Latest KFF Health News Stories
Planned Parenthood Invests In NC Race In Attempt To Protect Abortion Rights
Abortions are legal in the state until 20 weeks of pregnancy. However, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s power to veto more stringent abortion restrictions likely hinges on the outcome of next month’s elections, AP reports.
Tobacco Survey Stats Show Teen Vaping Is Still A Big Problem
Media outlets cover the annual National Youth Tobacco Survey and its complicated results: The statistics are tricky to compare year-to-year because pandemic conditions affected the survey. What can be said is many millions of teens still vape, Juul is out, and flavored e-cigs are a favorite.
More People Died In Gun-Related Suicides, Violence In 2021 Than 2020
NBC News, The New York Times report on new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concerning gun violence. New data show gun-related suicides and homicides leapt in 2021, even above 2020’s already high figures. Such a high death rate is unseen since the 1990s
Biden Pardons ‘Simple’ Pot Possession Convictions
Thousands of American citizens with federal marijuana possession convictions on their record will be pardoned under the executive order. President Joe Biden urged state governors to take the same action and for administration officials to review the drugs legal classification as a Schedule I substance.
Ebola Worries Prompt US To Screen All Travelers From Uganda
Any person entering the U.S. who has been in Uganda in the last 21 days will be rerouted to one of five airports for “enhanced screening.” Federal officials characterize the move as a precaution. No Ebola cases have been reported yet outside of the current outbreak in Uganda.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations. Note to readers: KHN’s First Edition will not be published Monday, Oct. 10, in honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Look for it again in your inbox Tuesday.
Different Takes: Why Is Long Covid Such A Mystery?; Ideas For Tackling The Nursing Shortage
Editorial writers weigh in on these public health topics.
Opinion writers examine healthy eating and children’s mental health.
Intermountain Starts Drone-Drops Of Meds To Patients In Utah
This is the “long-awaited era of drone delivery” in Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune says. The first patients able to get drone deliveries of pharmaceuticals and OTC drugs are in South Jordan. Calls to crisis centers after Hurricane Ian, lead levels in North Carolina tap water, and more are also in the news.
Judge Blocks J&J Talc Lawsuits From New Mexico, Mississippi
A decision by a bankruptcy judge has temporarily prevented the two states from pursuing lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson over the safety of talc products. The stymying of opioid studies, recruitment for Alzheimer’s clinical trials, and more are also in the news.
Research Roundup: MRNA; Diabetes; Dermatomyositis; Light-Based Therapy
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
For The First Time, Air Pollution Detected In Fetal Organs
The Press Association says the detection of soot nanoparticles in organs of babies in utero is a first, and shows the material can cross the placenta. In other news, worries that intradermal shots of the monkeypox vaccine are causing scars and skin discoloration.
90,000 Lives Could Be Saved If 80% Of Eligible Americans Got Covid Boosters
According to a study out from The Commonwealth Fund and Yale School of Public Health, getting more Americans boosted could also save billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations.
Covid’s US Body Count Nears Sum Of Civil War, WWII, And Korean War
Data from Johns Hopkins University show covid’s death toll approaches that of three major wars, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show an average of 322 Americans are still dying daily. Data also show over 86% of U.S. kids have already been infected.
Takes Effect Today: Patients Entitled To Entire Health Record In Digital Format
The new federal rules throw open the floodgates to information that includes medical images, doctors’ notes, genetic data, and other details normally kept under lock and key, Stat reported.
Health Care Affordability? Graded D Or F, Say 3 In 4 Americans
The Gallup-West Health poll sought input from over 5,000 Americans. They were asked to grade affordability, equity, accessibility, and quality in the U.S. health system. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that U.S. health insurers are expected to boost prices 6% to 12% next year.
Abortion Scandal Worsens For Walker, But Many Ga. Evangelicals Don’t Care
Herschel Walker, Georgia’s Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, says he didn’t know the woman who claimed he paid for her abortion. But on Wednesday, the woman told The Daily Beast that she is the mother of one of his children. Even so, some Christian leaders said they will still vote for him.
Post-Roe Tally: 66 Clinics Cease Providing Abortion In States With Bans
A Guttmacher Institute analysis finds that at least 66 abortion clinics have halted procedures in the 15 states that enacted bans over the past 100 days since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Only 13 clinics are still operational, all in Georgia. More than 22 million American women of reproductive age live in those states.
Supreme Court Case Could Strip Legal Protections From Millions On Medicaid
In a case that could have wide-reaching impact for millions of Medicaid beneficiaries, an Indiana county’s health agency is asking the Supreme Court to throw out a lawsuit over rights to care at a nursing home. One legal expert told the Indianapolis Star: “This case is to Medicaid what Dobbs was to abortion.” Oral arguments are scheduled for Nov. 8.
HHS Spends $290 Million On Extra Radiation Sickness Medication
It could be a “troubling sign of the times,” FiercePharma says, noting the money is buying an “undisclosed” amount of the Amgen drug Nplate — approved to treat blood cell injuries from acute radiation sickness. The Department of Health and Human Services downplayed the purchase.
