Latest KFF Health News Stories
But that message about the potentially fatal disease is being refuted by a group of anti-vaccines parents in New York City. Other news on the epidemic is on the stalled efforts to prevent religious exemptions in New York and a California poll finding nearly 75% of parents support vaccinations.
As Data Breach That Involved Quest Continues To Grow, Senators Launch Inquiries
Nearly 20 million patients have had their personal data exposed during the breach. Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) wrote Quest on Wednesday asking about what happened.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, spoke about how he wants to curb high drug costs. Grassley predicts that the two parties can work together on the issue. “What I’ve read that Democrats want to do isn’t a whole lot different than what Republicans want to do,” Grassley said. Meanwhile, House Democratic leadership is facing skepticism from the progressive wing about the leaders’ drug pricing plans.
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand also said she’ll work with Congress to decriminalize nonviolent charges associated with marijuana and push for stronger medical marijuana research. In other health-related campaign news, KHN examines comments by former Vice President Joe Biden to increase the number of school psychologists.
Blowback Over Secret Nursing Home List Prompts Government To Announce Report Will Be Posted Publicly
Dr. Kate Goodrich, chief medical officer with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said that the attention on the issue “has amplified a very important national dialogue on nursing home quality.”
The lapses identified in the audit show the need for immediate action by state health officials to increase accountability and oversight, New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said. State officials dismissed much of the criticism, noting that under Medicaid rules, erectile dysfunction drugs can be prescribed to treat other conditions, such as prostate problems.
Insys Therapeutics agreed to pay $225 million to end criminal and civil investigations of allegations that the opioid manufacturer used a system of bribes to get doctors to illegally prescribe its highly addictive product, federal officials announce. Meanwhile, in Ohio a doctor is charged with 25 counts of murder stemming from opioid prescriptions.
While Health and Human Services seeks additional funding for housing minors, it says it will scale back on services for more than 13,000 children based in 100 shelters across the country. Advocates stress that any move by the government to eliminate education and recreation is a violation of the Flores settlement,
VA To Roll Out Implementation Of Expanded Privatized Care Rules As Skeptical Lawmakers Look On
The Trump administration wants to make it easier for veterans to seek care outside the traditional VA health system, but lawmakers say the agency hasn’t been transparent about the process. “Let’s just say that we’re skeptical,” said House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.). VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said he’s confident his team can handle the roll-out, though.
North Carolina Republicans Fail To Override Governor’s Veto Of ‘Born Alive’ Legislation
The override effort in the North Carolina House failed after a 67-53 vote, just short of the three-fifths majority needed. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed the bill, saying there were already protections in place for babies who are born alive. Other news on abortion comes out of Missouri, Wisconsin and Georgia, as well.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) were just some of the Democratic 2020 presidential candidates who quickly condemned rival Joe Biden’s support of the Hyde Amendment, focusing on how it will harm lower-income women. “It will be working women, women who can’t afford to take off three days from work,” Warren said. “It will be very young women. It will be women who have been raped and women who have been molested by someone in their own family. We do not pass laws that take away that freedom from the women who are most vulnerable.”
The Hyde Amendment, a measure that prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion with exceptions for cases involving rape, incest and when the life of the mother is in danger. Abortion rights groups were quick to criticize former Vice President Joe Biden, the 2020 Democratic front-runner, saying that the Hyde Amendment hurts minorities and low-income women especially. “Differentiating himself from the field this way will not earn Joe Biden any political points and will bring harm to women who are already most vulnerable,” said Ilyse Hogue, president of the abortion rights group NARAL.
The Trump administration took steps to sharply curtail fetal tissue research by blocking scientists from using federal funds to conduct research that relies on material collected from elective abortions. HHS will also cancel an existing HIV research contract with the University of California, San Francisco. Officials say that the decision came from the president. Scientists are dismayed by the announcement and worried that the restrictions will curtail major breakthroughs on diseases such as HIV, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, Zika and more.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these health care topics and others.
Media outlets report on news from Alaska, California, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Ohio, Florida, Arizona, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina and Maryland
News from state legislatures comes from Connecticut, Maine, Virginia, New Hampshire, Texas, Massachusetts and Florida.
A law created in the 1970s to protect Native American children from being taken from their homes and given to white families is raising ethical and legal questions on its likely path to the Supreme Court. In other public health news: deadly falls in seniors, walking, climate change, food and sleep, and more.
The question of how long digital devices can help patients is one many digital startups want to answer. Results weren’t as strong as Year One’s of Virta’s five-year study, but don’t rush to judgement said Dr. Ethan Weiss, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco. “They’re still doing really well,” he said. Other news on digital medicine looks at the creation of DiMe .
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan told reporters Friday that illegal crossings along the southwest border are overwhelming his department’s resources and that federal immigration authorities now have more than 80,000 people in custody, “a record level that is beyond sustainable capacity with current resources.” Meanwhile, Mark Morgan, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, say the agency will step up deportation efforts.
