suffer from subprime credit scores, crippled by the $1.7-trillion student debt crisis. Those who have climbed out of debt (or experienced it secondhand from friends or family members) tend to be wary of incurring any more. This only hurts their ability to build credit.  If you haven’t paid much attention to the financial situation of younger Americans, you need to start now. Millennials are very likely to be your next hires: They’re the largest generation group in the U.S. Make your expense policies more equitable Rigid expense policies leave employees feeling like their time and money are disposable.  Eric Friedrichsen [Photo: courtesy of Emburse]Be the company that supports the whole employee and plans for different levels of financial health. To establish a more flexible, equitable, and employee-centric policy, you can start by providing your team members with physical or virtual corporate cards as the de facto payment method. And this means all of them. The ones who are least likely to usually have a corporate card are also the ones who are most likely to need it.  You can customize these cards either with a corporate credit facility or with preloaded budgets. Spend policies can be configured at a very granular level to limit any concerns about uncontrolled spending. You can also pair them with an expense management automation solution to streamline the approval, issuance, and administration processes, speed up monthly reconciliation, and streamline third-party billing. You’ll still be in control of expenses. You’re just no longer forcing employees to pay with their own cards and then wait weeks to get reimbursed.  If you want to hire and retain strong talent in the midst of a global work-life reset, commit to honoring employees with diverse identities and financial-health backgrounds. They’ll commit to you, too. Eric Friedrichsen is the CEO of Emburse, a spend management company with a growing portfolio of solutions that revolutionize the way organizations manage employee expenses, process invoices, and make payments.

Everyone needs to use this proven mind hack to be more productive

Decision-making for C-levels is often about speed. But speed can result in unnecessary damage and costly missteps. Instead, lean on creativity.

The Supreme Court is weighing a ruling that could overturn Roe v. Wade.

The omicron variant shows that we are collectively getting better at dealing with uncertainty. 

At a fundamental level, trust is the belief that someone will follow through on commitments. The reason that trust is crucial is that it extends the time horizon over which you are willing to settle up with others. Without trust, every interaction needs to be an even exchange in the moment. As the level of trust increases, you’re willing to put in more effort in the moment, knowing that things will even out in the long run. This facet of trust is particularly important for organizations. Employees of organizations get paid less than consultants would to do the same task, because organizations provide security, training, and other benefits that create a more trusted relationship between a firm and the people who work for it. But when employers undermine that trust, they run the risk of seeing their employees flock to the exits. Here are four key ways that employers often destroy the trust that is so critical for stability. All of these sources of mistrust are expensive for firms. They lead employees to be less likely to put in extra effort to complete tasks and they drive turnover. It costs a lot of money and time to replace a worker who leaves, so most firms are well-served by focusing on developing trusted relationships with the people who are already working for them. Not owning mistakes Trustworthy individuals and firms are not perfect. They will make mistakes. And circumstances will change so that plans that seemed reasonable when developed will fail when implemented. The key is for leaders in an organization to take the blame for mistakes and failures quickly, to understand what went wrong, and to act as quickly as possible to address the problem. Employers fall down at each of the stages of this process. There are many leaders who are unable to admit to mistakes and failures. Sometimes that happens because organizations punish mistakes. (Organizations shouldn’t punish mistakes or failures; they should punish negligence.) Sometimes it happens because an individual in a leadership role has difficulty taking responsibility for problems. Even when leaders do accept the blame, they may not look carefully to understand what is happening. Some organizations believe there isn’t time to track down sources of failure. Others are so committed to plans as they have been developed that they treat failures as anomalies rather than as signs that something needs to change. Finally, some organizations do not follow through effectively. They may send a note of apology without making any changes. They may try to offer a payment for an error, rather than understanding how an employee feels about something that went wrong. These responses lead employees to feel like the organization lacks commitment to improve. Not closing the communication loop One way that companies try to gain trust with their employees is by inviting them to provide feedback about their experience. Requesting feedback is a great step in the process of helping people to feel like they have a voice in the governance of their organization. However, simply asking for feedback is not enough. Organizations have to demonstrate that they have heard what people are saying and are making changes based on that information. Surveys, focus groups, and discussions that have no impact on the way that the organization functions ultimately undermine people’s faith that the organization really cares what employees think. Not investing in career paths As mentioned earlier, trust is a vehicle for extending the duration of relationships. In order for that to happen, though, employees need to believe that the organization is interested in a long-term relationship. A great way to make that happen is to invest in people’s future. Organizations have several avenues to support career development. They can provide resources to people to get additional education, they can run regular seminars in-house, and they can put together meaningful mentoring programs in which there is a clear goal. These send a signal that improving knowledge and skills that will enable people to continue to develop their careers is important. That investment also communicates that the organization wants their employees to succeed. Organizations that do not invest in this education send a message that it is up to individuals to manage their own career paths. The danger with this strategy is that many people will manage their path out of the organization altogether. Significant pay inequities One final way that organizations undermine trust is in the way that employees are paid. Obviously, different people in a firm will be paid different amounts. We expect that salaries will go up with experience and responsibility. But two different types of pay inequities can lead to mistrust. The first is big disparities among people who have similar jobs. People’s general sense of fairness is that individuals doing similar work should be paid similar amounts. If people discover that they are paid significantly less than others at the same level, that can create a desire to even things up and to question whether there are other inequities. As a result, leaders need to look across the team to ensure that everyone within a band is paid at roughly the same rate. The second is when there are sharp differences between pay for executives and frontline workers. One factor that has eroded people’s loyalty to particular firms is the recognition that top-tier leaders are paid significantly more than rank-and-file employees at multiples that seem exaggerated relative to their importance. This pay gap leads to a perception that leaders are more concerned with their own well-being than that of their employees, which further contributes to a sense that lower-tier employees should sell their services to the highest bidder.

