Latest KFF Health News Stories
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Diabetics Are Taking Extreme Measures To Access The Pricey Insulin They Need To Live
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
Media outlets report on news from New York, Georgia, Texas, Minnesota, Utah, California and Tennessee.
As foster systems are strained across the country with an influx of children whose guardians have been effected by the opioid crisis, advocates are hopeful that new guidelines will make it easier to find them homes. Meanwhile, doctors are reporting the first successful birth of a baby that was carried via a uterus transplant from a deceased donor. In other public health news: how much sleep is too much sleep?; medical schools, products that trigger puberty, head-shaping baby helmets, and more.
Scientists Claim To Develop Simple, Fast Blood Test That Detects Cancer
While the results of the study need to be confirmed, some scientists are hailing the Australian discovery of the 10-minute test as groundbreaking. Scientists have been working to identify cancer earlier, as early detection increases the success rate of therapeutic treatment and surgery.
5.1 Million Pounds Of Beef Added To Recall Over Salmonella Worries
The CDC is also warning people to thoroughly cook meat because that’s the only way to kill salmonella and to check their freezer for meat products. The products were packaged between July and September. Illnesses have been reported in 25 states.
Ethical criticism of He Jiankui’s work has been coming in fast and furious over the past week. But now scientists are also criticizing the research itself, saying it’s plagued with massive technical shortcomings. His results show that “this was all a terrible idea in basically every way,” said Erik Sontheimer, who studies CRISPR in his lab at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Teens’ Wisdom Teeth Removal Surgery Can Often Open The Door To Opioid Addiction
In the year following the surgery, close to 6 percent of patients who left their dentist’s office with a prescription for opioids had a “health care encounter” in which a diagnosis of opioid abuse was documented. That’s well over 10 times the rate at which a comparison group. In other news on the crisis: addiction counselors, life insurance and naloxone, supervised injection sites, and more.
Tobacco Giant Eyes Cannabis, E-Cigarette Business As Traditional Sales Continue To Tank
The cigarette industry has for years used price increases to boost revenue and profits despite falling cigarette volumes, but that decline has sped up in recent months. Now Altria, the U.S. cigarette market leader, is looking to branch out before it goes down on a sinking ship.
American Hospital Association Sues Over Trump Administration Policy That Cuts Some Medicare Rates
The policy roiled the hospital industry when it was introduced in a proposed rule over the summer, and hospitals have been lobbying Congress to intervene with the administration and reverse the policy.
Wisconsin Lawmakers Vote To Enact Medicaid Work Requirements In Lame-Duck Session
The state lawmakers passed an extensive package of bills as they seek to rack up wins before Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers and Democratic Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul take up their positions in a few weeks. Meanwhile, in Kansas, Gov.-elect Laura Kelly, a Democrat, says she wants to roll back a work requirement and other cash assistance rules for government aid.
Brewing Battle Over Fetal Tissue Research Could Undermine Testing Of HIV Treatments
Over the past few months, the Trump administration has been quietly auditing all federal funding involving fetal tissue research. The University of California at San Francisco’s research laboratory, which has been instrumental in testing virtually all HIV therapies subsequently approved by the FDA since the 1990s, has been sucked into the controversy.
Incoming Democrats Amped Up To Leverage Their Victories At The Ballot Box Into Victories In Congress
“It’s a confluence of things. It’s about the committees that we’ll be appointed to. It’s about the values- and issues-based caucuses that we’ll serve on,” said Rep.-elect Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) Some of their top issues will be gun control and health care. Meanwhile, the Pro-Choice Caucus is ready to stretch its wings with the Democrats now in power.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) will be the top Republican and Democrat on the influential Senate Finance Committee next year. Their bipartisan bill would give HHS more power to recoup the full amount lost if companies misclassify their drugs under the Medicaid program. Experts watching Congress have predicted that drug prices might be a problem where the parties will work together.
The Butte County Sheriff’s Office last week said it completed its search for human remains and will this week allow survivors to visit what’s left of their homes, a wait that has been unusually long, which local officials attribute to the scale of the devastation.
First Edition: December 5, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these health care topics and others.
Media outlets report on news from New Jersey, Florida, Tennessee, Connecticut, Colorado, Georgia, Texas, Hawaii, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Ohio.
These Cities Have Effectively Ended Veteran Homelessness. Can Others Follow Their Models?
Rockford, Illinois, is one of a handful of cities that have effectively tackled the problem of veteran homelessness. While higher rents in other places could pose a bigger challenge in other cities, advocates are hopeful the strategies employed can be applied elsewhere.
Want To Get A Gun? This Proposed Law Could Have Police Checking Your Social Media Activity First
New York state Sen. Kevin Parker’s bill would require a social media check for those applying for handgun licenses. But free-speech watchdogs and even some gun-control advocates are raising privacy concerns about the measure.
