Latest KFF Health News Stories
Pfizer Settles With U.S. Over Practice Of Using Charity To Pay Kickbacks To Medicare Patients
“Pfizer used a third party to saddle Medicare with extra costs,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said in a statement. “Pfizer knew that the third-party foundation was using Pfizer’s money to cover the co-pays of patients taking Pfizer drugs, thus generating more revenue for Pfizer and masking the effect of Pfizer’s price increases.”
Abortion Group To Pump Millions Into Winning Back House: We Were ‘Built For This Moment’
NARAL’s “Majority Maker” program, the largest spending plan in the group’s history, will specifically target GOP House members who have voted for anti-abortion bills that have flown under the radar, usually because they failed to pass the Senate.
Reigniting Health Law Repeal Just Before Midterms? It Might Not Be That Far-Fetched.
Some Republican lawmakers, worried about Democrats using the health law as a winning issue, want to take another stab at repeal to show voters they haven’t given up on it. Others don’t want to touch the volatile topic with a ten-foot pole. Meanwhile, states are sounding the alarm over association health plans allowed by the Trump administration, saying they’re magnets for scam artists.
New Weapons In Fight Against Ebola Raise Hope But Face Real-Time Limitations
Among other complications, some officials are worried a person who has received the new vaccination will get sick anyway and undercut efforts to spread acceptance of the preventive strategy.
NOTE TO READERS: KHN’s First Edition will not be published May 28. Look for it again in your inbox May 29. Here’s today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
California Hospitals Urge Moms To Favor Breast Milk Over Formula
Exclusively breastfeeding babies for at least six months is widely viewed as a significant health benefit. White moms are more likely to do so than blacks, Asians or Latinas.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Campaign Promises Kept, Plus ‘Nerd Reports’
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Sarah Kliff of Vox and Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo discuss a proposed administration regulation that seeks to separate Planned Parenthood from federal family planning funds, the final congressional passage of legislation aimed at helping those with terminal illnesses obtain experimental medications, and new government reports on the uninsured and federal health spending. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Liz Szabo about the May “Bill of the Month.”
Pfizer Settles Kickback Case Related To Copay Assistance For $24M
The drugmaker agreed to a settlement with the Justice Department over allegations that it funneled copay assistance money through a foundation to Medicare patients.
Perspectives: Parents Shouldn’t Leave The Gun Protests Just To The Students
Writers offer thoughts on the public health issue.
Editorial pages focus on these and other health care issues.
Longer Looks: A Pioneering Heart Surgeon; Psychedelic Drugs; Tech Addiction
Each week, KHN finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from California, Oregon, Massachusetts, Texas, Rhode Island, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Maryland, Minnesota and Arizona.
Research On Children ‘Growing Out’ Of Gender Dysphoria Adds Layer Of Complexity To Transgender Care
Although research shows that up to 94 percent of children will “grow out” of their transgender identity, advocates say that those studies were flawed in the first place and shouldn’t dictate how doctors care for young children who want to socially transition.
To Help Smokers Kick The Habit, Money Outperforms E-Cigs, Nicotine Patches
But quitting rates overall were woefully low. Out of 6,006 smokers who enrolled in the trial, only 80 could provide biochemical evidence that they were smoke-free six months after their quit dates.
Lung Cancer Rates Are Now Higher In Women Than Men And Experts Aren’t Sure Why
The research raises some possibilities, including biological and genetic ones, about why rates for white and Hispanic women born since the mid-1960s outpace men. Other reports look at bariatric surgery benefits and cancers linked to obesity.
Following School Shooting, Texas May Consider ‘Red Flag’ Law For Guns
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) met with victims and survivors of the mass shooting to talk about ways to make students safer. “There were no commitments per se but there were a lot of discussions,” Ed Scruggs, board vice chair of Texas Gun Sense said after the meeting.
If Ebola Spreads ‘We Will Take Further Actions,’ HHS Secretary Vows
Congo officials have confirmed that the number of Ebola cases has hit 30 as the nation fights to contain the virus from spreading further.
U.S. Life Expectancy Expected To Drop For Third Straight Year As Heart Disease Improvements Plateau
Gains made against the nation’s No. 1 killer have previously offset losses in other places, but this year researchers aren’t seeing that drop in heart disease deaths. In other public health news: cancer and artificial intelligence, colleges and disabilities, humans’ oversized brain, trauma in kids, the happiest places to live, and more.
The earliest complaint shared with the Los Angeles Times dates to 1991 — two years after Dr. George Tyndall joined the clinic staff. “They missed an opportunity to save a lot of other women from his mistreatment,” said Alexis Rodriguez, a former patient.
Medications For Depression, Insomnia, Diabetes And More Are Ending Up In Our Rivers And Streams
A new study looked at the wastewater discharges coming from pharmaceutical facilities and found 33 different medicines in the samples. The health or environmental effects of the contamination is unclear. In other pharmaceutical news: legislation to promote the development of antibiotics falls short; Supreme Court urged to take up a case about product warnings; a look at what’s in President Donald Trump’s blueprint to lower drug prices; and more.