Latest KFF Health News Stories
Opinion writers focus on these and other heath topics.
Media outlets report on news from Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Massachusetts.
Uganda Takes Steps To Prevent Deadly Illness From Crossing Border As Ebola Outbreak Spreads In Congo
Health officials in Uganda have put up screening devices at the border, including requiring temperature checks and chlorine baths for disinfecting shoes. So far, laboratory results cleared all six suspected cases. Meanwhile in the Congo, health officials’ worry about stopping the spread of the disease in war zones.
“The population has become more resilient to heat over time,” the Harvard authors reported in a recent study. They concluded more people are learning about the value of air conditioning and staying hydrated. Media outlets also report on surviving a high fall, measles vaccinations, college football and brain injuries, and food sickness.
The latest research seems to suggest that healthy people shouldn’t be taking an aspirin a day. In other heart health news: a weight-loss drug is shown to safely help people shed pounds without increasing their risk for heart problems; The New York Times offers a look at some of chain restaurants’ unhealthiest foods; and a study finds that Parkinson’s disease and cardiovascular health may be linked.
Players in the industry skirt around marketing regulations with their connections to “ambassadors” and other social media influencers who have a wide reach to younger generations. Meanwhile, the FDA investigates whether the company that makes Juul e-cigarettes deliberately targeted teenagers with its marketing.
The legal implications over what the would-be-parents are owed for the loss of their embryos could be huge, especially for abortion rights. In other women’s health news: marijuana and breast milk, a Kansas City clinic’s license, and abortion pills.
More and more, providers are looking beyond the immediate health problem for patients in order to improve care and to save money.
An official determines that there are enough valid signatures to add the measure to November’s ballot, but a judge is currently weighing a lawsuit that argues the proposal violates the Nebraska Constitution by including more than one subject: broadening eligibility for the state-federal health care program and asking state officials to seek federal approval of the expansion. Medicaid news comes out of Iowa and Oregon, as well.
The Associated Press fact checks Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s claim about how many North Dakotans were denied coverage pre-health law, and finds that she overstates the number of people who wouldn’t have been able to get coverage.
Former CDC Chief’s Arrest Over Groping Allegations May Derail Massive Public Health Initiative
Dr. Thomas Frieden surrendered himself to police on Friday and was charged with groping a woman in his apartment. The former head of the CDC has been raising hundreds of millions of dollars in private funds for an international campaign to address heart disease and epidemics. But his arrest may put his backers in an uncomfortable position.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) died Saturday, a little over a year after he’d been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a wildly aggressive form of brain cancer. Advocates have been frustrated for years about the lack of research about and progress being made against the disease. Meanwhile, though health care policy was not a primary focus for McCain, he’s remembered for casting the vote that saved the health law he hated.
First Edition: August 27, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Former CDC Chief Tom Frieden Arrested On Charges Of Sexual Abuse And Harassment
Thomas Frieden, former director of the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, is currently in NYPD custody and is expected to head to Brooklyn Criminal Court for arraignment.
Sen. John McCain To Cease Treatment For Brain Cancer
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), whose 82nd birthday is this week, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer last year. “In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment,” McCain’s family said in a statement.
Opinion pages look at these health topics and others.
Different Takes: GOP Has Big Plans To Cut Health Care; Single-Payer Plan Is Also Extreme
Editorial pages focus on issues impacting health care costs.
Research Roundup: Ovarian Cancer; Opioid Deaths; And Marijuana Use During Pregnancy
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from Texas, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Wisconsin, California, Indiana, Delaware and Florida.
While saying nothing found during the inspections of the 13 facilities would have brought immediate harm to the children, state health officials are pursuing civil penalties for the fingerprint card violations, and the facilities are making changes to sleeping areas.
