Latest KFF Health News Stories
Monkeypox Research Gets $140M Boost From White House
The money is aimed at a 22-target research agenda, hopefully to understand and control rising cases. Meanwhile, the House Oversight and Reform Committee told the Department of Health and Human Services to address barriers that some people have found in accessing monkeypox treatments.
Patients Sent Home As Georgia’s Abortion Law Does An About-Face
AP reports that the fast changes in Georgia’s legal stance on abortion this week meant some patients who were awaiting treatment were forced to leave medical offices. Other complex legal cases are also reported.
Amazon Wants You To Be Its Patient, Buying One Medical In $3.9B Deal
Media outlets explain why the move is significant for Amazon and the future of the health care industry, and also highlight early concerns about the deal’s impact on medical data privacy.
CVS Starts Validating Prescriptions For Pills That Can End Pregnancy
CVS says some states’ laws restricting medicine abortions have prompted the pharmacy chain to verify methotrexate and misoprostol prescriptions in those locations. They want health providers to include a patient’s diagnosis in prescriptions.
Available Covid Drugs In Spotlight As Biden Takes Paxlovid
A critical development for the direction of the covid pandemic has been the development of antiviral treatments and a drug that can help vulnerable people avoid infection.
Biden’s Covid Infection Will Test His Own Pandemic Policies
As President Joe Biden copes with his “mild symptoms,” the White House is putting its pandemic strategy to the highest test. Differences in where the nation was when then-President Donald Trump had covid are also in the news.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial writers delve in to abortion and other public health topics.
Different Takes: The Future Of Covid Is Not Promising; Is It Time To Start Masking Again?
Opinion writers examine covid, monkeypox and mental health.
WHO Says Covid Deaths Rose Around The World Last Week
The World Health Organization had sobering news about the pandemic, with activity stable but still high, and deaths rising. News from Australia, where deaths are up in the winter, shows covid is still an ongoing risk. The WHO also warned that denying refugees health care could violate their rights.
Florida Health Department Reports First 2022 Dengue Case
A health alert about the mosquito-borne virus has now been issued in Florida, with people asked to take preventative measures against mosquitoes. Separately, a Florida nurse was sentenced to a year in prison for replacing some of a hospital’s fentanyl doses with saline.
Research Roundup: Covid-Related CVD; IVF; Gene Therapy; Alzheimer’s
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Merck Drug Sees Failures In Treating Head And Neck Cancer
Keytruda, a cancer therapy drug from Merck, failed to show improvements in head and neck cancer patients’ event-free survival times. Physicians joining unions, nurse burnout, remote-work for nurses, rising health industry profit projections, and more are also in the industry news.
Global Flu Monitoring Systems May Have Seen Early Covid Signs
It’s possible existing systems to surveil influenza around the world showed indicators of an outbreak of covid before it was properly understood early in the pandemic. Meanwhile, Zenger News reports on a promising new blood test based on the KRAS gene that could change early cancer detection.
FDA Warns Of UV Risk From Certain Disinfection Devices
Some of the devices on a new list from the Food and Drug Administration could cause injuries, with UV-C emissions far above recommended limits. Meanwhile, in King County, Washington, a public health crisis has been declared due to a record-breaking flood of fentanyl overdoses.
HHS Agency To Be Elevated, Tasked With Handling Pandemic Threats
The Biden administration’s existing Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, known as ASPR, will be promoted to a level on par with the CDC and FDA, in an effort to address deficiencies within the Department of Health and Human Services exposed during the covid pandemic.
As Deadly Heat Grips US and Europe, Biden Warns Of Climate Emergency
The Hill notes that President Joe Biden stopped short of declaring a national climate emergency, and instead highlighted the dangers of climate change. The warning came as extreme heat hits the U.S. and other countries, killing thousands. Over 100 million Americans are under dangerous heat advisories.
House Votes To Protect Contraception Rights
House Democrats are pushing to protect access to contraception ahead of any potential Supreme Court rulings on the matter — a threat indicated by Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Same-sex marriage rights are also in the news. Prospects in the Senate are uncertain.
Biden Administration Pressed On Efforts To Control Monkeypox Spread
Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Patty Murray wants HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to brief lawmakers on the U.S. response to rising cases of monkeypox. Meanwhile, experts are watching the progress of critical vaccine programs.
Texas Abortion Law Hits Miscarriage Care; Georgia Ban Now In Effect
Legal uncertainty around abortion has already impacted some patients’ access to life-saving procedures and medicines in Texas, including for one woman who detailed her distressing story. In Georgia, a federal court allows a six-week “heartbeat” law to go into effect. And Planned Parenthood challenges a century-old law in Arizona.
