Latest KFF Health News Stories
Viewpoints: Doctors, Try Believing Your Patients; Don’t Say Period In Florida
Editorial writers tackle these public health issues.
Fear In Trans Community As Nashville Shooter’s Gender Identity In News
Prominent Republicans are suggesting gender identity played a role in the gun violence, despite research showing trans people are more likely to be victims of crimes rather than perpetrators, Insider reported.
FDA Explains How It Will Ensure Infant Formula Supplies
The Food and Drug Administration has announced a strategy to avoid the same sort of supply chain crisis that hit baby formula recently, including enhanced inspections and working with the industry on redundancy risk management plans. Separately, questions over probiotic supplements.
Kansas To Raise Tobacco-Buying Age To 21
The state Senate approved a bill lifting the legal age for buying tobacco products from 18 to 21. Meanwhile, at trial, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison accused e-cigarette maker Juul of using “slick products, clever ads” to market its products to children. The opioid crisis is also in the news.
Florida Aims At Higher Penalties For Those Who Attack Hospital Staff
In other news, Walgreens said it won’t lift pharmacists’ pay any higher; union workers voted “no confidence” in Rhode Island’s Women & Infants Hospital management; and the Children’s Hospital of Michigan has a new CEO.
Sen. Warren Blames Private Medicare Insurance For Driving Up Costs
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren said that big insurers managing private Medicare plans are making health costs go up for seniors, Bloomberg reports. Stat, meanwhile, explains how a political battle over quality-adjusted life years metrics could hit drug-price negotiation efforts.
Shooter Had ‘Emotional Disorder,’ But There’s No ‘Red Flag’ Law In Tennessee
Audrey Hale’s parents believed their child had sold one gun and did not own any others. In truth, Hale had legally bought seven firearms, police said. Hale had been seeing a doctor for an undisclosed disorder, but Tennessee does not allow police to confiscate weapons on the grounds of mental illness.
Georgia Supreme Court Considers Case Against The State’s Abortion Ban
The heart of the case is whether the abortion ban passed in 2019 was illegal from the start, leading to questions over whether it should remain in effect. Other abortion-related news is from Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Kentucky.
Defense Secretary Says Senator’s Abortion-Related Blocks Could Hurt Military Readiness
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified Tuesday that blocked nominations for senior Pentagon personnel “makes us far less ready than we need to be.” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, says he will continue to block nominees until the abortion policy to cover travel costs for service members or their families is changed.
CDC Clarifies Covid Booster Policy, Recommending Single Bivalent Shot
The CDC says that it is only authorizing a single dose of the updated covid vaccine booster at this point in the pandemic, as the U.S. moves toward annual shot recommendations to keep up immunity.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Why Is Everyone Sick?; Violence Against Medical Workers Is A Growing Problem
Editorial writers weigh in on these public health topics.
Different Takes: Do We Finally Know The Origin Of Covid-19?; Here’s How The Lab Leak Theory Spread
Opinion writers examine the latest on covid.
Ohio Sues Pharmacy Benefit Managers, Labels Them ‘Modern Gangsters’
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who accused PBMs of illegally driving up drug costs, said: “Insulin is just a symptom of the problem; PBMs are the disease.” Meanwhile, a New York family struggling to pay for a child’s insulin pump is the focus of a USA Today piece about diabetes care costs.
Study Shows Heart Health Benefits Of Losing Weight, Even With Regains
A fresh study shows that losing weight may help long-term heart health, even if some of the weight is gained back. A separate study links being an early bird sleep apnea sufferer with longer CPAP use. Other research demonstrates that high rent prices negatively impact renters’ mental health.
Indiana, Idaho Legislatures Pass Bans On Transgender Health Care For Youth
AP notes Idaho’s measures would bar medical professionals from prescribing hormones or puberty blockers to transgender or transitioning minors or those with gender dysphoria. A similar measure is under consideration in Texas, as well.
Juul Trial Begins: E-Cigarette Maker Accused Of Marketing To Minors
Minnesota sued Juul in 2019, AP notes, but it’s now seeking to force the e-cigarette maker and its former largest investor, Altria Group Inc., to pay for remedies for harms caused by addiction. Cholesterol drugs, breast cancer drugs, and more are also in the news.
Kansas High Court Affirms Abortion Access Still ‘Fundamental Right’
AP says that despite legislative efforts in the state to restrict abortion rights, Kansas’ highest court said that it remains a right under the state constitution. Separately, a case trying to overturn Georgia’s six-week abortion ban is in the state’s Supreme Court this week.
Covid Virus Can Alter Genomic Structure Of Cells, Study Finds
Researchers say the discovery could help explain the symptoms people infected with the virus experience, as well as some of the mysteries around long covid.
North Carolina Becomes 40th State To Expand Medicaid
After years of division in North Carolina over the expansion issue, Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, signed the bill Monday recently passed by the Republican-controlled legislature. The new law is expected to qualify an additional 600,000 residents for Medicaid, though it’s unclear when enrollment will begin due to a budget proviso.
