Latest KFF Health News Stories
FDA Approves Obesity-Fighting Device That Drains Food From Stomach
The system hooks up to a thin tube implanted in the stomach. The device then rids the body of about 30 percent of the consumed food before it can be fully digested. In other FDA news, the agency will allow folic acid to be added to corn masa flour, an effort to reduce birth defects in the Latino community.
California Abortion Law Violates Free Speech Rights, Lawyers For Pregnancy Clinics Say
The centers are required to provide information about all services available to pregnant women, including abortion. Their lawyers argue that the state is forcing them to “speak the government’s message,” while California officials say it’s just asking them to provide neutral, factual information.
Kan. Drops Plans To Cut Funds For Doctor, Nurses Working With Planned Parenthood
Kansas officials, who are trying to end Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood operations, originally also sought to disqualify 11 people — including a doctor and about 10 nurses and nurse midwives — to keep the organizations “from evading the effect of their terminations by having providers at their facilities use their individual (Medicaid) numbers.” U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson is expected to rule on the funding cutoff itself before July 7.
Research Fragmented On Patient Safety Risks From Health Technology, Regulators Say
News outlets also report on other health IT developments including the impact of startups on the industry, more layoffs at Zenefits and hospital “alert fatigue.”
Experts Caution About Big Brother Vibes As Facebook Rolls Out Suicide-Prevention Tools
A menu will let friends report posts that hint at possible self-harm or suicide.
VA Agent Orange Debate Reveals Dueling Considerations Of Liability, Responsibility And Science
A group of scientists within the Department of Veterans Affairs warned the agency that agreeing to pay cash benefits to airmen who say they were exposed to Agent Orange could set a dangerous financial precedent. But that’s not supposed to matter.
After Initial Slow Response, Hospitals Are Beginning To Cut Down On Medical Errors: Study
Between 2010 and 2014, there were tens of thousands of fewer accidental deaths, which saved billions of dollars in related costs, it claims.
Federal Judge In Chicago Refuses FTC Request To Block Health System Merger
District Judge Jorge L. Alonso denied the government’s efforts to get a preliminary injunction to stop the merger of two Illinois health systems. The judge has not yet release his order, but some analysts suggest this could be a significant setback for authorities trying to protect consumers from the possibility of high-cost care.
Federal Health Experts Go To Capitol Hill To Outline Plans To Curb Antibiotic Overuse
In testimony before a House subcommittee, the officials called for programs to cut unnecessary prescriptions, efforts to pressure hospitals to do more monitoring of the drugs’ use and enhanced research to find new drugs. Also in the news, a look at Medicare’s draft proposal to let patients know they are under observation care and how Minnesota hospitals have had their Medicare reimbursements cut under new quality control programs.
Premiums Expected To Spike in 2017 As Insurers Settle In For Long Haul On ACA
Insurers mostly guessed wrong on how sick their new customers would be, and 2017 is being called a “market correction year” as they try to set themselves up for long-term sustainability.
Good News Coffee Drinkers: Cancer Risk Is Downgraded
While a research arm of the World Health Organization says there is not enough evidence to continue to classify coffee as a “possible carcinogen,” another group raises concerns about drinks, like the bitter herbal infusion mate, that are consumed at very hot temperatures. And the soda lobby’s efforts to fight new taxes on sugary beverages are failing in Philadelphia.
Colleges Offering Safe Space With ‘Sober Dorms’ As Opioid Epidemic Ravages Country
There was no way he was going to stay sober in the typical college environment, one student realized. That’s when he signed up for substance-free housing. In other news on the opioid crisis, a study finds that deaths extend beyond overdoses and the surgeon general urges more funding.
WHO Calls For Olympics To Go Forward, Says Risk Of Zika Spreading Is Low
The games, scheduled for August, will occur in Brazil’s winter when the concentration of mosquitos is low there, the World Health Organization says. At the same time, U.S. health authorities release a blueprint of how they would use rapid response teams to respond to a Zika infestation in this country.
AMA: Congress Must Lift Ban On Gun Violence Research
“With approximately 30,000 men, women and children dying each year at the barrel of a gun in elementary schools, movie theaters, workplaces, houses of worship and on live television, the United States faces a public health crisis of gun violence,” AMA President Dr. Steven Stack said in a statement.
‘The Patients Just Kept Coming’
The doctors who treated victims of the mass shooting in Orlando talk about their experiences.
Preparing Doctors For A Mass Shooting: ‘The Battlefield Has Been Brought To Our Communities’
Recognizing that mass shootings are something doctors face more frequently, the American College of Emergency Physicians assembled a task force to better improve response, using the military as a model. Meanwhile, the White House says there’s no plan to lift restrictions on blood donations from gay men, even as Democrats try to move on it.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Health Care’s Merger Climate; The CDC And Gun Violence Research
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Outlets report on health news from Arizona, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Texas and New York.
Florida, Federal Government Owe Medicaid Managed Care Companies $433 Million
Eleven companies have been underpaid since 2014 because of a state error. Also, Medicaid news from Kansas and Tennessee.
