Latest KFF Health News Stories
Stories Of Student Heroes Taking Down Mass Shooters Shines Light On Grim Reality Young People Face
The most recent school shooting was marked by a story of how teenager Kendrick Castillo lunged at the gunman and helped thwart the attack. He was killed in the process, a story that is becoming more common as students are faced with their new normal. Other gun safety news comes out of Florida and New Hampshire.
Walmart will also no longer sell “fruit- and dessert-flavored electronic nicotine delivery systems” and other devices for vaping. The decision comes amid a national push by states and federal officials, as well as Congress, to curb teens’ consumption of tobacco products.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s sister, brother and niece wrote an op-ed piece that denounces Kennedy’s stance on immunizations. “On this issue, Bobby is an outlier in the Kennedy family,” they wrote. Kennedy is chairman of the board of Children’s Health Defense, a groups that’s website links to information and videos that blame vaccines for food allergies and claim that vaccines against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus are killing people. Other news on vaccinations comes out of California, Kentucky, Texas and Oregon.
Mississippi vowed to take steps to help prisoners better prepare for life outside bars, send offenders to drug courts for treatment rather than to prison, and to help keep offenders guilty of technical probation violations from returning to prison, among other things. But none of that has happened.
Media outlets report on news from New York, California, Missouri, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, Florida and Maine.
Research Roundup: Short-Term Insurance Plans; Antibiotics; And The Individual Market
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Trump Administration’s Focus On Quality Of Primary Care Gets Bipartisan Backing From Lawmakers
And most of the witnesses at the Senate Finance Committee hearing to discuss the Primary Care First policy largely supported the push, as well.
Republican leadership blocked legislation that would have extended health insurance coverage to an estimated 90,000 low-income adults and 40,000 children in Kansas, despite majority support in both the House and Senate. “We need to remember the people who died last year, the people who are going to die because just a few people decided to bully others,” state resident Marsha Cox told The Topeka Capital-Journal. Medicaid news comes out of Wisconsin, Iowa, Georgia and New Hampshire.
The sweeping ban is a departure from more incremental measures other conservatives states have taken. The legislation stands in direct opposition to Roe v. Wade and seems designed to land in the Supreme Court to challenge the white whale of the anti-abortion movement.
“Even as hundreds of thousands of Americans died. And how did the Sackler family react? They tried to increase their profits,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a 2020 presidential candidate. Warren’s plan calls for $100 billion in federal funding over 10 years to combat the national drug epidemic, including changes to Medicaid and expanded access to medication-assisted treatment. The White House hopeful also urged Harvard to strip the Sackler name from its museum.
Drugmakers To Be Required To Put Prices In TV Ads So Patients Are No Longer ‘Left In The Dark’
“If you’re ashamed of your drug prices, change your drug prices,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. Proponents of the Trump administration’s new rule say that TV ads often steer patients toward pricier drugs without disclosing just how much they cost. Critics, however, say including the list price — which patients with insurance would rarely have to actually pay — is confusing and could keep patients from seeking out medication they need. A disclaimer will have to state, “if you have insurance that covers drugs, your cost may be different,” though.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Prominent New York Times Health Care Reporter Robert Pear Dies At 69
Robert Pear spent 40 years at The New York Times covering the ins and outs of health care politics and policy, among other national issues. His paper’s obituary describes Pear as someone who “influenced the public discourse most by mastering the details of health care delivery” through his “exacting, authoritative and closely read” reporting. He died from complications of a stroke.
Media outlets report on news from Florida, California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Georgia, Iowa and Minnesota.
Following the resignation of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh for her alleged financial ties to medical firms, the board chairman of the University of Maryland Medical System and two other board members resigned Tuesday, including Dr. Scott Rifkin. His company had an “active agreement” with the hospital to provide software.
When Someone Is Grieving A Loved One’s Suicide, Even Well-Intentioned Words Can Hurt
But while it can be tricky to know what to say to a suicide loss survivor, it is much better to reach out than to hold back out of fear of saying the wrong thing. In other public health news: domestic violence, talking to your pets, concussions, blood pressure, intersex athletes, and more.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said the attitude is consistent with how the family and Purdue Pharma disregarded people in their “blind pursuit of profit.” More details about both the family and the company are emerging in court.
Just Weeks After Columbine Anniversary, Colorado School Shooting Leaves 1 Student Dead, 8 Wounded
Sheriff Tony Spurlock of Douglas County said the suspects, who were armed with a handgun and other weapons, confronted law enforcement officers when they arrived, but that they were not injured. Spurlock said neither suspect had been on law enforcement’s radar before the shooting and that the motive was unknown.
The new poll reveals that most Americans don’t sympathize with the small, but vocal, anti-vaccination movement. Meanwhile, the measles cases in New York continue to climb, the World Health Organization issues a warning about the global outbreak, and school nurses play key role in the crisis.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health issues and others.
