Latest KFF Health News Stories
Media outlets report on news from California, Washington, Wyoming, Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Connecticut, New York, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.
News from state legislatures comes out of Connecticut, Georgia and Massachusetts.
According to new documents, the University of Illinois at Chicago Institutional Review Board, the committee responsible for protecting research subjects, improperly fast-tracked approval of Dr. Mani Pavuluri’s clinical trial, didn’t catch serious omissions from the consent forms parents had to sign and allowed children to enroll in the study even though they weren’t eligible. Still, UIC officials have continued to blame only Pavuluri, and have downplayed the institution’s role in the research.
Medicaid Work Requirements Move Forward In Iowa State Senate
The measure, if it becomes law, would require weekly work hours for Medicaid recipients but carves out people with physical and mental conditions. It’s one of several measures moving through red states that would impose restrictions on the program. Medicaid news comes out of New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, as well.
Britain’s National Portrait Gallery has announced it won’t proceed with a $1.3 million pledge from a charitable organization overseen by some members of the Sackler family, which founded Purdue Pharma. A recent court case has been shedding light on just how large a role the family played in the aggressive marketing of the painkillers.
New Treatments Might Provide Hope To Patients With Rare Genetic Disease That Turns Tissue Into Bone
The genetic disease, fibrodysplasia ossificans, in which the body’s machinery for healing goes awry, growing immovable bone where it doesn’t belong, had been languishing as nothing more than a medical curiosity. But a community of patient advocates rallied, and now there are three medicines in human trials, the most advanced of which could win Food and Drug Administration approval next year. In other public health news: weight lifting, primate emotions, the “bliss point” in food, and psychic mediums.
Daily Use Of High-Potency Marijuana Can Increase Risk Of Developing Psychosis By Nearly Five Times
Experts say that this should temper some of the enthusiasm that’s been growing about the healthfulness of marijuana. They also say it provides reasoning behind putting some restrictions on legalized use of the drugs–such as making sure high-potency versions are harder to get.
The court case is unusual in that the judge split it into two parts. The first, which the jury just decided on, was whether the weedkiller played a role in his cancer. The second phase will address whether the company should be held liable for that damage. Lawyers will argue that Monsanto knew or should have known that Roundup causes cancer.
Experts offer an in-depth look at the belief system behind the Kentucky lawsuit filed by a family who didn’t vaccinate their son because of their religious beliefs. The Varicella vaccine, specifically, is derived from the cell lines of two fetuses that were electively aborted in the 1960s. “There are no further abortions that have occurred to continue these cell lines,” said Josh Williams, an assistant professor. Meanwhile, antivaccination activists are targeting parents on Facebook who recently lost a child with cruel taunts.
The World Health Organization formed the panel following the controversial work of a Chinese scientist who announced after the fact that he’d gene-edited human embryos. The committee said a registry would help with transparency and tracking of such ethically precarious research. It also said that over the next two years, it will develop recommendations for a “comprehensive governance framework” to help prevent rogue uses of genome editing.
Even after Altria and Juul said they’ll take extra efforts to prevent teens from getting addicted, outgoing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb isn’t convinced and called for a meeting with them last week. He told Bloomberg “The e-cigarette industry has been overly dismissive” and he’s considering temporarily pulling pod-based nicotine products off the markets. Other FDA news looks at new strategies for HIV drug development.
Drug That Could Provide Near Immediate Relief For Postpartum Depression Gets OK From FDA
But the infusion will be expensive, averaging $34,000 per patient before discounts, and the women would have to stay in a medical center for two and a half days. Still, many experts cheered the new treatment that would offer relief much quicker than current drugs, which kick in after weeks if at all.
Decision On ‘Late-Term Abortions’ Should Be Between Woman And Her Doctor, O’Rourke Says
Democratic 2020 hopeful Beto O’Rourke’s answer echoed a similar one he gave to a question on late-term abortions Monday in which he said, “That should be a decision that the woman makes. I trust her.”
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health issues and others.
Media outlets report on news from Maryland, New York, Texas, Kansas, Connecticut, California, Florida, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arizona, Oregon, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Louisiana.
The fees would bring in $20 million a year and would be used for education, intervention, treatment and recovery strategies. Meanwhile, a report finds that opioid and suicide deaths in the state are still on the rise.
“It’s more effective to have students themselves who live in those areas, who go to those schools, who are part of the community to share their voice, share their story and to share why it’s harmful,” said Sonia Gutierrez, a supervisor with the Santa Clara County Office of Education in California. In other news on children’s health: professional hair removal for pre-teens and fighting food allergies.
The app gives users a window of about 11 to 13 days during which they should use a condom or another birth control method to prevent pregnancy. Although a new study shows that it can be effective if used correctly, that data assumes the people who don’t respond aren’t pregnant, which is an underlying obstacle to proving efficacy on apps like these. In other public health news: the microbiome, broken heart syndrome, depression treatments, pre-term births, fish oil, medical marijuana and heart health.
Amid an outbreak of chicken pox in Kentucky, Jerome Kunkel, an 18-year-old senior, was barred from playing basketball for his high school because he wasn’t vaccinated. He’s now suing, saying his First Amendment rights have been violated because he wasn’t vaccinated for religious reasons.
