Latest KFF Health News Stories
Facebook Launches Feature Redirecting Users Searching For Opioids Or Treatment To Federal Help Line
Social media companies have been under increasing pressure to step up in the fight against the opioid epidemic. In other news related to the crisis: medication-assisted treatment, a big increase in deaths in rural areas and the dangers of fentanyl.
Jaw-Dropping Results From Experimental Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Treatment Sparks Hope In Patients
“I have spent my life wanting to make a real change in this disease. Finally, we may be there. I am very hopeful. This is an emotional time for people in the field,” said Dr. Jerry Mendell of Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
CVS To Launch Prescription Home Delivery Service In Customer-Friendly Push
Drugstores and other retailers have been pushing more services such as this in recent years to hold Amazon.com at bay.
House Republicans’ Budget Plan Would Put Medicare In The Cross Hairs
While its not clear the measure would actually get to the floor before the midterm elections, the House Budget Committee’s blueprint shows where Republicans’ priorities lie in the coming years. The budget plan would remake Medicare by giving seniors the option of enrolling in private plans that compete with the traditional program.
Thousands of mental health professionals and physicians have criticized the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy, which is resulting in migrant children being separated from their parents at immigration facilities.
Most Republican lawmakers don’t want to touch the issue with a ten-foot pool this close to the midterm elections, but conservative groups are still pushing for a change. The proposal, which focuses on giving control to the states, was drafted by groups led by the Heritage Foundation, the Galen Institute and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.).
The Trump administration announced the finalized rule yesterday that would give small businesses access to insurance options like those available to large companies and let them skirt some of the health law’s requirements. While President Donald Trump said the rule will save people “massive amounts of money,” Democrats and others in the health industry say the insurance plans are “junk” and they will further destabilize the marketplace.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
First Female Dean ‘A Sea Of Change’ At USC’s Scandal-Plagued Medical School
Laura Mosqueda, a geriatrician, wants to train new doctors to better care for elderly people as the country’s population ages. She will face a big challenge as USC reels from drug and sexual misconduct scandals that have enraged students and landed the university in legal hot water.
‘Holy Cow’ Moment Changes How Montana’s State Health Plan Does Business
Other states are watching to see if controlling how much hospitals get paid can continue to hold down costs in “Big Sky Country.”
Administration Eases Way For Small Businesses To Buy Insurance In Bulk
The Trump administration issued the final rule on association health plans, which supporters say will make coverage more affordable for some employees but led others to warn about “junk insurance.”
Si tienes hepatitis C, escupir puede ser un crimen
En Ohio, un hombre que tiene hepatitis C fue sentenciado a 18 meses de prisión por escupirle a un oficial. Defensores dicen que estas leyes no son eficaces para detener la propagación de la enfermedad.
Luego de una sobredosis de opioides, solo el 30% recibe tratamiento contra la adicción
Solo 3 de cada 10 pacientes revividos tras sufrir una sobredosis de opioides reciben el tratamiento de seguimiento que puede evitar una futura tragedia.
Editorial pages focus on these and other health issues.
Different Takes: Changes Put Health Law On Shaky Ground; New Policies Are Good For Small Businesses
Opinion writers express views about changes to the health law and proposals for more changes.
Media outlets report on news from Massachusetts, Arkansas, California, Minnesota, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Some Prison Nurses Earning More Than $100,000 In Overtime A Year, Costing Taxpayers Millions
While about 50 nursing vacancies exist, the prisons rely on volunteer overtime to accommodate the shortages. In other health worker news: limits proposed on the number of patients a nurse can see, reinstated health care workers are turned away on eve of union vote, and a new movement in paramedicine.
Families that rely on states’ medical marijuana laws are more cautious than celebratory as one company’s actions to make sure its product can be legally prescribed and sold by pharmacies threaten to curtail programs that have been in effect for years. Marijuana news comes out of New York, Florida and Virginia, as well.
Women who are on the path to recovery were having their babies taken away from them, sometimes as early as right from the hospital. That was setting off a spiral, where to cope with the pain the women would turn to opioids and thus make it harder to ever get their kids back.
When Others Have Given Up On Patients, This Neurologist Steps In
Dr. Alice Flaherty likes to tinker with machines until she fixes what’s broken. And her current interest involves patients who others say aren’t really sick or lack motivation to get better. “I got interested in that whole thing, like if you want to get better then you’re sick, if you don’t want to get better, then it’s a vice,” she says. “What was it that made us attribute willfulness to people who were obviously miserable?” In other public health news: smoking, video game addiction, autism, diets, ticks, alternative medicines, and more.