Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Perspectives: India Battling Covid Misinformation; Black Women Key In Reducing Vaccine Hesitancy
Opinion writers weigh in on these covid and vaccine issues.
Viewpoints: What Is The Future Of Telehealth?; Is Aducanumab The Alzheimer’s Answer?
Editorial pages tackle these various public health topics.
Missouri Governor Signs Bill Creating Drug Database To Fight Opioid Abuse
Missouri is the last state to establish the monitoring tool. It will collect data on controlled substances, such as opioid painkillers and some anti-anxiety drugs. In other state news, Alaska notes a surge in heroin overdoses, New Jersey closes a troubled women’s prison and New York City plans for a post-covid concert in Central Park.
Canada May Begin Reopening Border With US On June 22
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tells mayors of border cities that he is looking at the date for a possible lifting of the closure that began in March 2020 as the pandemic spread. In other news, drugmaker Moderna is asking European regulators for permission to vaccinate teens and the director of the World Health Organization is calling on vaccine producers to provide more doses to international relief efforts.
Telehealth Company Valued At $1 Billion
A virtual health care startup is valued at $1 billion; LetsGetChecked allows customers order home-health tests and medications and receive telehealth follow-ups. And One Medical buys Iora Health and its Medicare Advantage business.
Google, Apple Move Deeper Into Health Data
Apple makes it easier to share medical data collected by its phone and watch; a unit of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, hires a a physician data expert from Duke. In other industry news, doctors question why race factors in calculations for delivering kidney treatments, emergency room visits dropped during the pandemic and more Native Americans are applying to medical schools.
Airlines Lose Or Mishandle 29 Wheelchairs A Day
But that’s 1.5 percent of wheelchairs and scooters they ship. (The Washington Post article doesn’t say what percentage of luggage they lose and mishandle.) Also, the possible dangers of the TikTok practice of “dry scooping” and a strange sound connected to vision problems.
Wuhan Lab Theory Deemed Plausible By Government Lab
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory report says the hypothesis that the coronavirus escaped from a Chinese lab is plausible. Also, more evidence that covid is abating, and Boeing has doubts about an air purifier technology.
New Moms, Other Parents Cope With Pandemic’s Mental Health Challenges
A Canadian study has found a 30% increase in the number of postpartum mothers who sought mental health treatment nine months into the pandemic. Meanwhile, parents of newborns are confused about how to handle visitors right now, and some people are using color-coded bracelets to inform others of their physical boundaries.
J&J Covid Vaccines Left Unused And Unwanted
An estimated 10 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine are just sitting there. Other covid-related news includes a vaccine trial for children ages 5-11 and how states try other techniques to get people vaccinated, like a marijuana joint for a shot.
WHO Expert: 80% Vaccination Level Needed To Prevent A Variant From Taking Over
“High levels of vaccination coverage are the way out of this pandemic,” said Dr. Michael Ryan, emergencies chief at the World Health Organization. In India, covid patients suffering from the delta variant have experienced hearing loss, severe gastric upsets and blood clots leading to gangrene, symptoms not typically seen in covid patients.
Critics Question Strength Of Evidence Behind Aduhelm’s Fast-Tracked Approval
Some disease experts are criticizing the standards used by the FDA in its accelerated review of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s disease treatment. News outlets also look at what that means for future drug approvals.
More Money Provided To Soften The Economic Toll Of Covid
Expanded federal child care tax credits of up to $300 a month are available for the last half of the year. In other news, Oakland, California, experiments with a guaranteed income program, and Hawaii extends its eviction moratorium.
House Panel Assails Fisher-Price For Ignoring Sleeper’s Risks To Infants
A report by the Committee on Oversight and Reform suggests ongoing problems with the U.S. consumer product safety system in which companies can sell such items with voluntary safety standards and called for reforms in federal safeguards.
FDA OKs First New Alzheimer’s Drug In Nearly 20 Years In Hotly Debated Move
Biogen’s Aduhelm was granted approval by the Food and Drug Administration but the company will have to conduct a new, large clinical trial to confirm the treatment’s benefit, and the FDA reserves the right to rescind its decision.
Medicare, Insurers Face Hefty Costs From Drug Price Set At $56,000 A Year
The wholesale price tag set by Biogen for Aduhelm exceeded Wall Street estimates. The drugmaker’s CEO defended the cost as “fair,” but told CNBC that it would not be raised for at least four years. News outlets report on the thorny issue of who will pay.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these Covid issues.
Viewpoints: Can We Slow Down The Aging Process?; US Mental Health Care Needs Serious Overhaul
Editorial pages tackle these public health issues.