Latest KFF Health News Stories
Employee Mistake Caused Ascension Cyberattack
The simple mistake — accidentally downloading a file with malicious code inside — likely enabled criminals to access hospital system files that contained personal information, Ascension says. In other news: Heat shutters a Chicago ER, hospital-at-home services expand, and more.
Chronically Understaffed US Hospitals Saw More Covid Deaths, Data Indicate
Covid survival likelihood was found to be related to hospitals’ pre-pandemic investment in nursing services. Separately, a nurses union representing staff at LA’s Riverside Community Hospital was fined $6 million for a strike that happened at the start of the covid pandemic in 2020.
Bird Flu Outbreak In Dairy Cows Might Be Tough To Curb, USDA Reports Hint
Agriculture Department documents note that even on farms that didn’t take in outside cattle, herds were contracting the virus and that it was likely a result of movement of workers and shared equipment. Meanwhile, a global health expert denounced the U.S. response to the outbreaks, saying it is “shocking to watch the ineptitude.”
FDA To Covid Vaccine Makers: Target KP.2 Strain In Next Fall’s Shot
The FDA is advising the makers of covid vaccines that they should update the next round of shots to target KP.2, a strain of JN.1 which was last winter’s dominant variant. Related news is on nasal covid vaccines and shot efficacy.
House Adds Measure To Defense Bill That Would Overturn Abortion Policy
House Republicans pushed through an addition to the National Defense Authorization Act that would reverse Pentagon policy ensuring abortion access to troops and their families. The move threatens bipartisan support for the overall legislation and risks passage.
Feds Will Redo This Year’s Medicare Advantage Quality Ratings
The decision, announced late Thursday, comes in the wake of two court rulings that faulted the agency’s ratings, The Wall Street Journal reported. Also: Legionella bacteria are detected at CMS headquarters near Baltimore.
Senate Republicans Block Bill To Protect IVF Access Nationwide
Senate Democrats’ proposed measure failed Thursday in a 48-47 vote. The bill would have provided federal protections for in vitro fertilization access and required insurance coverage for federal employees.
Abortion Pill Ruling Raises Stakes For Election: Do We Want Access Or Not?
The next president would hold sway over federal agencies with the authority to restrict access to mifepristone. Both sides of the abortion issue are gearing up for future fights.
Here are today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Supreme Court Upholds Access To Abortion Pill
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday that a group of anti-abortion doctors and activists lacked standing to challenge the FDA’s more than 20-year-old approval of mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions.
Viewpoints: More Dairy Workers Must Use PPE Against H5N1 Threat; Congress Can Open IVF Accessibility
Editorial writers discuss H5N1, ‘Right To IVF’, Dr. Fauci, and more.
Research Roundup: Lung Cancer; Sepsis; MIS-C; Chronic Wasting Disease
Each week, KFF Health News compiles a selection of health policy studies and briefs.
Opioid-Related Deaths Fell 10% In Massachusetts Last Year
It’s the largest decline in more than a decade, the Boston Globe says, and comes after two years of record death rates. Meanwhile, a new study shows that communities closer to marijuana dispensaries in Oregon have lower opioid prescription rates.
Another 34 Salmonella Cases Related To Cucumbers Reported
The CDC says 196 people have now been sickened, with cases reported in three new states. Several varieties of cookie cough are also being recalled due to Salmonella contamination — nearly 30,000 cases of Rise Baking Company products are affected.
Michigan Insurer Will Curtail Coverage Of Weight Loss Drugs
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan will drop coverage of GLP-1 obesity drugs like Wegovy from many of its plans, affecting some 10,000 people. The reason: cost. In other news, a research project at the University of California, Berkeley, into the visual effects of psilocybin will include human subjects.
In Wake Of Change Healthcare Hack, Ransomware Incidents Escalated
Meanwhile, Ascension said it thinks a recent cyberattack might have compromised patient health information. That attack was enabled by an employee downloading a “malicious file,” the company said. UPMC, Washington Health, Sutter Health, and more are also in the news.
Antiviral-Resistant ‘Dual Mutant’ Flu Virus Is Now On US Radar, CDC Says
Vaccination can still offer protection from these strains of H1N1 influenza, which have sickened two people in the U.S. Meanwhile, a new nasal swab, produced by Roche Diagnostics, will be available to help sick people determine if they have covid, the flu, or RSV.
Soldiers’ Suicide Risk 9 Times Greater Than Death From Enemy Fire
A new Pentagon study examined data for a five-year period ending in 2019 and found suicide was the leading cause of death in active-duty soldiers. Axios, meanwhile, reports that response times for the 988 suicide hotline vary depending on where you live.
Lawmakers Take FDA, DOJ To Task Over Continued Sale Of Illegal Vapes
“E-cigarette companies addicted a new generation of children to nicotine, erasing the hard work so many of us undertook to convince kids not to smoke tobacco cigarettes,” Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Other news looks at gun violence and medical debt.
Southern Baptists Vote No To IVF
The convention’s vote comes as Texas lawmakers block a Republican amendment to protect the procedure and as Democrats prepare to put forth legislation that would make it a right to have access to in vitro fertilization and other treatments.
