Latest KFF Health News Stories
Mysterious ‘Havana Syndrome’ Strikes Another Canadian Diplomat As Experts Remain Flummoxed
The newest case marks the 13th time a Canadian officer or family member has reported these “unusual health symptoms,” while more than 20 Americans have also been affected. In other public health news: cancer treatment, the placenta, Christmas gifts for kids, suicide, gun violence, and more.
This year, the FDA approved three drugs meant to prevent migraines and those, along with less expensive and less invasive techniques to stimulate the body’s response to pain through neurostimulation, are giving optimism to headache specialists and their patients after years of little progress.
NIH Director Francis Collins called He Jiankui “a scientist who apparently believed that he was a hero. In fact, he crossed every line, scientifically and ethically,” after it was announced that he gene-edited human embryos using CRISPR. The reaction has been echoed across the scientific community for the past week. But were there missed opportunities for others to intervene along the way? Meanwhile, the scandal might have rocked the science world, but Wall Street was unfazed.
After Years Of Rising Deductibles For Workers, Some Employers Are Tapping The Brakes
Instead of continuing the trend of passing on the burden of higher costs to employees, some companies are looking to address the underlying reasons for the spending. Among other strategies, some organizations are bypassing insurers and negotiating deals with hospitals directly and a growing number are offering their own clinics. Meanwhile, experiments that work to improve a patient’s social factors, such as housing, are finding big savings.
Building An Empire On The Back Of A Crisis: How This Company Makes Millions Housing Migrant Children
Southwest Key has stockpiled tens of millions of taxpayer dollars with little government oversight and possibly engaged in self-dealing with top executives. The New York Times offers a look at the company and its leader, who calls himself El Presidente.
New Emails Reveal How Deeply Involved Shadowy Mar-A-Largo Trio Was On VA Decisions
The records show Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter, West Palm Beach physician Bruce Moskowitz and lawyer Marc Sherman editing the budget for a government program, weighing in on job candidates and being treated as decision-makers on policy initiatives. The men are connected to President Donald Trump through his Mar-A-Lago resort.
Health care is an industry that requires a lot of licenses — and it can all get very complicated. In other pharmaceutical news: the blue wave and the drug industry; Gilead’s foray into cancer cell therapy; an experimental blood disease drug; and more.
The program is part of congressional efforts to motivate pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for people who lack treatments for their rarer conditions, and it can be very lucrative for the companies. But the GAO uncovered inconsistent and often incomplete reviews by FDA employees early in the process of designating medicines as an orphan drug.
“Get more benefits for your money,” says one message sent to Medicare beneficiaries. “See if you can save money with Medicare Advantage,” says another. While private plans boast of providing superior-quality care, the evidence is mixed. And experts are worried that the material being sent out by the government doesn’t present the negatives of the plans. Other Medicare news focuses on nursing homes and enrollment.
Brain Changes Seen In Young Football Players After Just One Season Of Playing, Researchers Say
The results of the small study suggest that repeated blows to the head could lead to changes critical to integrating cognitive, motor and sensory functions between the two hemispheres of the brain. Other news on children’s concussions focuses on new recovery guidelines.
Ocasio-Cortez Flips ‘Death Panel’ Rhetoric, Arguing That They Already Exist In Private Marketplace
The idea that “death panels” will decide when people on Medicare should be cut off from live-saving services has often been used against Democrats, but this weekend Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) countered that that principle already exists in the current health care system. “They are companies + boards saying you’re on your own bc they won’t cover a critical procedure or medicine,” she tweeted. Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez also expressed frustration that Congress can offer cheap health care benefits to its own members yet “would deny other people affordability that they themselves enjoy.”
First Edition: December 3, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these health topics and others.
Opinion writers address ways to fight the opioid epidemic.
Perspectives: Gene-Editing On Human Babies Was Highly Irresponsible; Allow Use Of CRISPR In Embryos
Opinion writers express views about gene-editing.
Research Roundup: The Health Law; Primary Care; And Patient Safety
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from Texas, California, Minnesota, Florida, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Missouri.
Massachusetts Approves Beth Israel-Lahey Health Merger With Price-Cap, Other Conditions
The new hospital system, including more than a dozen facilities, is the most recent merger in the state since Mass. General and Brigham and Women’s hospitals merged in 1994 to form Partners, the state’s biggest hospital system.
Vaccination Exemptions Threaten ‘Decades Of Progress’ As Measles Cases Surge Worldwide
The number of officially reported measles cases in 2017 totaled 173,330, the report said, 31 percent higher than levels in 2016. In other public health news: suicide, depression, shingles, schizophrenia, stomach bugs, strokes, palliative care, and more.
Shootings on school grounds resonate with everyone, said Adam Lankford, a University of Alabama criminology professor who researches mass shootings. “By law you have to send your kids to school,” he said. “People can say to themselves, ‘Well I don’t go to nightclubs,’ but everyone’s kids go to school. … Same thing with Vegas. A lot of people don’t go to concerts on the Vegas strip. That’s a different world to them. But everyone can relate to the school situation.” Meanwhile, doctors who have been outraged over NRA’s suggestion to “stay in their lane” are taking their fight to Congress.
