Latest KFF Health News Stories
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.
Experts say that watching pornography can rewire a child’s brain. But even though it’s unlikely adults will succeed in blocking them from watching it, there’s little help being offered to the young people to help them navigate it more safely. In other public health news: the flu, sugar intake for infants, hibernation, mental health, sleep, exercise and more.
The Death Toll For Florida’s Decision Not To Expand Medicaid: 2,776 Lives
“What the report shows for the first time is the scale of the impact of that access and just how many lives are truly saved or lost because of the ability to connect to care and maintain that connection to care, particularly for people who have chronic conditions,” said Alison Yager, director of policy advocacy for the Miami-based Florida Health Justice Project. Medicaid news comes out of Wyoming, as well.
Migrant apprehensions were down for a fifth consecutive month in October, a 31 percent decrease from October 2018 and a 73 percent drop from the year’s high in May, the U.S. Border Patrol reported. Single adult migrants comprised the bulk of those apprehended. News on the border crisis is on federally funded shelter programs and coercive DNA testing, as well.
Along with legally recognizing the fetus as a person, the legislation would also mean that anyone who performs an abortion would be “subject to already existing murder statutes.” The bill is just one of many strict regulations that state lawmakers have been pushing through the courts this year.
Dollar Tree Hit With Warning From FDA Over Its Sales Of ‘Potentially Unsafe Drugs’
The FDA issued a warning letter to Dollar Tree for allegedly selling over-the-counter medications from Chinese manufacturing companies that have violated U.S. federal law for not properly testing products and cited an example where “rodent feces (were) found throughout the manufacturing facility.”
Vascepa, which right now is only approved for a relatively narrow group of patients with extremely high levels of triglycerides, costs around $300 a month. The advisory panel unanimously supported the expansion based on recent study results showing the drug can cut rates of life-threatening heart problems in high-risk patients. Other news on the pharmaceuticals and the FDA focuses on a warning against over-the-counter medicine sold at the Dollar Tree, a Chinese cancer drug, and more.
Cases Of Vaping-Related Lung Illness Are Still Climbing But At A Slower Pace
The illness has killed 42 people so far in 24 states and Washington, D.C. The only state left untouched by cases of the epidemic is Alaska. Other news on vaping comes out of New Hampshire, Oregon and Maryland. Meanwhile, a new report finds that cigarette smoking among adults hit an all-time low.
The EPA under the Trump administration originally proposed only assessing the risks of chemicals, like asbestos, that were entering the marketplace, and not concentrate on the products that were already laced with the toxins. A coalition of unions, safety advocates and scientific groups had sued to block the EPA proposal released in 2017.
Through Apple’s various products, researchers have been able to run sweeping studies that would have never been possible before. But doctors wonder if it will really lead to improvements in health outcomes. “This is the big question. Is this ‘so what’? Or are we going to learn something meaningful we don’t know yet?” asked Dr. Ethan Weiss, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California. Meanwhile, details continue to come out about “Project Nightingale,” Google’s initiative to collect patients’ health data.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick served on the boards of American Well Corp., a telemedicine company, and Global Blood Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical firm. His links to the health sector are unlikely to serve him well in an election where the industry often serve as the common enemy. In other news from the 2020 campaign trail: the “Medicare for All” debate, veteran suicides, and emergency preparedness.
