Longer Looks: Feuding Sacklers; Expensive Procedures; And The Flu
Each week, KHN's Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
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Each week, KHN's Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Opinion pages feature stories on these topics and other health care issues.
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Meanwhile, McDonald's has announced it is removing cheeseburgers as an option for kids' meals. By 2022, McDonald's aims to have at least half of its Happy Meals contain 600 calories or less.
The Infectious Diseases Society of America is now recommending fecal transplants at least be considered for patients with C. diff. In other public health news: hysterectomies, yellow fever, breastfeeding, autism, HPV, medical records and more.
A Japanese company says its drug reduced influenza viral load to undetectable levels within 24 hours for more than half of the 414 participants in a study. Tamiflu similarly killed the virus, but only in 9 percent of its participants, the company said.
Currently, most patients with suspected traumatic brain injury are evaluated using a neurological exam, followed by a CT scan. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that the blood test could save the health care system money by preventing unnecessary scans.
Hospitals around the United States are taking a scattershot approach to treating the tremors, hard-to-soothe crying, diarrhea, and other hallmark symptoms of newborn abstinence syndrome. In other news: a medication-assisted treatment program in Rhode Island jails shows success; public health advocates are concerned with the pick for "drug czar"; the surgeon general has advice about supporting long-time recovery in those battling addiction; senators want information on if new opioid rules are working; and more.
The plan takes aim at programs like Medicaid that are designed to help struggling Americans. Those who receive benefits are afraid of what the proposed cuts means for them. Meanwhile, House Democrats are asking the HHS Secretary to reject states' requests to enforce Medicaid work requirements, and Kentucky's changes to its program will actually cost the state more money than if it didn't touch it.
Mergers and acquisitions are running rampant in the health industry, and companies that don't join in stand to lose more than if they take a risk that might potentially fail.
Prescription drugs account for the fastest increase -- 6.3 percent a year on average -- due to the high cost of advanced medications.
The provision in the deal raises the share of costs that drug companies have to pick up as part of closing the so-called Medicare Part D "doughnut hole." Drugmakers are moving quickly to try to get that measure rolled back or repealed.
Some of those who adamantly opposed any action to shore up the marketplaces have reversed course in a politically charged year. Meanwhile, a new analysis by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services actuaries shows that with the repeal of the individual mandate 37.7 million people will be uninsured by 2026.
Dean Cameron, director of the Idaho Department of Insurance, said that “dozens” of red states have already expressed interest in potentially emulating the state’s plan. But legal experts say they absolutely expect costly and time-consuming lawsuits over the move.
The inspector general report also found that, among other "serious derelictions," Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin also improperly accepted tickets to Wimbledon. “This was time that should have been spent conducting official V.A. business and not providing personal travel concierge services to Secretary Shulkin and his wife,” Inspector General Michael J. Missal concluded in the report.
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