Latest KFF Health News Stories
“The commonwealth has a compelling interest in taking limited and temporary steps to control an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease,” the Kentucky Court of Appeals said in its ruling.
Democratic Attorneys General Sue Government Over Claims EPA Failed To Effectively Regulate Asbestos
EPA released a rule restricting but not banning asbestos. “We won’t pull any punches,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said. “There’s too much at stake to let the EPA ignore the danger that deadly asbestos poses to our communities.”
On Monday, 104 brand-name and generic drug prices rose by a 13.1% on average, compared to a 7.8% average increase for 318 products a year earlier. “It’s hard to imagine what [drugmakers] are thinking,” said one drug industry analyst. “Keeping your head down would seem to be a much better strategy.”
Air Ambulance Rates Are Soaring But State Regulators Are Handcuffed By A Decades-Old Rule
The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 prohibits states from regulating routes or rates, so state regulators can do nothing but look on as prices climb to a median of $39,000. However, the increase could bolster congressional efforts to address balance billing.
The $4.6 billion humanitarian aid package had a long journey through Congress ending on President Donald Trump’s desk Monday. It will provide funding to try to help alleviate some of the strain at the border. Meanwhile, the president poked at California’s recent decision to expand health care to certain residents regardless of immigration status.
ProPublica received an inside look at some postings on a secret Facebook group for 9,500 former and current Border Patrol agents. The postings reflect what “seems to be a pervasive culture of cruelty aimed at immigrants within CBP. This isn’t just a few rogue agents or ‘bad apples,'” said Daniel Martinez, a sociologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson who studies the border. Customs and Border Protection said the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security would conduct an independent investigation.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who was one of the lawmakers visiting two Texas border facilities, said that one of the detainees had been told to drink water out of the toilet. “We’re talking systemic cruelty [with] a dehumanizing culture that treats them like animals,” she tweeted after the visit.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health care topics and others.
Media outlets report on news from Utah, Alaska, Michigan, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Kansas, Louisiana, California, Colorado and Minnesota.
Fair officials closed access to nearly 3,000 animals on Saturday. Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician, said the most common form of E. coli transmission is when young people come in contact with animal feces. The importance of handwashing is ”paramount,” he said.
Fecal Parasite That Can Be Transmitted Via Swimming Pools On The Rise, CDC Warns
The parasite is a problem in pools because an infected swimmer can excrete the parasite at several orders of magnitude higher than the amount necessary to cause infection, officials warn. In other public health news: strokes, “shock therapy,” smiling, children’s care, hand dryers and hearing loss, infertility, body shape, and more.
Payment Negotiations Over Iowa’s Medicaid Program Grind Into Start Of Fiscal Year
The negotiations revolve around how much Iowa will pay national insurance companies to run its Medicaid program. Officials decline to estimate how much more money the state will have to spend on the program, but said any increase would include money for initiatives legislators approved, such as higher reimbursement rates for nursing homes that care for Iowa Medicaid members. News on Medicaid comes out of Florida, Kansas and Illinois, as well.
Twenty-three patients at San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center who lived in two wards at the public hospital that primarily serves dementia patients were subjected to alleged physical and verbal abuse between 2016 and 2019. Health officials said Friday that the six alleged abusers took photos and videos of themselves engaging in the abuse — including having sexualized conversations with patients. The alleged abusers exchanged those photos and videos over text messages. News on hospitals comes out of Minnesota, Oregon, Florida and Kansas, as well.
As Nation’s Income Inequality Grows So Does Gap Between Rich, Poor Americans’ Health
“Results of this analysis suggest that there has been a clear lack of progress on health equity during the past 25 years in the United States,” the researchers of the new study write.
Purde Pharma, which is considering filing for bankruptcy, had been earning $3 billion a year and employed nearly 2,000 employees. Sales have declined and last year the company eliminated its sales force as 1,800 lawsuits against the OxyContin-maker allege it played a key role in the opioid epidemic. More news on the drug crisis focuses on dangers to opioid-exposed children, revisions to treatment strategies, monitoring prescriptions and help for jailed sufferers.
High-Profile Criminal Trial For Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes Set For Next Summer
Elizabeth Holmes and her former No. 2 Sunny Balwani are accused of defrauding investors, patients, and doctors in a blood-testing scandal that brought down health care’s richest venture-backed startup and have become an industry parable for the dangers of medical hype and hubris. Jury selection is scheduled to begin in July 2020 and the trial is expected to last about three months.
Kamala Harris Hedges On Idea Of Getting Rid Of Private Insurance Following Debate
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris told reporters after Thursday night’s debate that she had interpreted the question as referring to a personal choice and clarified that she did not support eliminating private insurance completely. The topic is politically fraught, which few of the candidates at last week’s debate jumped to support.
9/11 Detective Who Pleaded With Congress Over Victims Fund Dies Of Cancer At Age 53
Despite his illness, Luis Alvarez appeared with comedian Jon Stewart to urge Congress to authorize longterm health care funding for 9/11 first responders. “You all said you would never forget. Well, I’m here to make sure that you don’t,” the former New York City police detective told lawmakers at the hearing. Alvarez was admitted to a hospice within a few days of his testimony.
Marshae Jones faces criminal charges after she was shot during an argument with another woman and Jones’ unborn fetus died. While the case sparks national outrage, in Alabama there’s little debate whether Jones is culpable for the death.
