Skip to main content

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.

Subscribe Follow Us Donate
  • Trump 2.0

    Trump 2.0

    • Agency Watch
    • State Watch
    • Rural Health Payout
  • Public Health

    Public Health

    • Vaccines
    • CDC & Disease
    • Environmental Health
    All Public Health
  • Audio Reports

    Audio Reports

    • What the Health?
    • Healthcare Helpline
    • KFF Health News Minute
    • An Arm and a Leg
    • Health Hub
    • HealthQ
    • Silence in Sikeston
    • Epidemic
    All Audio
  • Special Reports

    Special Reports

    • Bill Of The Month
    • Common Ground
    • Diagnosis: Debt
    • The Body Shops
    • Priced Out
    • Guns, Race, and Profit
    • Broken Rehab
    • Dead Zone
    • Denied
    • Opioid Settlement Tracking
    • Eleven Minutes
    All Special Reports
  • More Topics

    More Topics

    • Elections
    • Healthcare Costs
    • Insurance
    • Prescription Drugs
    • Health Industry
    • Immigration
    • Reproductive Health
    • Technology
    • Rural Health
    • Race and Health
    • Aging
    • Mental Health
    • Affordable Care Act
    • Medicare
    • Medicaid
    • Children’s Health
    All Topics

  • Medicare Advantage Billing Probe
  • School Vaccine Mandates
  • Weight Loss Drugs Coverage
  • Opioid Settlement Money
  • Abortion Pill Access

Morning Briefing

Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

  • Email

Friday, Oct 23 2026 UPDATED 9:14 AM

Full Issue

Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed

Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. Today's selections are on stuttering, "dark nutrition," rats, and more.

The New York Times: The New Science Of Stuttering

Gerald Maguire always knew there was something different about his brain. He remembers raising his hand in grade school to answer a question and struggling to say the words in his mind. Somewhere between his brain and his mouth, his words were diverted or damaged. The sounds that made it through were garbled and bracketed by extended bouts of strained silence. (Tamisiea, 10/18)

The Washington Post: Beyond Cigarettes: Uncovering The Causes Of Lung Cancer In Nonsmokers 

The disease’s rising incidence among nonsmokers is prompting greater research into its unique characteristics and hopes for more targeted screening and treatment. (Kim, 10/23)

The New York Times: Inside The World Of ‘Dark Nutrition’

Kelly Pi pulled a container of buffalo brains out of her bag and removed the top to show me the meat, which sat in a pool of red liquid. She pointed to a fragment of black amid the pinks and whites of the tissue: “Look, you can see a little bit of the skull!” The brain slithered as she pulled it from its container and held it up for me to admire. Then, as though it were a juicy apple, she took a bite of the raw meat. “Mmmm,” she said. “This is so good.” (Haigney, 10/21)

The New York Times: New York City Has A Rat Killing Machine

New York City has been waging war on rats for ages, and the humans certainly have the technological advantage. The BurrowRx is the latest of an array of methods city officials have tried, from traps to birth control to poison to dry ice to the toxic drowning bucket introduced by Eric Adams when he was the Brooklyn borough president. (Stewart, 10/19)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
Newsletter icon

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Stay informed by signing up for the Morning Briefing and other emails:

Recent Morning Briefings

  • Today, October 23
  • Thursday, October 22
  • Wednesday, October 21
  • Tuesday, October 20
  • Monday, October 19
  • Friday, October 16
More Morning Briefings
RSS Feeds
  • Podcasts
  • Special Reports
  • Morning Briefing
  • About Us
  • Donate
  • Staff
  • Republish Our Content
  • Contact Us

Follow Us

  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Bluesky
  • TikTok
  • RSS

Sign up for emails

Join our email list for regular updates based on your personal preferences.

Sign up
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2026 KFF