Latest KFF Health News Stories
Your Bottles Of Shampoo, Lotion? They May Contain Multiple Toxic Chemicals
News outlets cover a study giving a detailed look at potential indoor air quality effects from common household products, many of which contain at least one chemical linked to cancer or reproductive problems. Other research shows more American women are avoiding unwanted pregnancies.
Pandemic-Era Telehealth Prescribing Powers Will Stay In Place A Bit Longer
Doctors will be able to continue to prescribe some drugs without in-person visits while the Drug Enforcement Administration finalizes new telemedicine rules. The agency received a record 38,000 comments on its earlier plan to roll back permission with next week’s end to the federal covid emergency.
Viewpoints: Economic Status Is Linked To Chronic Pain In Americans; How Should ADHD Be Classified?
Editorial writers weigh in on chronic pain, ADHD, covid and more.
Though Covid Endures, US Deaths And Hospitalizations Fall To Lows
Even as new covid subvariants are on the rise, and cutbacks in reporting on covid data have “clouded” the view of recent trends, as the Wall Street Journal notes, U.S. hospitalizations and deaths are near new lows. Meanwhile, the WHO is considering if covid is still a global emergency.
Florida Criminalizes Trans People’s Use Of Gender-Aligned Public Bathrooms
State Sen. Erin Grall, a Republican, is quoted in the media as saying, “there’s not anything in the language of this bill that is targeting any specific group.” The bill aims to penalize people who use public restrooms or changing facilities that don’t correspond with sex as assigned at birth.
North Carolina House Passes Bill That Would Limit Abortion After 12 Weeks
Legislators fast-tracked the measure that would reduce the window in North Carolina from 20 weeks to 12 in order to get an abortion. The bill passed with what would be a veto-proof majority.
Trial Data: Eli Lilly Treatment Modestly Slows Alzheimer’s Progression
Clinical trial data released by Eli Lilly Wednesday suggests that its antibody treatment donanemab may work better than an-already approved rival drug at slowing cognitive and functional decline in Alzheimer’s patients. But this therapy also has risks of deaths and serious brain side effects.
FDA Clears A RSV Vaccine For The First Time
This fall, adults 60 and older in the U.S. will be able to get GSK’s vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, sold as Arexvy, after the FDA approved the shot Wednesday. Next steps are for the CDC to approve guidelines for use.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Majority Of Older Adults Are Afraid To Get Covid Booster, Survey Finds
Read about the biggest pharmaceutical developments from the past week in KFF Health News Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
Perspectives: It’s Time For OTC Birth Control Pills; PBMs Are Destroying Rural Pharmacies
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Viewpoints: Women Need Earlier Breast Cancer Screening; Race, Not Income, Tied To Maternal Mortality
Editorial writers tackle these public health issues.
Vermont’s Medically Assisted Death Law Now Allows Out-Of-Staters
In other news: Georgia’s state government will for the first time run its individual health insurance marketplace; a review of a Montana nuclear missile base shows no risk factors to explain a blood cancer cluster; a trans surgery ban for minors advances in North Carolina; and more.
If Grandma Uses The Net, It May Help Lower Her Dementia Risk
A new study finds that being online may help boost the brain health of older adults. Separately, half of parents in a survey said they think social media is bad for their children’s mental health. And a legal push for parental control over kids’ social media use becomes complicated.
A Single HPV Shot Can Protect For At Least 3 Years: Research
Just one dose is highly effective at preventing infections over three years, according to a study, potentially extending supplies and lowering costs. Meanwhile, researchers have managed for the first time to get some chemo drugs through the blood-brain barrier.
Hospital Infection Rates Worsened During Covid: Leapfrog Safety Data
Though rates of infection and hospital performance on safety measures continued to get worse during peak covid in late 2021 and 2022, data from the Leapfrog Group’s spring 2023 Safety Grades Rankings showed some hospitals got the top A grades — like the Cleveland Clinic.
Hospital Shouldn’t Be Forced To Give Ivermectin For Covid: Wisconsin Supreme Court
Wisconsin’s Supreme Court sided with Aurora Health Care in a case with implications for court interventions in health care provider decisions, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. In other news, the CDC has opened a probe into a covid outbreak at its own annual conference.
NC Plan Would Ban Abortion At 12 Weeks; Utah Abortion Ban Halted
Abortion is currently legal until the 20th week of pregnancy in North Carolina, and the state has been a haven for women in the South. The Washington Post says that in the first two months after Roe v. Wade was overturned, North Carolina experienced a greater spike in abortions than any other state.
Rocky Senate Health Committee’s PBM Bill Markup Adjourns Early
Procedural differences derailed the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s first markup which was expected to kick off a bipartisan effort to address high drug prices. The disagreements led to the panel recessing until after next week’s hearing with pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical executives.
Fatal Overdoses Spike Over 5 Years; Fentanyl Deaths Rise 279%
More than tripling from 2016 to 2021, CDC data shows that fentanyl overdose death rates were the highest across every age and racial group. Fatalities due to methamphetamines and cocaine also jumped significantly over that period, while heroin deaths declined.
