Latest KFF Health News Content

Latest KFF Health News Stories

If FDA Can’t Even Decide If CBD Supplements Are Legal, Do Disgruntled Consumers Have A Standing In Court?

Morning Briefing

Consumers are filing lawsuits claiming that makers of CBD supplements engaged in “false, fraudulent, unfair, deceptive, and misleading” marketing of their products. But the FDA has struggled to set clear rules of the road over regulations for the industry, muddying the waters for the consumers. In other public health news: taboo topics about women’s health, superfund sites, recalls, and more.

Mediterranean Diet Maintains Its Crown For Third Year In National Ranking Of The Best And Worst For 2020

Morning Briefing

“We’re interested in diets that have proven staying value — not fad diets that are here today, gone tomorrow,” said Angela Haupt, managing editor of health at U.S. News & World Report, which releases the annual ranking. “The diets that perform well are safe, sensible and backed by sound science. That’s going to be consistent from year to year.”

Warren Releases Sprawling Plan To Help People With Disabilities, Including Closing A Minimum Wage Loophole

Morning Briefing

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) unveiled her plan geared toward helping boost disabled Americans’ financial security, as well as improving their access to health care. She also proposed helping disabled people in the criminal justice system by training law enforcement in de-escalation strategies and stopping funding for police departments who arrest people for living outside.

Alarming Poison Control Report Data Reveals That Thousands Of Toddlers In U.S. Have Ingested Vaping Liquids

Morning Briefing

“Many people are very concerned about their child getting into their bleach or their laundry pods,” said Robert A. Bassett, a Poison Control Center associate medical director. “But based on how little it takes for nicotine to be deadly for a child, nicotine has the potential to be the most lethal agent in someone’s home.” The report comes as President Donald Trump announces his ban on certain vaping flavors. Other vaping news comes out of Georgia, Missouri and D.C.

More Than 200 GOP Lawmakers Urge Supreme Court To Overturn Roe V. Wade As ‘Radically Unsettled Precedent’

Morning Briefing

The amicus brief was filed in the case about a 2014 Louisiana law that requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. The large number of lawmakers signing the brief suggests that Republicans will emphasize the issue during the 2020 election cycle. The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in March.

Trump Walks Fine Line By Blocking Most Vaping Flavors But Critics Say A Ban Not Including Menthol ‘Is No Ban At All’

Morning Briefing

The FDA formally announced an order that would stop most cartridge-based e-cigarette flavors from being sold. The rule also exempts e-liquids and devices used in open-tank systems, which typically are sold in vape shops that cater to adults. Critics said that while the final decision is a step in the right direction, it falls short of the total ban the Trump administration had hinted at in the fall. Vaping advocates and the industry view the softer ban as a partial victory after intense lobbying efforts over the past few months.

One-On-One With Trump’s Medicare And Medicaid Chief: Seema Verma

KFF Health News Original

Seema Verma, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, sat down for a rare interview with KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney. They discuss her views on President Donald Trump’s plan for sustaining public health insurance programs, how the administration would respond if Obamacare is struck down by the courts in the future and her thoughts on how the latest “Medicare for All” proposals would affect innovation and access to care.

American Pot Is The Gold Standard. But Canada Leads The Export Game — For Now.

KFF Health News Original

American marijuana has a reputation for being the best in the world. But the federal prohibition on marijuana makes shipments across state lines or overseas a pipe dream. While U.S. firms expect the restrictions to drop in the coming years, they are stuck operating within state borders. That’s left Canadian cannabis growers to dominate the export market, with U.S. firms falling further behind each year.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: How Do Other Countries Pay For Health Care?

KFF Health News Original

Every country provides and pays for health care differently. Yet surveys show the U.S. health system covers fewer people and costs more than the systems of most other industrialized countries. Are there international systems that the U.S. could emulate or borrow from? On this special episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” host Julie Rovner interviews international health experts Gerard Anderson of Johns Hopkins and Christopher Pope of the Manhattan Institute.

‘Sharing The Sentence’: Toll Taken On Millions Of American Children Mounts As More Mothers Are Incarcerated

Morning Briefing

Having a parent in prison is a “primal wound” for children, advocates say, and there are at least 5 million of them in America. They face increased risks of psychological and behavioral problems and higher odds of entering the criminal justice system themselves. Public health news is on 2020 health predictions, do-not-resuscitate orders, infectious diseases outbreaks in 2019, sickle cell therapy, to eat meat or not?, life after rehab, intermittent fasting, autism, healthspans, and the benefits of altruism, as well.