Latest KFF Health News Stories
Lowering Blood Pressure Can Help Stave Off Alzheimer’s, ‘Breakthrough’ Study Finds
This would be the first time a single change could result in lowering people’s chances at getting the disease.
Despite Concerted Efforts To Curb Opioid Crisis, Kentucky Overdose Deaths Rise 11.5 Percent In 2017
“We are in a crisis state,” Republican Gov. Matt Bevin said. “While we are putting money at it and while we are drawing attention to it, until we start to truly address this and look at underlying causes of these things and what is leading to this it is not going to be addressed.” Meanwhile, Medicare is pushing a new rule to reimburse hospitals more for non-opioid pain management drugs.
In defense of its “zero-tolerance” policy separations, Trump administration officials have argued that immigrant parents made the decision to leave their children in America. The new information reported by Politico could undermine that position.
Part of the problem with letting Medicare negotiate drug prices has always been that the government has no power in the talks. But the bill would let HHS give a competitive license to another company to make a generic version of the drug. Few see the measure gaining traction at the moment, though. Lawmakers also advanced legislation that would eliminate pharmacist “gag clauses.”
The drug showed success with patients who had the highest dosage for over 18 months, but there will need to be more studies before experts get really excited. “I don’t know that we’ve hit a home run yet. It’s important not to over-conclude on the data. But as a proof of concept, I feel like this is very encouraging,” said Dr. Reisa Sperling, director of the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
With About Three Months Until Midterms, Democrats Press Hard On Health Care To Nab Swing Voters
Democrats see the Republicans’ failure to repeal and replace the health law at the same time they were chipping away at its protections as a huge vulnerability that candidates can attack. Meanwhile, a new poll shows that the public will hold the Trump administration and the GOP-led Congress responsible for any pain they feel from premiums this year. And, Anthem reports better-than-expected profits.
CMS Administrator Seema Verma said a “Medicare-For-All” system would divert attention away from seniors, and warned that people would be giving up complete control of their care to the government. Verma gave the speech in California, where the issue is a hot-button topic in the gubernatorial election.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these and other health topics.
Opinion writers weigh in on Medicaid issues.
Perspectives: Roche Promises It Won’t Hike Prices Again In 2018 — Right After It Hiked Prices
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Pulling Back The Curtain On Drug Price Hubbub Reveals Some Veiled Threats From Trump Administration
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
Media outlets report on news from Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, California, Texas, Ohio, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Illinois, Georgia, Kansas and Minnesota.
The technique would be geared toward fetuses with debilitating or fatal genetic diseases. Beyond the science involved, ethical concerns about tinkering with human life are at the forefront of many researchers’ minds. In other public health news: sedating patients, exercise, shingles, painkillers, diets and more.
The practice involves a third party — often a treatment center that may not meet adequate care standards — paying a recruiter to fraudulently enroll an addicted patient in a flexible individual market plan offering out-of-state coverage. In other news, pop singer Demi Lovato, who has been an outspoken advocate about mental health and substance use problems, was hospitalized after a reported overdose.
Supercomputer Watson Gave Erroneous And Unsafe Cancer Treatment Advice For Patients
The technology was touted as a step forward in including AI into the medical field to get patients better results. But documents show the computer’s recommendations were flawed, and IBM executives knew about it.
Women Often Get Mixed Signals About Drinking While Pregnant Even From Their Own Doctors
Because physicians don’t know how much alcohol can cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, the official guidelines are not to drink while pregnant. But not ever doctor subscribes to complete abstinence. In other women’s health news: a pill to help ease endometriosis pain is approved by the FDA and the number of lawsuits against the birth-control implant Essure skyrocketed over recent years.
But Planned Parenthood’s counsel Paul Wolfson did not agree, saying states that didn’t want to work with his clients could block the family planning funds, leading to facility closures in places like Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
‘We Have 70,000 Lives On The Line Here’: Maine Stuck In Battle Over Medicaid Expansion
Voters gave the OK to expanding Maine’s Medicaid program last year, but Republican Gov. Paul LePage has blocked efforts at every turn, saying he would go to jail “before I put the state in red ink.” Other states are watching the political and court battle play out as advocates work to get expansion initiatives on ballots elsewhere.
But U.S. District Court Judge Dana M. Sabraw, who has been overseeing the Trump administration’s efforts to reunite families, is not pleased with the government’s inability to say how many migrant parents have been deported, or released from custody by ICE into the U.S. Meanwhile, reunited families are left asking, “What’s next?”
