Latest KFF Health News Stories
There are a lot of questions that remain as physicians and pharmacists in California scramble to get ready for terminal patient requests for prescription drugs to end their lives. The Sacramento Bee offers an in-depth look at the issue.
A new report finds that one out of every six hospital beds is run by a Catholic institution and that in 46 regions of the U.S. it is the sole community hospital. The American Civil Liberties Union and MergerWatch are concerned that growth is affecting women’s care, citing doctors who said women became gravely ill at those facilities or were denied tubal ligation because of religious regulations.
N.H. Senate Votes Against Legalizing Needle Exchange
Other New England states have needle exchanges, but New Hampshire lawmakers decided instead to create a commission to study the option. Media outlets in Florida and Missouri offer coverage of the opioid crisis, as well.
Prince’s Death Spotlights Demographic Particularly Vulnerable To Opioid Epidemic
More than 40 percent of the fatal opioid drug overdoses are of people between the ages of 45 to 64. Meanwhile, questions are starting to crop up around the actions of the addiction specialist who was called to help the celebrity the day before his death.
Don’t Look To Biosimilar Knock-Offs For Lower Drug Prices
Companies have been marking up the prices of their brand-name drugs before patents expire to eke out the most money they can. But this isn’t just affecting those drugs: it is dragging the entire marketplace toward higher costs, because knock-offs set their value just below their brand-name counterparts.
2,000 Doctors Join Bernie Sanders’ Call For Single-Payer Health System
In a medical journal, the physicians say that even after the federal health law, there are “persistent shortcomings of the current health care system.”
FDA Brings E-Cigarettes Under Federal Authority With Sweeping New Rules
The regulations ban the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18 and require manufacturers to submit their products for approval from the agency. Critics say many of the shops can’t afford that process, and others worry that the new rules will push consumers back toward traditional cigarettes.
FDA Retreats From Recall Of Scope-Cleaning Machines Tied To Outbreaks
After a wave of sometimes-deadly superbug infections, the agency last year ordered a recall of Custom Ultrasonics machines used to disinfect medical scopes. Now, with little explanation, it is backing off.
On The Zika Front Lines: Genetically Modified Mosquitoes To Be Unleashed In Caymans
Oxitec, the company that has developed the solution, will release thousands of modified male mosquitoes a week to mate with females. This will produce offspring that don’t survive until adulthood. “It’s not unreasonable to think we might achieve elimination,” says Glen Slade, the company’s head of business development.
In Prince’s Age Group, Risk Of Opioid Overdose Climbs
In 2013 and 2014, people ages 45 to 64 accounted for about half of all deaths from drug overdose, according to the CDC.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
A May Health Affairs study examines how Medicare’s eligibility age affects spending and prices, as well as the volume of services used by patients.
FAQ: How The FDA’s New Tobacco Rule Affects Consumers
The FDA expands its purview over all tobacco products — including e-cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco — but the new regulatory process could permit many products sold in the U.S. to remain so for up to three years.
FDA Brings E-Cigarettes Under Federal Authority With Sweeping New Rules
Among other regulations, manufacturers will now have to submit their products for approval by the agency, a process many of the smaller shops can’t afford.
Viewpoints: Shifting Health Care Costs; What About New Payment Systems?
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Longer Looks: The Biggest Loser; America’s HIV Capital
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
News outlets report on health issues in Iowa, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Missouri, Illinois, California, Maryland and Kansas.
Measure To Restore Health Care For Low-Income Kids Rejected By Arizona Lawmakers
Arizona is the only state that does not participate in the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. In the Alabama legislature, a bill passes to stop prosecutions of pregnant women who use medications prescribed by a doctor.
Brown Signs Tobacco Package Raising Smoking Age To 21, Curbing E-Cigarette Use
The tobacco industry has threatened to fight the new laws at the ballot box in November.
Planned Parenthood Files Federal Suit Over Kansas’ Decision To Strip Its Medicaid Funding
“All of the grounds for the termination for Medicaid are entirely bogus and unfounded,” says Laura McQuade, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. In other news, Oklahoma’s Medicaid agency is ending its contract with two Planned Parenthood organizations, a debate over fetal pain heats up in Utah and the Alabama Legislature passes a bill regulating clinics’ proximity to schools.