Latest KFF Health News Stories
The outbreak at a North Carolina school where many families have chosen to claim religious exemption from vaccines is now ranked as the worst in the state’s history since the vaccine became available more than 20 years ago. Other children’s health news comes from New Jersey, Iowa and Texas.
“It is often not easy for hospital staff who see themselves as helpers of their patients to move into a very different role of complainant in a criminal case,” said Paul Appelbaum of Columbia University. “That switch is often accompanied by a great deal of guilt.” In other public health news: migrant children, diabetes, standing desks, appendectomies and more.
Violence-Related Setbacks Keep Derailing Global Ebola Response Efforts
The virus has taken advantage of the response teams’ violence-related limitations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As of Saturday there have been 358 confirmed and probable cases in this outbreak, and 213 of those people have died, making it the third largest Ebola outbreak on record.
New Drug May Offer Hope To Parents As Life-Threatening Peanut Allergies Become More And More Common
However going through the drug-induced desensitization process was not easy on patients.
Nearly 88 percent of Americans are expected to eat turkey Thursday. Many want to know which brands to avoid as the yearlong outbreak spreads to 35 states. Without a source or supplier of the products that are making people sick, officials say the best advice for consumers is to handle raw turkey carefully.
As Lifespans Increase, Baby Boomers Finding Themselves Caring For Both Aging Parents, Adult Children
The number of 60-somethings with living parents has more than doubled since 1998, to about 10 million. Meanwhile, the boomers are also more and more bearing the burden of adult children who have had health setbacks or other financial crises. In other health care costs news: insurance discounts for walking, waivers to help people with costs, and direct-to-consumer marketing.
Republicans Dismayed By Scope Of FDA Crackdown On Tobacco Products
The FDA has been aggressively targeting electronic tobacco products and flavored cigarettes in an effort to curb an emerging epidemic of teenagers vaping, but some conservatives think the administration has gone too far. “I am concerned the FDA’s proposed actions could limit adult Americans’ access to e-cigarette products that help them quit a more dangerous habit. I am also concerned about regulatory overreach,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
Earlier this year in Brockton, Mass., Veterans Affairs investigators found two nurses fast asleep during their shifts, even though the facility knew it was under scrutiny and inspectors were coming to visit. The six big veteran advocacy groups are demanding the VA take swift action to improve quality of care at the agency’s nursing homes. In other veterans’ health news: a class action lawsuit and a troubling trend in the military’s readiness.
A new report found that Kaleo, a Virginia pharmaceutical company, raised the price of its opioid overdose reversal drug by more than 600 percent in 2016 as a way to “capitalize on the opportunity.”
The company will raise the price of 41 of its drugs — about 10 percent of its portfolio of treatments. Trump administration officials did not take kindly to the announcement. The move illustrates the “perverse incentives of America’s drug pricing system,” said a spokeswoman for Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. In other drug cost news: brand-name price hikes drive up spending; an analysis looks at EpiPen’s cost-value ratio; the FDA wants more funding so the agency can review influx of gene therapy products; and more.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has fielded complaints for years about flaws with its inspection system, particularly with respect to its complicated scoring algorithm that struggles to tell the difference between unsafe properties and decent ones. An investigation by The Southern Illinoisan and ProPublica reveals the dangerous conditions that low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities are living in.
Volunteers Comb Through Camp Fire Rubble As Number Of Missing People Climbs To Around 1,000
Over the weekend, the death toll rose to at least 77. Hundreds of search-and-recovery personnel are involved in the effort, going to homes when they receive tips that someone might have died there. In other news from the fires: Malibu’s “Rehab Riviera” scrambles to evacuate addiction treatment patients; air quality in California remains dangerous and scientists warn that such toxic smog will only become more common; fire survivors return to their homes; and more.
Success Of Medicaid Expansion Ballot Measures Has Advocates Eyeing Possibilities For 2020
Advocates for expansion used ballot measures in the 2018 elections to circumnavigate the Republican legislatures of three states. Now, they’re hoping to replicate that success in other states through the 2020 elections. They haven’t named their targets, but here are six states they might be eyeing: Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming.
First Edition: November 19, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these health care topics and others.
Opinion pages focus on the FDA’s new regulations on vaping and plans to ban menthol cigarettes.
Media outlets report on news from Kansas, California, Ohio, New Hampshire, Texas, Florida and New Jersey.
North Carolina-Based Hospital System Atrium Health Settles Antitrust Lawsuit With Justice Department
The suit is part of a broader trend of regulators more carefully scrutinizing contracts between hospital systems and health insurers to prevent insurers from steering patients to certain health care providers. Hospital news comes out of Texas, Illinois and Massachusetts, as well.
Republican Gov. John Kasich has blocked previous heartbeat bills, saying they would almost certainly be ruled unconstitutional in the courts. Right now advocates have 58 votes in the House, but they need more than 60 to override a gubernatorial veto.
Medicare Insurance Options ‘Complicated’ For 300,000 Minnesotans Seeking New Coverage
Traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage? As open enrollment gets under way across the nation, many Minnesota residents are especially hard pressed to decide which insurance is better for them because their current plan is being eliminated in many parts of the state. Enrollment is down compared to last year. In other news, advocates for older citizens in North Carolina are trying to help them sort through the differences.
