Latest KFF Health News Stories
Drug Therapy Alone May Save Lives As Effectively As Stents, Major Bypass Surgeries
This is far from the first study to suggest that stents and bypass are overused, but previous research was criticized for not adequately controlling for risk factors. With its size and rigorous design, this new study aims to settle questions about the benefits of stents and bypass.
As more immigrants linger in jails than ever before in U.S. history, deportations lag far behind the former administration, despite President Donald Trump’s promise to deport “millions.” News on the border crisis is on mental health issues, as well.
But health care skeptics warn that robotic and other upgrades in the $2.1B facility will accelerate the rise of costs over time that would be passed down to patients. Health technology news is on a cost-cutting effort in Utah that pays off and privacy issues, as well
Sanders, Booker Propose Creating A New Bureau Dedicated To Keeping Drug Prices In Check
Under the bill proposed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), drugmakers bringing a new product to market would have to submit to this new agency the cost of research and development, the cost of the drug and of comparable medications in other countries and the federal investments that contributed to the drug’s discovery and production.
As Rural Patients Face Ever-Widening Health Deserts, Telemedicine Helps Fill The Gap
Telemedicine is so advanced these days that doctors can help direct nurses and other medical personnel step-by-step through emergencies while watching it unfold on the screen. As rural health care becomes more scarce, even as emergencies boom, the technology can mean the difference between life and death for some Americans.
Oklahoma Judge’s Decimal Error In Opioids Case Reduces Fine For Johnson & Johnson
Judge Thad Balkman’s miscalculation involved the cost to train Oklahoma birthing hospitals to evaluate infants with opioids in their systems. He listed it as $107,683,000, while the actual amount is $107,683. “That will be the last time I use that calculator,” Balkman joked. The total fine for Johnson & Johnson is now down to $465 million rather than $572 million.
Jury Awards Planned Parenthood $2.3M In Case Over Secretly Recorded Videos About Fetal Tissue
After a six-week civil trial, the San Francisco jury found anti-abortion rights advocate David Daleiden trespassed on private property and committed other crimes in recording the 2015 videos that stirred up controversy and congressional investigations for Planned Parenthood.
Trump Administration Rule Would Make Hospitals Reveal Secretly Negotiated Prices With Insurers
Hospitals are already gearing up for a legal battle against the “radical proposal.” Some experts say the rule would be a game-changer if it survives. The Trump administration is also proposing to require most health plans that Americans get through their employers to disclose rates, as well.
Warren Presents Detailed ‘Medicare For All’ Road Map With Three-Year Transition Period
The plan may blunt moderates’ criticism that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) would strip people of their private insurance immediately. The plan still sets ambitious health goals for the first 100 days of Warren’s presidency, where she would use a budgetary maneuver in Congress to create a generous “Medicare for All option.”
Researchers Bank On ‘Smart Bomb’ Phage Therapy As A Hero In The Antibiotic-Resistant Era
The phages can be programmed to blow up a single harmful bacterium without blowing up other, helpful strains that occur naturally in a person’s body, as antibiotics do. In other pharmaceutical news, Novartis nabs U.S. approval for its experimental sickle cell drug.
White House Tries to Quash Questions Over Trump’s Health After President’s Surprise Check-Up
After a surprise two-hour doctor’s appointment on Saturday, the White House said President Donald Trump, anticipating a busy 2020, wanted to “begin portions of his routine annual physical exam” and that any worries about his health are unfounded.
President Donald Trump has been under intense lobbying pressure from the industry and faced warnings that there could be 2020 election backlash from voters. Whatever policy emerges, it’s expected to be far less strict than the one he was all but ready to make in September. Media outlets peel back the curtain on the administration’s delay and shift on a flavor ban.
California Mass Shooting Leaves Four Dead, More Wounded Only Days After Santa Clarita Attack
A gunman walked into a backyard and started shooting at a south Fresno home, where a gathering of about 35 family and friends was watching a football game. Earlier in the week, a 16-year-old gunmen in California opened fire on his fellow students before turning the gun on himself.
White House Puts Heft Behind Bipartisan Compromise Drug Bill In Senate
White House adviser Joe Grogan said the administration is working to line up Republican support for the Senate bill, which would cap what Medicare beneficiaries pay out of pocket for medicines and require drugmakers to pay rebates to Medicare if they hike prices above the inflation rate.
First Edition: November 18, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these public health topics and others important health issues.
Editorial pages focus on ways to reduce health care costs and other health care issues.
Longer Looks: Abortion Wars; Self-Harm And Social Media; A Cancer Story; And More
Each week, KHN finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Philadelphia has become the epicenter for overdose deaths as the epidemic shifts from rural areas to urban ones. City leaders hope to follow practices in other countries that allow tens of thousands of illicit drug users to consume heroin and other drugs in supervised facilities instead of in back alleys and parks. The Department of Justice says injection sites violate the law. News on the opioid epidemic is from Michigan, as well.
Media outlets report on news from New York, Maryland, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Florida, Connecticut, Tennessee, South Dakota, and Arizona.
