Latest KFF Health News Stories
The drugmakers argue that the FDA limits their ability to warn patients about the side effects of their medicine, while patients say that pharmaceutical companies should be more transparent about the potential risks of their medicines. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Monday.
Health Systems Flock To Fledgling Organization Created By Hospitals To Make Their Own Generic Drugs
Civica Rx is an initiative created by seven big hospital groups in response to high drug prices. Now, about 750 U.S. hospitals have joined the effort. Initially, the not-for-profit expects to supply at least 14 hospital-administered generic drugs to hospitals and health care systems this year.
The Office of Drug Evaluation Science is going through the final stages of review and FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb expects to start the office in the first half of this year. Gottlieb will outline his plan via video-conference at the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.
A Harvard/Politico poll geared to take the temperature of Americans’ health care views found that while support for a plan like “Medicare for All” was mostly coming from Democrats, even Republicans were receptive to allowing Americans under 65 to buy into Medicare as another option. Americans from both parties were also in overwhelming agreement that lawmakers should make sure insurance companies provide coverage to people with pre-existing conditions
Last week, Democrats officially filed a motion asking the court to allow the House to intervene as a defendant in a Republican-led lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act. The agency’s opposition is due Jan. 24, but Justice employees can’t work during the partial government shutdown.
First Edition: January 8, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers focus on these health care topics and others.
Media outlets report on news from Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, South Carolina, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, New Hampshire, Texas, California, Oregon Kansas, and Louisiana.
As the new year begins, media outlets look at health care news coming out of state capitols across the country.
Because African American men are more likely than white men to develop and die of prostate cancer, two doctors disagree with federal policies about screening and say all older black men should be screened. News on cancer also looks at firefighters.
Psychologists discuss what goes on in the brain during life-threatening situations and why there were such conflicting accounts of the suspects in the December shooting. Public health news also focuses on schizophrenia, dementia, brainwashing, food allergies, aging well, plant-based diets, screenings for adults, pre-natal blood tests, flu symptoms, Holocaust death rate, blood samples and typing injuries.
Nursing Facility Faces Scrutiny After Woman In Vegetative State For More Than A Decade Gives Birth
A Phoenix Police Department spokesman, Sgt. Tommy Thompson, said only that the “the matter is under investigation.” He declined to confirm whether the case involved a sexual assault against the patient at the Hacienda HealthCare facility. The Arizona Department of Health Services is also looking into institution.
In places like San Francisco, where fentanyl is clearly labeled and not disguised as heroin, some people who are addicted to opioids prefer the powerful synthetic. “Fentanyl is stronger, you need less of it, and it’s cheaper. So why wouldn’t I, as somebody with limited funds, want to spend my money on something that’s a better value and therefore a better product?” Kristen Marshall, who runs a drug testing program for the Harm Reduction Coalition, tells Stateline about the drug users she treats.
“The only people for whom these list prices are remotely relevant are those among us who don’t have any health insurance at all,” said Martin Gaynor, professor of economics and health policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Even just knowing the difference between what one hospital charges versus another won’t mean much in practice for consumers.
President Donald Trump’s tweet came in contrast to a statement from HHS Secretary Alex Azar that praised Trump’s leadership as the reason the pharma industry had announced “smaller and fewer drug price increases.” Meanwhile, the movers and shakers in the industry are headed to the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference this week.
On display at the big 2019 CES technology show will be the latest in wearables — “I just got an email about a bladder monitor,” says one analyst — but privacy concerns remain at the front of consumers’ minds. In other health care and technology news: artificial intelligence and robot-assisted surgery.
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who has been leading a crackdown on what he’s called an “epidemic” of teen vaping, plans to haul the companies into the agency’s headquarters so they can explain how they plan on sticking to previous vows of protecting young people.
Southwest Key, a nonprofit that houses almost a third of detained migrant youth, has drawn scrutiny from officials after video footage of staff members abusing children surfaced last month. But cracking down on the organization would be a balancing act as the government has been under strain to provide care for the young people.
More than 19 million households in the United States receive food stamps, accounting for nearly 39 million people. The Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is one of the agencies that has not yet been funded by Congress. Although SNAP is automatically renewed, if the shutdown continues through March, there will be no remaining funding for the program.
Frustrated Scientists Warn That Ripple Effects From Shutdown Could Echo For Years To Come
The shutdown is upending important work and research, and scientists say it could put a damper on future recruitment possibilities and morale. Some agencies, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, have been insulated somewhat from the shutdown because Congress had already passed their funding bills earlier in the year.
