An American Airlines pilots' union sued the company on Thursday to temporarily halt all flights between the U.S. and China, the Financial Times reports, citing "serious" health threats from the coronavirus.
What they're saying: "We estimate that as many as 300 passengers and crew travel to DFW alone from Chinese cities on each American Airlines flight,” said Eric Ferguson, president of the union — representing 15,000 pilots. American Airlines previously stated it would cancel flights between Los Angeles and China from Feb. 9 through March 27, citing a decline in demand.
The economic consequences of medical decisions can be enormous. One of the most financially momentous medical decisions that any doctor can make is to deny a woman an abortion.
Driving the news: A new NBER report looks at the difference in financial outcomes between women who narrowly qualified for abortions and those who narrowly didn't. The report finds "a large and persistent increase in financial distress" for the latter group.
The World Health Organization declared the fast-spreading strain of coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced Thursday.
Why it matters: Ghebreyesus said the organization made the declaration not because of the outbreak in China, but out of fear it could spread to countries that do not have the capacity to contain it. The threat is WHO’s highest alert level.
Altria's decision to pay $12.8 billion last year for a 35% equity stake in vaping giant Juul is turning into one of the worst strategic investments in memory.
Driving the news: Altria on Thursday took a $4.1 billion impairment charge on its Juul investment, mostly blaming the "increased number of legal cases pending against Juul," which it says have increased more than 80% since last November 2019.
Mike Bloomberg will feature a 60-second campaign ad titled "George" after the Super Bowl halftime show highlighting Calandrian Simpson Kemp, a mother from Texas whose 20-year-old son was shot and killed during an altercation.
Why it matters: The $11 million ad will run in front of what is routinely the largest television audience of the year and will promote gun safety measures to curb gun violence.
Novartis said yesterday that Zolgensma — the gene therapy that's the most expensive drug in the world — brought in $186 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, STAT reports.
Why it matters: It suggests that the drug's enormous price tag isn't blocking patients from accessing it, although the costs are ultimately borne through premiums and by taxpayers.
The U.S. has the highest suicide rate among wealthy nations, according to a Commonwealth Fund report.
Between the lines: That's potentially because of our high rates of mental illness, inadequate mental health screening, low investments in social services and the cost of mental health care, the researchers said.
If you have any thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please pick up the phone right now and call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
While Democratic presidential candidates are deeply divided between Medicare for All and a public insurance option, Democratic voters seem to be cool with either one, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
The big picture: Sizeable majorities of both Democrats and independents in the Kaiser poll said they approve of a single national health insurance system, and larger majorities said they like the idea of a public program competing alongside private insurance.
