Latest News On Prescription Drugs

Latest KFF Health News Stories

States Pass Record Number Of Laws To Reel In Drug Prices

KFF Health News Original

So far this year, 33 states have enacted more than 50 measures to address drug prices, affordability and access. Congress is eyeing the efforts to see what works.

Americans More Likely Than Swedes To Fill Prescriptions For Opioids After Surgery

KFF Health News Original

New research published in JAMA Network Open quantified for the first time international differences in doctors’ prescribing habits and patients’ use of these highly addictive painkillers.

Comparando las farmacias de tu vecindario con las de Alemania

KFF Health News Original

No son como CVS, Rite Aid o Walgreens, las que tienes a la vuelta de la esquina. Die Apotheke, como se llama aquí a una farmacia, vende casi exclusivamente medicamentos.

In India’s Slums, ‘Painkillers Are Part Of The Daily Routine’

KFF Health News Original

As the Indian government reluctantly loosens its prescription opioid laws after decades of lobbying by palliative care advocates desperate to ease their patients’ pain, the nation’s sprawling, cash-fed health care system is ripe for misuse.

Beset By Lawsuits And Criticism In U.S., Opioid Makers Eye New Market In India

KFF Health News Original

What began in India as a populist movement to bring inexpensive morphine to the diseased and dying poor has paved the way for a booming pain management industry. Now, new customers are being funneled to U.S. drugmakers bedeviled by a government crackdown back home.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: All About Medicare

KFF Health News Original

Before “Medicare for All,” there was just Medicare, the federal program that provides insurance to 60 million Americans. This week, KHN’s Julie Rovner talks to Tricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation about how Medicare works and whom it serves. Then, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join Rovner to talk about some current Medicare issues being debated in Washington, D.C.

Shopping Abroad For Cheaper Medication? Here’s What You Need To Know

KFF Health News Original

Americans routinely skirt federal law by crossing into Canada and Mexico or tapping online pharmacies abroad to purchase prescription medications at a fraction of the price they would pay at home. Is it safe? Not necessarily. Here’s some advice.

¿Buscas medicamentos más baratos en el exterior? Esto es lo que debes saber

KFF Health News Original

Los estadounidenses eluden la ley federal cruzando a Canadá y México, o recurriendo a farmacias en línea en el extranjero para comprar medicamentos recetados a una fracción del precio que pagarían en casa.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: We Answer Your Questions

KFF Health News Original

You asked about drug prices, the “Cadillac tax” on generous insurance plans and why Americans don’t know that most other countries also have combination public-private insurance systems. This week, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Caitlin Owens of Axios join KHN’s Julie Rovner to answer those questions.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Gun Violence And The Politics Of Public Health

KFF Health News Original

The recent tragic mass shootings have refocused efforts to treat gun violence as a public health issue rather than strictly a law enforcement problem. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this, plus the health implications of the budget deal passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump, as well as reaction from Canada to a proposal to allow broader imports of its prescription drugs. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Deciphering The Democrats’ Health Debate

KFF Health News Original

Health care was a major topic at the Democratic presidential candidate debates in Detroit on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the focus on plan minutiae may have left viewers more confused than edified. Alice Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Caitlin Owens of Axios join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the points made by the candidates plus a series of Trump administration health initiatives on drug prices and hospital shopping.