Latest KFF Health News Stories
Providers Of Methadone For Addiction Treatment Warn About Expansion
Stat reports providers are warning advocates who favor expanded access to methadone to be careful — while the drug is effective for opioid addiction, expansion could backfire and even drive overdoses of methadone. Separately, Walgreens, CVS will pay a more than $10 billion opioid settlement.
Nonunion Strike Hits ACA Call Centers As Open Enrollment Starts
Also: doctors dropping patients off their lists, health tech care for underserved populations, rising cancer drug prices, and more.
Huge Fall In Abortion Numbers In Texas After Strict Ban: Studies
The Texas Tribune reports that the number of abortions in Texas fell from a “few thousand” to less than 10 after the near-total state ban came into place. Meanwhile, abortion rights protesters briefly interrupted arguments in the Supreme Court, and some providers turn to mobile units.
Bubbles In Covid Booster Vials Prompt Investigation In Switzerland
The country’s drug regulator Swissmedic said it was looking into risks from bubbles in vials of new omicron-targeting booster shots. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists FAQ says small air bubbles can be ignored, but larger ones can lead to underdosing.
Research Roundup: Diabetes and Alzheimer’s; Taxifolin; More
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Physicians Prep Massive Lobby To Again Fend Off Medicare Payment Cut
Medicare is scheduled to cut physician payments by 4.5% in 2023. In previous years, lobbying efforts have averted such reductions required by previous laws. Now doctors plan to fight hard for Congress to pass short and long-term fixes. Other Medicare news reports on drug payments, false marketing, quality rules, and more.
Wegovy Injection Shown To Help Tackle Adolescents’ Obesity
Stat reports that the weight-loss drug had “dramatic” effects for young people diagnosed with obesity. NBC News says the weekly injections led to loss of an average of 14.7% of starting bodyweight. The drug is in short supply, but maker Novo Nordisk said broad availability is coming soon.
Child Respiratory Illness Surge Drives Shortage Of Amoxycillin
News outlets cover a supply crunch of one of the most commonly used antibiotics caused by high demand during a surge of respiratory syncytial virus infections in children. Separately, worries deepen over what could be the worst U.S. flu season in a decade.
Single Dose Of Psilocybin Improved Depression, New Study Finds
The study, called “the largest of its kind,” tested 233 adults in the U.S., Europe, and Canada. The patients entered a “waking dream-like” state that lasted four to six hours, Reuters reported.
Monkeypox Virus Can Be Spread Up To 4 Days Before Symptoms Begin: Study
Researchers have found the first evidence of “considerable” pre-symptomatic transmission of monkeypox — up to 53% of infections may take place during that window. Meanwhile, HHS renewed the national public health emergency for monkeypox.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Dobbs Decision Drove Two Big Spikes In Medication Abortion Requests
Data from Aid Access, a nonprofit online telemedicine service that provides medication for a self-managed abortion, shows that before the Supreme Court’s abortion decision leaked that requests averaged around 83 a day. After the leak, that number jumped to 137. And since the court decision was formally announced, the daily average has increased to nearly 214.
CMS Aims To Kickstart Rural ACOs With Medicare Payment Changes
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized updates Tuesday to the Medicare Shared Savings Program that include upfront payments to health providers in rural or underserved areas that join. Participation in the program has stalled since 2018.
With Any Luck, This Could Be The Last Year RSV Ravages Children, Families
Pfizer’s announcement Tuesday that an RSV vaccine in moms-to-be was nearly 82% effective at preventing severe cases in their babies’ first months of life was welcome news after decades of setbacks and delays. The findings won’t help this year’s surge, but it’s possible a vaccine could be available before next fall’s RSV season.
State Bans Forcing Patients To Travel More Than Twice As Long For An Abortion
JAMA published more than a dozen studies on the immediate impact on reproductive care in a post-Roe U.S. Researchers find that patients are traveling an average of 100 minutes to receive abortion services — up from an average of 30 minutes.
Perspectives: Lessons From Covid Collaboration Should Be Used For Other Illnesses
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Viewpoints: Pfizer’s RSV Vaccine Looks Promising; The Pandemic Sparked An Unexpected Baby Boom
Editorial writers tackle these public health topics.
As Texas Stalls Maternal Death Data, Sneak Peek Shows High Risk For Blacks
As the Houston Chronicle noted, the rate of life-threatening hemorrhaging among Black women during childbirth in Texas increased through 2020 while the rate for all other groups dropped. The data were obtained by a Democratic state lawmaker; the report was supposed to be released Sept. 1. Critics say every day wasted is a missed chance to help women.
Study: Many Adult Americans Dying Of Excessive Alcohol Use
Research published Tuesday in JAMA said that from 2015 to 2019, an estimated 1 in 5 deaths of people ages 20 to 49 were attributable to excessive alcohol use; for those ages 20 to 64, it was 1 in 8. Those rates have most likely climbed since then because of the pandemic, The New York Times reports.
Another Medical Supply Shortage: Tracheostomy Tubes
The shortage is most likely to affect pediatric patients because there are few alternatives, the FDA warns. Other pharmaceutical news is on anesthesia, nonaddictive painkillers, drones that carry defibrillators, a $12 billion opioid settlement, and more.
