Morning Breakouts

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Court Records Detail Jacksonville Shooter’s History Of Mental Illness As An Adolescent

Morning Briefing

Divorce records show David Katz played video games obsessively, often refusing to go to school or to bathe. His mother reported when she took his game controllers away, she’d find him walking in circles in early morning hours. In other news, lawmakers in California approve new gun restrictions and bans, including to those involuntarily placed in psychiatric hospitals.

Suicidal Students Devastated By Universities’ Responses To Crises: ‘I Reached Out For Help And Now I’m Suddenly Getting Blamed For It’

Morning Briefing

A series of legal challenges against universities’ policies on students’ mental health highlights the way the organizations struggle to respond to the young people in need. In other mental health news, conversion therapy is getting attention because of big-screen movies as states work to limit and ban the practice.

‘I Sat My Wife Down And Told Her Life Wasn’t Worth It’: Opioid Crackdown Driving Pain Patients To Drastic Measures

Morning Briefing

“My pain exceeded my ability to handle it,” Jon Fowlkes said after he was cut off from his opioid prescription. “We had a very frank discussion. … We even discussed what gun I would use.” Fowlkes is one of many chronic pain patients who feel angry and betrayed by the recent efforts to curb the opioid epidemic.

As America’s Jails Become Warehouses For Mentally Ill, Brutal Treatment Of Inmates Leading To Grisly Deaths

Morning Briefing

“We are arresting people who have no idea what the laws are or the rules are because they’re off their medications,” said Nashville Sheriff Daron Hall, a vice president of the National Sheriffs’ Association. “You’d never arrest someone for a heart attack, but you’re comfortable arresting someone who is diagnosed mentally ill. No other country in the world is doing it this way.” The Virginian-Pilot investigates the issue.

Toddler Died After Contracting Infection At ICE Detention Center, Law Firm Claims

Morning Briefing

The mother and her one-year-old daughter, Mariee, were held at a facility in Dilley, Texas in March, and the girl died of viral pneumonitis about six weeks after her release. “A mother lost her little girl because ICE and those running the Dilley immigration prison failed them inexcusably,” said R. Stanton Jones, a partner at the D.C. law firm representing the family.