Latest KFF Health News Stories
Research Roundup: Homelessness; Medicaid; HPV Vaccinations
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from California, Idaho, Massachusetts, Georgia, Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Arkansas, Maryland, Texas, Philadelphia and Virginia.
Study Finds Link Between Increase In Bullying In Trump Country And President’s Inauguration
“It is obviously difficult to demonstrate a causal link between statements by a public figure and schoolyard bullying. Nevertheless, there are incidents in which youth made threats and jeering statements that closely matched language used by President Trump,” the study found. Other mental health news comes out of New Hampshire, Texas and Louisiana.
The Medical Logistics Involved With Woman Giving Birth While In Vegetative State
Police and health officials are investigating a nursing facility over what happened with a woman in Arizona who gave birth while in a 14-year vegetative state. Medical officials say the kind of incident is rare, but that, medically speaking, the pregnancy could have been a perfectly healthy one for the baby.
E. Coli Outbreak Linked To Romaine Lettuce Is Finished After Spreading To 16 States, CDC reports
“Contaminated lettuce that made people sick in this outbreak should no longer be available,” the CDC said Wednesday. While there were no deaths, 25 people were hospitalized.
Innovative App Would Detect Opioid Overdoses, Developers Say. Would People Turn It On, Though?
Researchers tested the experimental gadget at North America’s first supervised injection site in Vancouver, British Columbia, and found it correctly identified breathing problems. Other news on the opioid crisis focuses on a call for more federal funding, a dismissal of lawsuits against Purdue Pharma, attempts to measure pain, a deadly new mix of drugs and more.
“If we don’t do this as an industry, I think there will be other alternatives that will be more onerous for us,” Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in California. Drug pricing was just one of the many topics that were being hotly discussed at the annual event that draws the movers-and-shakers in the industry.
Flurry Of Movement On Capitol Hill On Drug Pricing May Signal Possible Rough Waters Ahead For Pharma
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) was one of a handful of lawmakers who have introduced legislation to curb high drug costs in the first few weeks of Congress being back in session. The topic is seen as one of only a few bipartisan issues that may get addressed by a divided Congress this year. In other pharmaceutical news, government officials are worried that drugmakers are using scare tactics to keep competition out of the marketplace.
States have begun exploring the possibility of a Medicaid “buy in” as an attractive option for people who are struggling to find affordable coverage. With the strategy comes a plethora of questions, though, such as, who would be eligible and what benefits would be offered.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has been aggressive in his legal challenges to President Donald Trump’s policies, including ones that have tried to chip away at the health law. The Associated Press offers a profile of the man heading up the defense of the Affordable Care Act in court.
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, however, said that high-risk food surveillance inspections will resume soon. The shutdown’s impact is being felt across many sectors, including drug approvals, pollution inspections, and approval of mergers such as the CVS-Aetna deal.
The vote forced House Republicans to go on record against the health law and its popular provisions — such as protections for preexisting conditions — which were big winners in the midterm elections.
Tech Companies Are Done Waiting For Drugmakers To Provide Miracle Cure On Alzheimer’s
There’s been a decades-long stagnation when it comes to drug-based treatments for Alzheimer’s so a cadre of tech companies are rushing in to fill the gap with digital products, robotics and software. In other public health news: fertility rates, artificial sweeteners, vaccines, hormone replacements and sick days.
First Edition: January 10, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these health care topics and others.
Opinion writers weigh in about the single-payer system.
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
Media outlets report on news from Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Delaware, California, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Texas, Pennsylvania and Florida.
The technology has been adapted to provide fast information that help inform patient treatment, doctors say. News on the opioid epidemic comes out of Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, as well.
