Latest KFF Health News Stories
Health systems are trying innovative ways–like building a warehouse distribution facility and committing to hiring marginalized workers–to improve overall health outcomes. The push is part of a larger trend for health systems to tackle problems beyond just treating patients. In other hospital news: price transparency, co-ops, mental health care, a $1.8 billion settlement, and more.
Officials declared the attack, which left three people dead, an act of domestic terrorism. Other gun violence news comes out of New York, Florida and Oregon.
Appeals Court Blocks Mississippi’s 15-Week Abortion Ban
Several states have been proposing strict abortion laws aimed at spurring the more conservative Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. News on women’s health issues is from Ohio, as well.
“Our data indicate that there are no low-risk procedures among patients who are frail,” concluded Dr. Daniel Hall, whose study was recently published in JAMA Surgery. Public health news is also on halting work on new vaccines, dealing with social anxiety at parties, questioning safe use of marijuana, getting a good night’s sleep, using color to stem migraines, the flu death toll, top health searches on Google, new goals for ”Biggest Loser,” the ”staggering” challenge of measles, problems with Medicaid’s prenatal care, critics of a food safety device, and dying at home.
The Army says inspectors have visited 49 bases, and found that residents at 48 of them reported concerns over safety and environmental issues — the top concerns being mold, lead-based paint, asbestos, poor water quality and exposure to sewage. Other news about the health of military families focuses on “forever chemicals” as well as medical malpractice claims.
The memo obtained by BuzzFeed News also said that the care resulted in two preventable surgeries, including one on an 8-year-old boy. The memo describes what happened to 17 different immigrants who were held at nine facilities across six states, from Georgia to Washington.
Frustrated With Cumbersome, Clunky Diabetes Devices, Patients Are Turning To DIY Technology
Many feel like the tools available on the market weren’t built by people actually living with the disease, and so those with technology experience are taking matters into their own hands. In other health and technology news: virtual reality, the data Catch-22, prosthetics, cyberattacks, and Apple’s push into the health industry.
FDA Approves Expanded Use Of Fish-Oil Based Drug For Patients With Multiple Risk Factors
The approval reverses decades of mixed results for fish-oil-based drugs and could result in Vascepa being prescribed to millions of patients. Amarin, the drug’s maker, set a list price of $303.65 per month.
Are e-cigarettes helpful as a tool for smokers to help them quit? Depends on who you ask. In other news: more on the investigation into the vaping-linked lung disease and the ground zero of an epidemic.
The Boston Globe and ProPublica reviewed thousands of pages of legal, criminal, medical and child welfare records, along with recorded interviews, to piece together a full picture of the failings of the government to properly track and address child abuse.
How Purdue Pharma Is Cashing In On Both Sides Of The Opioid Epidemic
One of the company’s affiliates is pushing hard to market naloxone, an anti-overdose medication. “You’re in the business of selling medicine that causes addiction and overdoses, and now you’re in the business of selling medicine that treats addiction and overdoses?” asked Dr. Andrew Kolodny, a critic of Purdue Pharma. Meanwhile, a $64 million plan to fight opioid addiction in New Hampshire gets mixed reviews.
Duodenoscopes are used in 700,000 medical procedures each year, yet tests showed that the devices could not be properly decontaminated between procedures. In 2015, two patients in Los Angeles died and five were sickened by contaminated duodenoscopes.
If Republican lawmakers don’t act on high drug prices, the issue that many voters care deeply about could become a political liability for them. But if they do, it could create a schism in the party and anger the powerful pharmaceutical industry.
Although much of the rhetoric around “Medicare for All” focuses on taking aim at industry giants like hospitals, drugmakers and insurers, some voters in states like Iowa worry about how such a major change would affect their neighbors and friends who simply work in the field. In other news from the election trail: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) goes after South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s health plan; Andrew Yang reveals proposals on prescription drug prices and care for adults with disabilities and prescription; and more.
The normal open enrollment season wrapped up on Sunday, and experts are expecting the numbers to fall short of last year’s total. But fears of a marketplace collapse are nowhere to be found. “There’s definitely been some erosion, but perhaps not the cratering that some predicted back when the Trump administration announced some of their policy changes affect the ACA,” said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor. In other health law news: advocates call for an extension because of website glitches; a federal appeals court decision is poised to drop any day now; what would happen if the ACA went away; and more.
First Edition: December 16, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Analysis: In Medical Billing, Fraudulent Charges Weirdly Pass As Legal
After my husband had a bike accident, we were subjected to medical bills that no one would accept if they had been delivered by a contractor, or a lawyer or an auto mechanic. Such charges are sanctioned by insurers, which generally pay because they have no way to know whether you received a particular item or service — and it’s not worth their time to investigate the millions of medical interactions they write checks for each day.
What Would Happen If The ACA Went Away?
The Affordable Care Act has been on the books for nearly a decade. Parts of it have become ingrained in our health system ― and in our everyday life. But this could change, depending on a long-awaited 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision regarding the law’s constitutionality.
Promising Greater Safety, A Tiny Widget Creates Chaos For Tube Feeders
A standard connector for feeding tubes was supposed to improve patient safety by preventing accidental misconnections to equipment used for IVs or other purposes. But critics say the design instead could keep patients from real food and inadvertently creates a host of new risks, including for vulnerable premature infants.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.