Four out of five parents worry that their kids don't show enough gratitude.

Lately, I’ve been working pretty long hours. Most weeks, I spend my days working from home — thinking, writing, and trying to remember to unmute my Zoom mic before I start talking. By the end of the day, when I finally close my laptop, my brain is fried. Most nights I’m so zonked it’s all I can do to open Instagram and scroll through my feed until time becomes a blur, wanting to stop but unable to tear myself away from the comforting narcotic glow of novelty and stimulation. When I finally snap out of it, I usually have to play a Conan clip on YouTube just to entertain myself long enough to get up and brush my teeth. I collapse into bed and binge-watch some Netflix, then put on a podcast to lull myself to sleep. It’s a stressful, Sisyphean cycle, but at least I’m making space each night to give myself the downtime I need. Or so I thought—until I read a journal article about how to allocate your time to maximize productivity, creativity, and mental well-being. For the brain to thrive, you can’t spend all your time working. Human beings aren’t robots, and overwork leads to burnout, disengagement, and resignations. That much I already knew. But then I read something that caught me by surprise: The brain also requires “downtime”—unstructured time with no goal in mind and no targeted focus of attention. And that’s when I realized I’d been doing downtime wrong. Prime time isn’t downtime All these years, I thought downtime just meant zoning out—giving myself permission to stare at the TV and forget about work. But actually, true downtime means no goal and no focused attention. Watching a show on Netflix, then, isn’t downtime because it requires focused attention. If anything, it’s closer to work than it is to downtime. Same goes for social media apps. Even going to the gym doesn’t qualify as downtime. When you run sprints or lift weights, you’re working toward a goal—and concentrating on what you’re doing. And that means it’s not downtime. Even mindfulness meditation doesn’t qualify, since it too requires focused attention. Meditation practices like mindfulness of the breath require you to place your focus on the present moment, training yourself to notice when your mind wanders. I realized the only actual downtime I had was in the shower. And sure enough, bathtime has always been my best time for making connections, having creative insights, and coming up with story ideas. The imagination network Studies show that thinking relies on the coordination of two different brain networks, each with its own way of processing information. The first is the task-positive network, also known as the central executive network. This is the goal-oriented part of your brain. It activates when you’re paying attention: making a decision, thinking through the solution to a problem, or using your working memory to make sense of new information. The other is the default mode network, also known as the imagination network. This is the brain’s resting-state circuitry—the regions that come online when you’re not paying attention to anything in particular. This is what activates during downtime. As it turns out, the imagination network is central to innovation and creativity. Studies show that creativity depends on the interaction of multiple cognitive processes, some of which are unconscious and occur only when we’re not focusing on a task. When you’re consciously focusing on a problem, the mind naturally tunes out information that doesn’t seem relevant. But sometimes the best insights require a creative leap. That’s why the best way to solve a complex problem isn’t by brute force. A better approach is to take some downtime and give the imagination network a chance to work its magic: consolidating new knowledge, making new connections, and imagining new possibilities. That’s why Archimedes’ Eureka moment came to him when he was sitting in the bath, and why Newton formulated the law of gravity when he saw an apple fall in an orchard. The epiphanies that seem to bubble up from nowhere when your mind is wandering are actually products of the imagination network. Not a moment to waste As I read more about the science of downtime, I realized I’d been laboring under a second misconception: the belief that idle time is wasted time. I’ve always had an aversion to wasting time. I don’t like the idea of doing nothing. My non-work time is so limited, I want to make the most of every minute. That’s why I watch the MasterClass on hostage negotiation while I brush my teeth. And if I really have to do my dishes, I figure, I may as well make that time productive. So I put on an audiobook or a podcast, thinking I’m improving myself. But even if my only goal were efficiency, it would still be counterproductive to try to keep my mind engaged every second. To borrow a phrase dubiously attributed to Albert Einstein: “Creativity is the residue of time wasted.” So how do you get more downtime? Spend more time doing nothing. Do the dishes without a podcast in the background. Go for a walk in the woods but leave your fitness tracker at home. When you fold your laundry, let the mind-numbingness of the task actually numb your mind instead of trying to escape it. And when a free moment arises unexpectedly—when the airplane wifi stops working, or when your phone dies at the coffee shop—resist the temptation to use it efficiently. Instead, claim those moments for downtime, taking advantage of the opportunity to do nothing at all. Making more time for downtime will create the conditions for those thunderbolt insights to strike—and help you stay sane, creative, and productive over the long term. This article originally appeared on Neuroleadership.com and is reprinted with permission.

Last year, Americans and U.S. businesses donated a record high of more than $471 billion dollars to charitable organizations, according to the Giving USA report. But even if your business has a small budget for giving-there is more you can do.

'[W]e need all hands on deck to recover from what is, quite frankly, a disaster.'

This article features an interview with author Jacquie Abram about what prompted her and her daughters to write the international bestselling book Hush Money.

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