Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
Each week, KHN finds longer stories for you to enjoy. This week’s selections include stories on covid, monkeypox, Gen Z health care, aging, seizures, and more.
Opinion writers weigh in on covid and reproductive health care issues.
Viewpoints: US Approach To Mental Health Care Is Broken; Kids Struggle With Lack Of Sleep
Editorial writers examine America’s mental health struggles as well as other public health topics.
Pfizer’s Covid Shots Prove Effective At Keeping Kids Out Of Hospital
Two doses of Pfizer’s covid vaccine were 82.7% effective at preventing hospitalizations among 5- to 11-year olds. Separately, an experimental oral covid vaccine is reportedly showing promise, and a Gates Foundation study found existing boosters were surprisingly good against BA.5.
Letting ACA Tax Credits Expire Would Wreak Havoc, Insurers Warn
Along with hospital and doctors’ groups, they are urging Congress to extend the subsidies before lawmakers leave Washington for their August recess, Modern Healthcare reports. Also in the news: magic mushrooms and medical device maker Hanger.
New York Reports Polio Case But Says Threat To Vaccinated Public Is Low
The unvaccinated individual with the infection may have indirectly caught it from an overseas source and is no longer infectious. A Medicaid repayment, postpartum Medicaid expansion, fentanyl, and how heat impacts blood pressure medications are also in the news.
Next Step In ‘Moonshot’: White House Picks Surgeon To Lead Cancer Institute
Prominent oncologist Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, a surgeon at Dana-Farber Cancer Center and a professor at Harvard Medical School, will lead the $7 billion biomedical research institute that funds most of the nation’s cancer research, Stat reported.
Small Turtles May Be To Blame For 11-State Salmonella Outbreak
The CDC announced the discovery of a link to purchases of turtles with shells less than 4 inches long. Separately, the CDC said another 17 puzzling hepatitis cases in children had been reported, and the new 988 suicide hotline is encountering mistrust in black communities.
Patients Sent Home As Georgia’s Abortion Law Does An About-Face
AP reports that the fast changes in Georgia’s legal stance on abortion this week meant some patients who were awaiting treatment were forced to leave medical offices. Other complex legal cases are also reported.
Monkeypox Research Gets $140M Boost From White House
The money is aimed at a 22-target research agenda, hopefully to understand and control rising cases. Meanwhile, the House Oversight and Reform Committee told the Department of Health and Human Services to address barriers that some people have found in accessing monkeypox treatments.
Bill To Guarantee Contraception Access Passes House
The legislation, aimed at countering possible Supreme Court action, passed with 195 Republicans voting against it. Prospects in the Senate are uncertain. Meanwhile, stories of the costs and barriers to obtaining birth control are also in the news.
CVS Starts Validating Prescriptions For Pills That Can End Pregnancy
CVS says some states’ laws restricting medicine abortions have prompted the pharmacy chain to verify methotrexate and misoprostol prescriptions in those locations. They want health providers to include a patient’s diagnosis in prescriptions.
Amazon Wants You To Be Its Patient, Buying One Medical In $3.9B Deal
Media outlets explain why the move is significant for Amazon and the future of the health care industry, and also highlight early concerns about the deal’s impact on medical data privacy.
Biden’s Covid Infection Will Test His Own Pandemic Policies
As President Joe Biden copes with his “mild symptoms,” the White House is putting its pandemic strategy to the highest test. Differences in where the nation was when then-President Donald Trump had covid are also in the news.
Available Covid Drugs In Spotlight As Biden Takes Paxlovid
A critical development for the direction of the covid pandemic has been the development of antiviral treatments and a drug that can help vulnerable people avoid infection.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Different Takes: The Future Of Covid Is Not Promising; Is It Time To Start Masking Again?
Opinion writers examine covid, monkeypox and mental health.
Editorial writers delve in to abortion and other public health topics.
Research Roundup: Covid-Related CVD; IVF; Gene Therapy; Alzheimer’s
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.