Latest KFF Health News Stories
A Missouri health agency is conducting an investigation into the state’s remaining abortion clinic, and officials say they have serious concerns about patients’ safety. The clinic’s license is scheduled to expire this week, and if the stand-off is not resolved, Missouri could become the first state since Roe v. Wade not to have an operating clinic. A court hearing on the group’s lawsuit is set for Thursday morning.
The death rate for young people due to opioid poisoning nearly tripled from 1999 to 2016, and the crisis continues to devastate a wide range of people from different backgrounds. News on the epidemic also focuses on the former president of Purdue Pharma, a physician opposed to strict opioid regulations, a push for free fentanyl test strips and more.
Louisiana’s Democratic Governor Poised To Sign Heartbeat Bill, Diverging From Party On Issue
Lawmakers sent the heartbeat legislation — which was written by a Democratic state senator — to Gov. John Bel Edwards (D-La.), who has voiced his support for the measure. “As I prepare to sign this bill,” Edwards said in a statement after it passed, “I call on the overwhelming bipartisan majority of legislators who voted for it to join me in continuing to build a better Louisiana that cares for the least among us and provides more opportunity for everyone.” The bill follows a slew of other restrictive legislation that has passed in recent weeks in Republican-leaning states.
The New York Times obtained unfiltered recordings of conversations between doctors at the North Carolina Children’s Hospital about concerns that their patients seemed to be faring much more poorly after surgery than they should be. “I ask myself, ‘Would I have my children have surgery here?’” said Dr. Blair Robinson. “In the past, I’d always felt like the answer was ‘yes’ for something simple. … But now when I look myself in the mirror, and what’s gone on the past month, I can’t say that.” The turmoil at UNC underscores concerns about the quality and consistency of care provided by dozens of pediatric heart surgery programs across the country.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these health topics and others.
Opinion writers weigh in on abortion issues in Missouri and in other states as well.
In California, thousands of nurses are striking and walking picket lines over having to work overtime and others issues, including recruitment and retention of qualified nurses. Meanwhile, a report from Georgia say nursing shortages are due to the retirements of many nurses and a greater need for health care as the population ages.
Media outlets report on news from New York, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Idaho, Oregon, New Hampshire, Maryland, Texas, Florida, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and Arizona.
Companies in the middle of areas where there are pervasive outbreaks might stand a chance at winning in court if they wanted to require their employees to get vaccinated.
The decrease is more complicated than the simple thought: our health is improving. In other public health news: gene-editing human embryos, teens and smartphones, stress at work, exercise, CBD, single mothers, and more.
Facebook is already a place where millions of users go for health advice, and it has a long list of projects in health and medicine. Stat takes a look at the people behind the company’s health care ambitions. In other health industry news: Centene’s WellCare deal, a call for reform of the Stark law, Allina-Aetna’s enrollment numbers, and more.
Can A Side Effect Of A ‘Life-Saving’ Drug Be Worse Than Possibly Facing Cancer?
Patients who are undergoing immunotherapy are developing a disease akin to type 1 diabetes. “If I knew then, when I opted for the clinical trial, what type 1 diabetes entailed, I would never have gone for the immunotherapy. Never. I would have taken the chance of the cancer coming back,” said Jaime Vidal, 79, a retired mailman from San Bruno, Calif. In other pharmaceutical news: accelerated approvals for cancer drugs, troubling manufacturing problems and the right-to-try bill.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a former Marine and current presidential candidate, says he sought treatment and wants to make sure other veterans don’t feel like they’re alone in their struggles. His plan would require “mental health checkups” in addition to annual physicals for active-duty military and veterans. It would also mandate a counseling session for all troops within two weeks of their return from a combat deployment.
In the first day of the high-profile opioid trial, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter confronted what many legal experts have predicted will be the highest hurdle in the case: connecting one manufacturer of opioids to the cascading harms wrought by the entire industry. Johnson & Johnson fought back, though, arguing that the state itself looked the other way as its own drug review board and prescription monitoring program for years neglected to swoop down on sources of diverted opioids.
Previously Eager House Republicans Left Mostly Mute After Wave Of Strict Abortion Laws
The party had hoped a relentless anti-abortion message coupled with attempts to tag Democrats as socialists could help them regain the House majority. The have gone mostly silent on the issue, however, ever since the strict Alabama law passed. In other news: Netflix announces it will take action to fight against Georgia’s heartbeat bill and a district attorney pledges not to prosecute women who violate the law.
A coalition of civil rights groups on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s “conscience” rule that allows medical professionals protection if they refuse to perform certain procedures. The new policy “creates a wholly new regime that elevates religious objections over all other interests and values,”according to the complaint. Washington state also filed a suit against the new rule, which is facing court challenges from New York and California, as well.
Planned Parenthood said Missouri’s health department is “refusing to renew” its annual license to provide abortions amid an ongoing audit. If the license is not renewed, Missouri would become the first state without a functioning abortion clinic since the Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.
The move from the Supreme Court signals that the justices may not aggressively pursue a chance to rule on states’ ultra-restrictive regulations. The justices upheld part of an Indiana law requiring abortion providers to bury or cremate fetal remains, but let stand a lower court’s decision overturning a ban based on the sex or disability of a fetus.
Kamala Harris Wants States To Have To Get Approval From DOJ Before Restricting Abortion Rights
2020 hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris’ plan, which follows the model set in place by the Voting Rights Act, would apply to jurisdictions with a history of violating Roe v. Wade. In 2013, the Supreme Court effectively struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act, ruling the formula that determined which states had to receive pre-clearance before making changes to voting procedures was unconstitutional.
