Latest KFF Health News Stories
Many Doctors Treating Alcohol Problems Overlook Successful Drugs
Two prescription medications have been found to be successful in helping many patients with alcohol cravings. Yet they are rarely used and many patients don’t know they exist.
Warning: Government Listing Of Clinical Trials Doesn’t Disclose Costs To Patients
Some clinics on NIH’s website charge people to participate in testing of unproven treatments — and it can come as a surprise to unsuspecting patients.
NIH’s Fauci On Combating Zika: ‘You Have To Have The Resources To Act Quickly’
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently spoke with KHN’s Carmen Heredia Rodriguez about vaccine development and the ongoing fight in Congress over emergency funding.
Report: ‘Convergence Science’ Has Potential To Accelerate The Research-To-Product Pipeline
Some say this trend is the future of biomedical research. But along with its potential, it also faces significant challenges.
Study Promotes Battlefields’ Lessons To Advance National Trauma Care
A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine calls for the White House to lead a national strategy to promote and continue advances in trauma care.
Senate Panel Kills Medicare Program That Offers Help On Enrollment, Billing Issues
It’s not clear yet if the full Senate or House will concur in the plan to cut funding for the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, which operates in all states and gives beneficiaries free advice on enrollment in drug and insurance plans, appealing coverage decisions and applying for financial subsidies.
New York Aims To Become The Next State To Toss The Tampon Tax
Five states have already eliminated sales tax on feminine products, and New York City is also trying to make the products available for free in schools.
Research Gives Context To Addressing Nation’s Drug Abuse Crisis, Review Finds
As presidential candidates, state officials and even President Barack Obama wrestle with how to handle drug addiction, scientists lay out some of the intersections between opioid prescriptions and heroin abuse in the New England Journal of Medicine, including findings that crackdowns on opioid prescriptions may not fuel increases in heroin use.
NIH Isn’t Ensuring That Clinical Trials Account For Different Outcomes By Sex
Clinical trials should look at whether men and women are affected differently, but the NIH isn’t holding researchers accountable, a new report says.
The Last Decade’s Culture Wars Drove Some States To Fund Stem Cell Research
When the Bush administration choked federal funding for research involving cells taken from human embryos, some states opted to start their own programs.
Planned Parenthood Isn’t The Only Health Program At Risk Of Losing Funds
Congress faces budgetary decisions, worrying advocates for medical research, teen pregnancy prevention and other federal initiatives.
NIH analysis quantifies who is in pain and when, including more than 25 million people who say they have pain every day.
Fetal Tissue Attack Is Latest Tactic In Long GOP Fight Against Planned Parenthood
Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood date back to 1982, while fetal tissue research had bipartisan support until the release of secret camera videos.
Patrick Kennedy On Moving Mental Health Policy Out Of ‘The Dark Ages’
This former member of Congress wants to change how the nation views mental illness – both in terms of streamlining research for new treatments and improving the mental health care system.
Bill To Speed FDA Approvals Includes Rewards For Drugs Designed For Kids
The 21st Century Cures bill now being considered by Congress would extend a program that promotes pediatric drug research.
Improved Economy, Obamacare Boost Demand For Travel Nurses
Rising admissions are driving up the need for nurses willing to travel across the country to work in hospitals.
Dr. Donald Lindberg: Thirty Years At The Intersection Of Computers, Medicine And Information Sharing
Lindberg retired this month after 30 years at the National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine where he worked to put research online so that doctors could have the latest medical advancements at their fingertips, and patients could become increasingly engaged in their own care.
Research Plan Could Drive ‘Culture Change’ In How Mental Illness Is Diagnosed, Treated
The National Institute of Mental Health released a five-year strategic plan that prioritizes the genetics of mental illness, the development of treatments based on those findings and the discovery of brain patterns related to a range of mental health disorders.
HHS Shifts Money From Cancer, Global Health To Pay For Health Insurance Exchange
Some House Republicans question the transfer of funds, but HHS says the shifts are legal and necessary to operate a marketplace, which is relied upon by 37 states.
Surprise! The Taco Truck Is On Your Diet
The lunch truck menu is known more for grease and starch than leafy greens. But researchers in Los Angeles County say adding more nutritious options to the menu is one step toward reducing obesity.
