Latest KFF Health News Stories
Medical Device Failures Brought To Light Now Bolster Lawsuits And Research
Millions of injuries and malfunctions once funneled into a hidden Food and Drug Administration database are now available.
Candidates Are Betting Big On Health. Is That What Voters Really Want?
Polls show that health care is at the top of voters’ issues, but the polls also say Democrats, let alone other Americans, are not ready for “Medicare for All.”
Opinion writers focus on these public health issues and others.
Editorial pages focus on how to combat rising health care costs.
A lack of a uniform policy allows convicted and accused perpetrators to access some dating apps and leaves users vulnerable to sexual assaults, according to an investigation. Public health news is on stem cell heart therapy, flu season, Parkinson’s disease, poetry therapy, problems with blood-sugar monitors, warnings about ski helmets, a grateful transplant patient, children prone to violent outbursts, and more.
Media outlets report on news from California, Oklahoma, Utah, South Carolina, New York, Louisiana, Minnesota, Maryland, Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Nebraska and Texas.
As Schools Move To Crack Down On Vaping, A New Problem Arises: Litter In The Shape Of Discarded Pods
The extent of the trash reveals “how much this has become a part of our students’ lives,” says Kristen Lewis, an assistant principal in Boulder, Colo. “And that’s what’s scary… It really has become an epidemic in our schools.” News on the vaping epidemic focuses on a flavor ban, political fallout, doctors’ efforts to warn teens of e-cigarette hazards, and more.
How Many Teens Have Died Preventable Deaths In Psychiatric Wards? The Answer Isn’t Easy To Find
No single agency keeps tabs on the number of deaths at psychiatric facilities, yet they happen with startling frequency. A Los Angeles Times investigation reveals the scope of the problem in California.
As the class of 2000 headed toward graduation, an opioid epidemic was cropping up and spreading like wildfire. Nearly two decades later, the students who were there at the beginning of the epidemic recount just how much it has affected their lives. In other news on the crisis: safe injections of heroin, how a counterterroism machine helps fight overdoses, the end of the era of pill mills, and more.
For only $1 a day, early deaths can be prevented among toddlers whose mothers find the strawberry-flavored meds easier to dispense. News on HIV among infants is on the importance of starting treatment right after birth, as well.
And Pfizer and Novartis are leading the pack. The risks involved with drugmakers building their own manufacturing plants are big but so are the potential rewards. In other pharmaceutical news: a high-stakes bet on heart drugs, an invite-only club for biotech CEOs, President Donald Trump’s importation plan, and more.
Some plans can change dramatically year to year, experts say. The open enrollment for Medicare is coming to a close, but experts offer tips on how to navigate the tricky system in the last few days of the season.
The Next Medicaid Battleground: How Tennessee Is Forging Ahead With Controversial Block Grant Plan
CMS has been vocal in encouraging states to create more restrictions on their Medicaid programs. Many looked to work requirements, but those plans have faced major legal setbacks in courts. Tennessee could be leading the way on a new path. Medicaid news comes out of Missouri and New York, as well.
“You can’t take proper care of patients if you don’t document care,” said Stan Huff, chief medical informatics officer at Intermountain Healthcare in Utah. In searching through the records of immigrant deaths, Politico discovered troubling issues with malfunctioning software and failures to document patient care, among other things.
Stem cell clinics have popped up across the country, and they are largely unregulated. More and more patients have been coming forward to speak out about the predatory nature of the industry. News from the health industry also focuses on hospitals suing poor patients, a GE health care unit, and an FBI investigation into Beth Israel’s transplant program.
The New York Times digs into a fractured abortion rights movement that’s reckoning with its own stumbles over the past few years. Meanwhile, strict abortion bills are being considered in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
About half of women over 40 have dense breasts and about 10% have very dense ones. That raises their risk of developing cancer and makes it harder to spot on mammograms if they do. But, like in other sectors of health care, the dilemma remains about whether the extra screening is worth the false alarms it brings. In other women’s health news: postpartum care, depression, asthma during pregnancy, and violence against girls.
Sign-ups tend to dip over the holidays, so it’s likely that next week the reported numbers that include Thanksgiving, will be lagging behind once more. Sign-ups overall are expected to be slightly lower this year.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), known for having a plan for everything, started the race by signing onto Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) “Medicare for All” proposal. That decision has left her entangled with an issue that seems to be sinking her polling numbers and leaving both progressives and moderates unsatisfied, even though it wasn’t her policy to start with.
First Edition: December 2, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.