Latest KFF Health News Stories
EPA Drifts Toward Deemphasizing Value Of Human Health When Calculating Cost Of Environmental Rules
Government officials have to use complicated calculations when creating rules for the environment, weighing financial costs and the impact on human health. A possible change to mercury rules may reveal that the EPA is putting less weight on the latter than it has before. Meanwhile, lawmakers urge EPA to move faster to regulate dangerous industrial chemicals.
The analysis by The Associated Press and Avalere Health also finds that insurers are starting to come back to the marketplace.
The 1997 Flores settlement has helped govern the treatment of minors in federal custody for the past 20 years, and has survived numerous court challenges. The Trump administration, however, is proposing a new rule that would lift the 20-day limit established in Flores.
Abortion rights was in the spotlight at Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s third day of hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Emails revealed Kavanaugh talking about the Supreme Court overturning Roe V. Wade, which was in contrast to his defense of precedent earlier in the week. Kavanaugh, though, said that he was reflecting “an accurate description of all legal scholars,” not expressing his own opinion. Meanwhile, the nominee’s use of “abortion inducing drugs” to describe contraception set off alarm bells with abortion rights advocates. Media outlets offer glimpses and insights into the rest of the day, as well.
First Edition: September 7, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these and other health issues.
Opinion writers weigh in on the health problems associated with the opioid epidemic.
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from California, New York, Georgia, Texas, Minnesota, Arizona, Ohio, Oregon and Missouri.
The judge is giving the FDA until late in September to finalize warnings that were mandated in 2009.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Settles ‘Unsubstantiated’ Vaginal Egg Health Claims For $145,000
Lawyers in the California consumer protection case said the advertising claims behind the eggs had the potential to “affect women’s health, but Goop said it settled solely over those advertising claims. The eggs — cited for preventing a myriad of vaginal problems — are not defective, Goop added, and two of the three types can still be purchased.
And experts are concerned that the results don’t justify the sacrifice of students’ privacy. In other public health news: genome-editing, lead levels in schools’ drinking water, cancer, sepsis, germs and more.
ProPublica’s investigates Chicago facilities, finding suicidal immigrant children and ones dreaming of escape.
For Pregnant Women, Counting Baby’s Number Of Kicks Can Be Difference Between Life And Death
Campaigns geared toward reducing stillborn deaths impress upon to-be-mothers the importance of the baby’s movements while in the womb.
‘It Was Not Even A Close Call’: Judge Blocks Texas’ ‘Catastrophic’ Fetal Burial Law
U.S. District Judge David Ezra said Texas lawmakers who enacted the legislation — which would require hospitals, abortion clinics and other providers to arrange for the burial or cremation of fetal remains regardless of the patients’ wishes — provided no “viable system” for health care providers to dispose of fetal remains in accordance with the law.
The provision would authorize the government to give grants to groups that focus on addiction and substance-abuse disorders, but the only organization that fits the criteria is the Addiction Policy Forum, an advocacy group funded by PhRMA. In other news on the crisis: opioid taxes, skyrocketing fentanyl deaths, treatment alternatives, insurance coverage and more.
The Justice Department has identified some competition concerns over CVS’ acquisition of Aetna, while sources familiar with the situation say that the Cigna-Express deal could be approved without the companies having to sell off any assets.
On the second day of his Supreme Court hearings, nominee Brett Kavanaugh avoided being pinned down on the women’s rights issue, instead talking about the importance of legal precedent. That, however, is not an endorsement. Media outlets offer looks at the top moments of the day.
Judge’s Pointed Questions To Health Law Defenders Over Severability Hints At Which Way Case Will Go
But U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, a conservative jurist appointed by President George W. Bush, did not immediately rule on an injunction request. Meanwhile, the Trump administration cautioned that an immediate injunction would create “chaos” and asked that, if it’s coming, that it be delayed until the new year.
Tired Of Shortages And High Costs, Hospital Group Launches Company To Make Its Own Drugs
Besides creating a reliable supply for its 500 hospitals, Civica aims to reduce drug prices by about 20 percent. “There are a lot of very principled generic drug makers out there … they have nothing to worry about,” said Dr. Marc Harrison, president and CEO of Intermountain Healthcare. “The folks who are gouging people and creating shortages, they know who they are. And they’re the ones who should be very concerned.”
