Latest KFF Health News Stories
With Purchase Of PillPack, Amazon Will Have Access To Shoppers’ Personal Health Data
“Prescription drug information is highly personal information—it can tell if someone has cancer, if they have a sexually transmitted disease,” said Julie Roth, a health care regulatory attorney. Meanwhile, experts say the deal should act as a wake-up call to the rest of the industry that other companies need to step up their game on customer experience.
Recent Ethical Controversies At NIH Draw Congressional Attention
The House Appropriations Committee has included more transparency requirements for both NIH and the CDC Foundation in their annual reports. Meanwhile, in a report to Congress, the FDA suggested that the ability to offer higher salaries to their employees be expanded.
Children and their parents have been scattered all over the country, and even though a judge has ordered families to be reunited within 30 days, doing so is difficult.
Supreme Court Decision On Labor Unions Could Jeopardize Funding Pipeline To Progressive Initiatives
Unions tend to be big supporters of more liberal-leaning candidates and programs, both of which depend on the millions of dollars flowing in from the organizations. But that funding could be greatly diminished with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Collins Won’t Support A Supreme Court Nominee Who Is Hostile To Roe V. Wade
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), along with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), are being watched as crucial votes in a potential nomination battle because the moderate Republicans have a history of supporting abortion rights. Other lawmakers weigh in on the issue, as well. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump says he’s narrowed down his list of possible nominees.
Tennessee Has Been Hit Hard By Problems That Expanding Medicaid Might Help. So Why Has It Not?
Hospital closures, especially, have plagued the state. Experts discuss why Tennessee hasn’t taken advantage of federal help to expand its Medicaid program. News come out of Maine, Iowa and Missouri as well.
The case has been closely watched because many states are eager to follow in Kentucky’s footsteps and add restrictions to their Medicaid program now that the government has shown it’s receptive to requests. The decision — which accuses the Trump administration of never adequately considering “whether Kentucky HEALTH would in fact help the state furnish medical assistance to its citizens, a central objective of Medicaid” — was described as “scathing” by health policy experts.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these and other health issues.
Opinion writers express views on a woman’s right to have an abortion and acquire honest health information.
Media outlets report on news from California, Colorado, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Texas, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
“The soda industry has deep pockets and used them to push the legislature into a no-win situation,” said California state Sen. Bill Monning (D). Arizona and Michigan have also capitulated to the industry, which is backing a ballot initiative in California that would make it more difficult to raise taxes.
“If this study is able to demonstrate that getting people who test for HIV enrolled in coverage when they test, it could improve their health generally no matter their HIV test result,” said Jeffrey Crowley, who served under President Barack Obama as director of the Office of National AIDS policy. In other public health news: LGBTQ youth and homelessness, the Goldwater Rule, the mysterious illness in diplomats, exercise and more.
Dirty Irrigation Canal Water Tied To Romaine Lettuce E. Coli Outbreak That Spread To 36 States
While unable to link the largest outbreak since 2006 to a single farm in the Arizona’s Yuma region, the Food and Drug Administration did find a genetic match to the bacteria in canals serving the area. The harvest season there has ended.
If You Live To 105, Your Chance Of Dying Actually Goes Down. But Getting There Is Tough.
A new study raises new questions about how long humans can live.
In other news on the pharmaceutical industry, Acceleron experimental blood disease drug hits goal, conflicts of interest of top policy expert often goes undisclosed, and pharmacies face a shortage of more effective shingles vaccine through 2018.
Justice Department Announces Hundreds Of Charges Related To Health Care Fraud, Opioid Epidemic
Not all of the cases were related to the opioid crisis, but the Justice Department emphasized the crackdown on people it says are contributing to the epidemic, including doctors running “pill mills.”
The State Department report also cautioned that the practice can cause lasting psychological harm and should only be used as a temporary, last resort.
Amazon’s $1B Purchase Of PillPack Offers Another Hint At Company’s Ambitious Health Care Plans
Amazon announced that it is buying PillPack, which sells pre-sorted packets of prescriptions drugs, delivering them to customers in their homes. The news seemed to be a confirmation of the worst fears of some in the industry — that Amazon is going to make an aggressive play for a chunk of the pharmacy business. But actually disrupting the health care industry will be a challenge.
Supreme Court Agrees To Take Up Case On Product Warnings Related To Osteoporosis Drug
The pharmaceutical industry has argued that once the Food and Drug Administration approves product labeling, a drugmaker cannot be sued in state court for failing to warn about risks.
