Latest KFF Health News Stories
Media outlets report on news from California, New York, Virginia, Texas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kansas.
NIH Strives To Recover Reputation After Recent Ethical Controversies
The most publicized of the controversies involved a study on the benefits of moderate drinking and scientists’ attempts to woo the alcohol industry to fund the study. NIH Director Francis Collins acknowledged the setbacks, but the agency hopes to make clear the lapses are one-offs and not indicative of a larger cultural problem. In other public health news: suicide, Parkinson’s disease, exercise, Lyme disease, brain injuries, and more.
Attorneys general in eight states and the District of Columbia had filed a joint lawsuit attempting to force the Trump administration to prevent the company from uploading blueprints for consumers to print out plastic guns. The weapons would be hard to catch even by metal detectors.
Ideas about care are changing from the past when doctors were likely to take the baby away from the mother and put it in brightly lit ICU, making their risk of withdrawal higher. News on the epidemic also comes out of Texas, Arizona and Massachusetts.
“Any time Google tries to enter your industry, that’s a very big competitive threat,” said Nilesh Chandra, senior leader in PA Consulting’s health care business. In other health and technology news, IBM is tweaking its software that allows its supercomputer to recommend cancer treatments and a hospital turns to tech to help solve pervasive hand-washing issue.
The Wall Street Journal offers a look on some of the problems with the pricing structure of the U.S. health system. And, in other news, Democrats, hoping to take back the House in November, are already laying the groundwork for a Medicare for All vote.
More Democratic States Speak Out Against Proposed Changes To Family Planning Funds
“We will fight this rule at every turn,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is leading a coalition of 13 attorneys general who say the proposals for how Title X funding is distributed are unconstitutional. Governors have also added their voices, saying they’ll back out of the program if the rule is implemented.
Bitter Dispute Over Documents On Kavanaugh’s Records Signals Bumpy Road Ahead For Confirmation
“The Republican majority has cast aside Democratic wishes for openness and transparency and has made a partisan request for only a small subset of Judge Kavanaugh’s records,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday morning. “It is such a break from precedent that you have to wonder: What are the Republicans hiding about Judge Kavanaugh’s record?” But, there are signs that two moderate Republican senators who are being watched closely for their votes may back the nominee.
Trump Officials ‘Very Comfortable’ With Immigrants’ Treatment In Detention Facilities
“These individuals have access to 24/7 food and water,” said Matthew Albence, the acting No. 2 official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. “They have educational opportunities. They have recreational opportunities, both structured as well as unstructured.” Meanwhile, another official testified that he warned higher-ups about the psychological trauma the separations could have on children.
The administration released the final rule on Wednesday expanding the amount of time people can be covered under the plans. But they’re less expensive for a reason. “We make no representation that it’s equivalent coverage,” said James Parker, a senior adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Insurers and analysts are worried that the plans will attract healthier consumers away from plans that meet the guarantees of the Affordable Care Act, driving premiums up for the rest of the marketplace.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these and other health topics.
Media outlets report on news from Washington, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Iowa, California, Oregon, Missouri and Minnesota.
Palliative Sedation May Serve As Loophole For Places Where Aid-In-Dying Remains Illegal
The practice involves giving patients enough sedatives to induce unconsciousness. Often, it’s enough so that they never wake up. In other public health news: the flu, e-cigarettes, voices, gene therapy, raw centipedes, and more.
Defense Distributed is being allowed by the State Department to offer up blueprints for manufacturing a plastic gun using a 3D printer. Industry experts say it’s doubtful criminals would go to the trouble of procuring weapons that way when it’s easy to get a gun, but critics contend that it’s an imminent public health threat.
Without Opioids For Back Pain, Patients Explore Dangerous Treatment Banned In Other Countries
Pfizer, faced with hundreds of complaints related to the injections of Depo-Medrol, asked the FDA to ban its treatment five years ago, citing risk of blindness, stroke, paralysis and death. The FDA declined to issue a ban. Also on the opioid epidemic, there’s news on prescription drug monitoring and lawmakers’ objections to the federal government’s decision to withhold millions to fight the public health crisis.
The report from the Office of Inspector General at HHS raises concerns that some hospices are milking the system by skimping on services while taking in daily Medicare payments.
‘Vaginal Rejuvenation’ Treatments Are Dangerous And Deceptive, FDA Warns
“We are deeply concerned women are being harmed,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said. The laser devices used to perform the rejuvenations have been approved for some conditions such as cancer or warts. But companies are marketing them for other procedures, as well.
A study estimates that the “Medicare for All” plan, proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), would cost the government $32.6 trillion over 10 years. While some experts say that’s too high to consider, others argue that the nation’s spending would be about the same in aggregate as the current system, while covering the entire population.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) was tight-lipped after the two-hour meeting, saying he’s still undecided. But Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh did secure the vote of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), one of the few Republicans who appeared to waver over the nomination.
