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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Disability Rights Groups Sue to Overturn California’s Physician-Assisted Death Law

KFF Health News Original

Disability rights advocates and two individuals with disabilities sued Tuesday to overturn the state’s physician-assisted death law, arguing it is unconstitutional, violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, and makes it too easy for people with terminal diseases whose deaths aren’t imminent to kill themselves with a doctor’s help.

A California Physician Training Program Adds Diversity, but Where Do Graduates End Up?

KFF Health News Original

Researchers found that, while a University of California medical training program has diversified the system’s pool of medical students, there’s not enough long-term data to know whether graduates return to practice where they’re needed most.

Listen: Mifepristone Remains Available for Now. What Happens Next?

KFF Health News Original

The Supreme Court on April 21 ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone should remain widely available while the lower courts consider the issue, blocking earlier rulings that banned or restricted access to the drug. KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner joined NPR’s “Weekend All Things Considered” to discuss the complicated case.

Pain, Hope, and Science Collide as Athletes Turn to Magic Mushrooms

KFF Health News Original

A group of former professional athletes traveled to Jamaica to try psychedelics as a way to help cope with the aftereffects of concussions and a career of body-pounding injuries. Will this still largely untested treatment work?

US Officials Want to End the HIV Epidemic by 2030. Many Stakeholders Think They Won’t.

KFF Health News Original

The federal government’s ambitious plan to end the HIV epidemic, launched in 2019, has generated new ways to reach at-risk populations in targeted communities across the South. But health officials, advocates, and people living with HIV worry significant headwinds will keep the program from reaching its goals.

Tension Builds in Transgender Policy Debate in Montana

KFF Health News Original

Two transgender lawmakers are trying to lay the groundwork for LGBTQ-friendly policies in a conservative state, but tensions are running high as the legislative session nears its end.

The Biden Administration Vowed to Be a Leading Voice on Opioid Settlements But Has Gone Quiet

KFF Health News Original

Billions of dollars are headed to state and local governments to address the opioid crisis. Policy experts and advocates expect the federal government to play a role in overseeing the use of the money. Failure to do so, they say, could lead to wasted opportunities. And, since Medicaid helps pay health care costs, the feds could have a claim to portions of states’ opioid settlements.

The CDC Lacks a Rural Focus. Researchers Hope a Newly Funded Office Will Help.

KFF Health News Original

Advocates for improving rural health pushed for the CDC to extend its rural health focus by creating an Office of Rural Health. They hope the agency will commit to rural health research and provide analyses that lead to good public health policies for rural communities.

Redes sociales alimentan obsesión por las drogas para bajar de peso, sin hablar de riesgos

KFF Health News Original

La competencia para hacerse con un mercado que podría valer $100.000 millones al año, solo para los fabricantes de medicamentos, ha desencadenado una ola de publicidad que preocupa a las autoridades sanitarias  y médicos de todo el mundo.

People With Down Syndrome Are Living Longer, but the Health System Still Treats Many as Kids

KFF Health News Original

The median life expectancy for a U.S. baby born with Down syndrome jumped from about four years in 1950 to 58 years in the 2010s. That’s largely because they no longer can be denied lifesaving care, including surgeries for heart defects. But now, aging adults with Down syndrome face a health system unprepared to care for them.