Latest KFF Health News Stories
Journalists Drill Down on Bird Flu Risks, Opioid Settlement Payouts, and Fluoride in Drinking Water
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media over the past two weeks to discuss recent stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Para frenar las muertes por fentanilo, reparten kits para revertir las sobredosis puerta por puerta
En Philadelphia, funcionarios esperan que este enfoque proactivo transforme a la naloxona en un artículo que esté en los botiquines, para evitar que las personas mueran por sobredosis, especialmente los residentes negros.
To Stop Fentanyl Deaths in Philadelphia, Knocking on Doors and Handing Out Overdose Kits
Facing widening racial disparities in overdose deaths, Philadelphia officials are sending workers and volunteers to knock on doors across the city, aiming to equip households with naloxone and other drug overdose prevention supplies. City officials hope a proactive approach will normalize naloxone as an everyday item in people’s medicine cabinets and prevent overdoses, especially among Black residents.
Why Opioid Settlement Money Is Paying County Employees’ Salaries
More than $4.3 billion in opioid settlement money has landed in the hands of city, county and state officials to date — with billions more on the way. But instead of using the cash to add desperately needed treatment, recovery and prevention services, some places are using it to replace existing funding. Local officials say […]
Swap Funds or Add Services? Use of Opioid Settlement Cash Sparks Strong Disagreements
The national opioid settlements don’t prohibit using money for initiatives already supported by other means, but doing so could dilute the impact.
A Paramedic Was Skeptical About This Rx for Stopping Repeat Opioid Overdoses. Then He Saw It Help.
For years, addiction response teams have traveled around Florida to connect people who have overdosed with resources and recovery centers. Now, a handful have a new tool in their kit: buprenorphine, which can help prevent the cravings and withdrawal symptoms that lead to more drug use.
Journalists Track Efforts to Curb the Opioid Crisis and Put Catholic Hospitals Under the Scope
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
West Virginia City Once Battered by Opioid Overdoses Confronts ‘Fourth Wave’
Years of struggle prepared residents in Cabell County, West Virginia, to confront the latest wave of the opioid epidemic as mixtures of fentanyl and other drugs claim lives nationwide.
Statistical Models vs. Front-Line Workers: Who Knows Best How to Spend Opioid Settlement Cash?
A mathematical model designed to direct spending of opioid settlement funds is at the center of a debate over whether to invest in technology to guide long-term decisions or focus on the immediate needs of people in addiction.
Journalists Examine Medicaid Unwinding, Farmworkers’ Mental Health, and the Big Opioid Payback
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
‘Fourth Wave’ of Opioid Epidemic Crashes Ashore, Propelled by Fentanyl and Meth
A report based on millions of urine drug tests found the United States is facing a rise in the use of multiple drugs at once, which not only is often more deadly but complicates treatment efforts.
Journalists Catch Up on Top Issues Facing 2024 Voters, From Obamacare to Opioids
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Records Show Publix Opioid Sales Grew Even as Addiction Crisis Prompted Other Chains’ Pullback
As national prescription drug distributors and pharmacies restricted the flow of oxycodone and other painkillers in response to the growing opioid crisis, Florida’s most popular grocery store ramped up its sales and distribution of the highly addictive drugs, according to a Tampa Bay Times analysis of federal data.
Federal Lawmakers Take First Steps Toward Oversight of $50 Billion in Opioid Settlements
The four-page bill lists how states should spend settlement money, but it doesn’t specify consequences for flouting the rules or name who is in charge of monitoring compliance.
Journalist Talks Distribution of Opioid Funds — And the Companies Angling for a Piece
KFF Health News senior correspondent Aneri Pattani made the rounds on national and local media in the last two weeks to discuss the opioid settlement funds flowing to state and local governments and her reporting on the topic. Here’s a collection of her appearances.
Journalists Track Medical Device Malfunctions, Opioid Settlement Payments, and Abortion Bans
KFF Health News and California Healthline staffers made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
The Year in Opioid Settlements: 5 Things You Need to Know
In the past year, opioid settlement money has gone from an emerging funding stream for which people had lofty but uncertain aspirations to a coveted pot of billions being invested in remediation efforts. Here are some important and evolving factors to watch going forward.
‘They See a Cash Cow’: Corporations Could Consume $50 Billion of Opioid Settlements
As opioid settlement dollars land in government coffers, a swarm of businesses are positioning themselves to profit from the windfall. But will their potential gains come at the expense of the settlements’ intended purpose — to remediate the effects of the opioid epidemic?
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Abortion and SCOTUS, Together Again
The Supreme Court agreed this week to hear its first major case on abortion since overturning Roe v. Wade — one that could restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, even in states where abortion remains legal. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers in the House and Senate finally moved to renew health programs that expired in October — but it’s likely too late to finish the job in 2023. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Riley Griffin of Bloomberg News, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Jen Golbeck, a University of Maryland professor and social media superstar, about her new book, “The Purest Bond,” which lays out the science of the human-canine relationship.
Millions in Opioid Settlement Funds Sit Untouched as Overdose Deaths Rise
Some states haven’t begun using opioid settlement funds intended to help curb the opioid epidemic. Meanwhile, more than 100,000 Americans died of an overdose last year.
