Latest KFF Health News Stories
Even after Altria and Juul said they’ll take extra efforts to prevent teens from getting addicted, outgoing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb isn’t convinced and called for a meeting with them last week. He told Bloomberg “The e-cigarette industry has been overly dismissive” and he’s considering temporarily pulling pod-based nicotine products off the markets. Other FDA news looks at new strategies for HIV drug development.
Drug That Could Provide Near Immediate Relief For Postpartum Depression Gets OK From FDA
But the infusion will be expensive, averaging $34,000 per patient before discounts, and the women would have to stay in a medical center for two and a half days. Still, many experts cheered the new treatment that would offer relief much quicker than current drugs, which kick in after weeks if at all.
Decision On ‘Late-Term Abortions’ Should Be Between Woman And Her Doctor, O’Rourke Says
Democratic 2020 hopeful Beto O’Rourke’s answer echoed a similar one he gave to a question on late-term abortions Monday in which he said, “That should be a decision that the woman makes. I trust her.”
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health issues and others.
Media outlets report on news from Maryland, New York, Texas, Kansas, Connecticut, California, Florida, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arizona, Oregon, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Louisiana.
The fees would bring in $20 million a year and would be used for education, intervention, treatment and recovery strategies. Meanwhile, a report finds that opioid and suicide deaths in the state are still on the rise.
“It’s more effective to have students themselves who live in those areas, who go to those schools, who are part of the community to share their voice, share their story and to share why it’s harmful,” said Sonia Gutierrez, a supervisor with the Santa Clara County Office of Education in California. In other news on children’s health: professional hair removal for pre-teens and fighting food allergies.
The app gives users a window of about 11 to 13 days during which they should use a condom or another birth control method to prevent pregnancy. Although a new study shows that it can be effective if used correctly, that data assumes the people who don’t respond aren’t pregnant, which is an underlying obstacle to proving efficacy on apps like these. In other public health news: the microbiome, broken heart syndrome, depression treatments, pre-term births, fish oil, medical marijuana and heart health.
Amid an outbreak of chicken pox in Kentucky, Jerome Kunkel, an 18-year-old senior, was barred from playing basketball for his high school because he wasn’t vaccinated. He’s now suing, saying his First Amendment rights have been violated because he wasn’t vaccinated for religious reasons.
Activists Challenge Law In Maine Allowing Physician-Only Abortions
ACLU attorney Julia Kaye says the law is a hardship on rural women because it requires them to travel several hours to receive services, but defenders of the law say there is little evidence to support that charge. Dozens of states have similar restrictions. News on abortion comes out of Georgia, as well.
When Drug Costs Get Too High, Patients Are Skipping Doses Or Just Not Taking Medication
Experts are worried this behavior could be extremely dangerous for the patients. “We have lots of treatments where if you don’t take them exactly as prescribed, you might be doing more harm than good,” said Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy researcher at Vanderbilt University. Other ways patients are trying to control costs are by asking for cheaper drugs from doctors or seeking out alternative therapies. Meanwhile, Ohio’s attorney general is suing UnitedHealth’s OptumRx unit alleging it overcharged the state for prescription drugs.
Modern Healthcare looks at how the CEO’s paychecks followed suit. In other health industry news: value-based care models and noncompete clauses for doctors.
The ad is the latest example of Democratic attacks on the Trump administration’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2020. Democrats saw health care as a winning issue in the midterms, and are hoping to repeat that success in upcoming elections. Other Medicaid news comes out of Tennessee, Ohio, Georgia and Idaho.
A review conducted by the U.S. Digital Service, an elite group of software developers and designers employed by the White House, recommended that the VA should scrap the eligibility tool and start over. The report predicted that the tool would generate errors or run slowly or crash, and that these glitches would lengthen each appointment by five to 10 minutes.
A new CDC report finds that an estimated 15 percent of people with HIV don’t know they have the virus, and that population accounted for 38 percent of all new infection, according to the study. The CDC said the data prove the effort to end HIV in the U.S. needs to focus on quickly diagnosing those who have it, treating them as soon as possible and protecting people who are at risk of getting it. But that goal isn’t easy in places where deep stigma still exists around the virus.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health topics and others.
Media outlets report on news from Maryland, Virginia, Oregon, Connecticut, Colorado, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Missouri.
Billionaire-Backed Health Venture ‘Haven’ May Find Itself Facing Legal Challenges Over Name
There are already dozens of companies named “Haven,” with a large handful that deliver or facilitate health services. “It seems very risky to me,” said Jonathan Bell, managing director of Want Branding, a firm that advises companies on name selection. In other health industry news: health savings accounts, hospitals’ religious policies, cost disclosures, and minimum wage increases.
