Latest KFF Health News Stories
FDA Clears Path To Make It Easier To Access Abortion Pills
The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday it will relax restrictions on medication that induces abortions, allowing doctors to prescribe it online or deliver it by the mail or directly to a pharmacy. The move is expected to open a new front in the political fights over abortion.
Biden Acknowledges Social Spending Bill Will Slip To 2022
Negotiations between party leaders and Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, bogged down over the cost of the package. President Joe Biden signaled that getting the bill out of the Senate will have to wait until senators return in January. The Hill reports on worries the whole package will have to be reworked. But Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican, says he thinks the bill is “dead.”
CDC Endorses Moderna, Pfizer Covid Vaccines Over J&J Shot
Ongoing concerns over rare blood clots prompts the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to narrow the use of Johnson & Johnson’s covid vaccine in adults.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Research Roundup: From Dr. Fauci’s Team: A Promising HIV Vaccine
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Different Takes: Updated Covid Prevention Strategies; Omicron Doesn’t Just Infect Unvaccinated
Opinion writers weigh in on these covid issues.
Viewpoints: Reversing Roe Will Affect Miscarriage Care; Addressing The Youth Mental Health Crisis
Editorial pages tackle these public health concerns.
As The Pandemic Hit In 2020, Health Spending Soared Upward
Politico’s figures place the medical system as accounting for just less than a fifth of the economy at the end of 2020. Modern Healthcare says overall U.S. healthcare spending jumped 9.1% in 2020, with covid relief money as the primary driver — the biggest jump since 2002.
Houston Researchers Achieve Breast Cancer Treatment Breakthrough
The Houston Methodist team found triple negative breast cancer tumors regressed, and were prevented from spreading when treated with chemotherapy and a drug normally used against heart failure. Also, lead in drinking water, stuttering treatment, medical malpractice and more are in the news.
UK’s Covid Surge Tops Records Amid Warnings Of Worse Ahead
Wednesday’s new confirmed case numbers in the U.K. were the highest since the pandemic began. Moderna, meanwhile, is set to begin trials of its covid shot in Africa on an as-yet-untested population: people with HIV.
White House Plan Would Replace Every Lead Water Pipe
The ancient Romans knew lead was poisonous. Over 2,000 years later, Vice President Kamala Harris will detail the plan to replace every lead water pipe in the U.S. Meanwhile, the White House’s social spending agenda may be delayed again by Sen. Joe Manchin, who reportedly still wants to a lower price tag on the bill.
FDA May Reform Abortion Provision By Allowing More Pills By Mail
Reports suggest the Food and Drug Administration is poised to make it permanently easier to access abortion medication by mail. Separately, the Houston Chronicle says Harris County will be allowed to spend public money to counter Texas’ strict anti-abortion laws, including direct funding of care.
CDC Panel Could Recommend Halting J&J Shot As Blood Clot Issues Continue
Advisers will meet today to review updated data from the Johnson & Johnson single-dose covid vaccine. The panel is expected to vote on whether to update its recommendation for the vaccine’s use, which could mean continuing to administer it to anyone 18 or older or even to “get rid of it, or only use it in certain populations,” said one clinician familiar with the agenda.
Biden’s Health Worker Vax Mandate Partly Revived By Appeals Court
And a case over the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for large private companies has been punted to a smaller three judge panel. Meanwhile, the Navy is now dismissing sailors who refused to get shots, with about 5,700 active-duty service members currently unvaxxed.
More Colleges Close As Students Catch Covid At Alarming Rates
News outlets report shuttering of in-person classes across the U.S. as covid outbreaks affect the student body. Meanwhile, a lawsuit is trying to prevent an employee vaccine and test mandate in schools in Las Vegas, and lawmakers in Louisiana are pushing against vaccine mandates for students.
Moderna Vaccine Protection Is Lower Against Omicron; Booster Helps, Study Finds
Like the Pfizer mRNA shot, a preliminary study finds that the initial two-dose protocol of Moderna’s covid vaccine does not hold up against the omicron variant. But a booster dose can restore some of that effectiveness.
Most States Becoming Engulfed In A Triple Whammy Of Delta, Omicron, Flu
In the first week of December, 841 people were admitted to U.S. hospitals with influenza, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from the prior week, when there were 496 new flu admissions.
CDC Investigation Finds Its Own Early Covid Tests Had Design Flaw
The Wall Street Journal reports on the findings of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigation into its initial batch of covid PCR tests in 2020, and how they impacted early pandemic responses. Politico reports on worries that omicron covid will stretch supplies of current covid tests.
Why Is Omicron A Superspreader? New Data Offers Clues
The omicron variant has been found to infect 70 times faster than the delta or original covid strain — but causes less severe disease — in a study from the University of Hong Kong. Why? Researchers observed that the virus takes stronger hold in the airways rather than the lungs.
Keeping Up With Omicron Will Be Tough On Labs, Hospitals
The “double surge” of omicron and delta infections will stretch the ability of the U.S. health care system to research, test for and treat covid this winter.