Morning Breakouts

Latest KFF Health News Stories

As Federal Court Action Looms, Sebelius Says Plan B ‘Not About Politics’

Morning Briefing

A federal judge in Brooklyn will hear arguments Tuesday afternoon on the constitutionality of the federal decision regarding the access teenage girls should have to morning-after contraceptive pills. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the decision about Plan B’s over-the-counter status was not a political one.

Donors Must Continue Funding R&D To Bring New Global Health Technologies To Patients

Morning Briefing

In this post in the Hill’s “Congress Blog,” Kaitlin Christenson, the coalition director of the Global Health Technologies Coalition; Jim Connolly, president and CEO of Aeras; and Mel Spigelman, president and CEO of the TB Alliance, respond to a recently released G-FINDER report that shows “overall global investment in the research and development (R&D) of [new global health technologies] has declined for the first time since 2007, when the tracking of such funding began,” writing, “This decline is especially troubling given that there are more than 100 products in [the Product Development Partnerships’ (PDPs)] pipelines.”

Nighttime Satellite Images Could Provide Clues To Disease Outbreaks, Researchers Suggest

Morning Briefing

“The intensity of light shining from cities at night could help identify hot spots where outbreaks of infectious disease are likely to take place,” PBS NewsHour’s “The Rundown” reports, adding, “A team of researchers tracked satellite images of three cities in Niger and found that fluctuations in nighttime brightness were strongly correlated to measles incidence, according to results published in this week’s Science.” According to the blog, “The same tracking of nighttime light could be used for other diseases as well, the team wrote, and could help public health officials plan for emerging epidemics and predict outbreaks.”

Health Policy Issues Draw Headlines For Romney And Gingrich

Morning Briefing

News outlets fact check the policy question behind GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s $10,000 bet. Meanwhile, other stories focus on Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich’s support for the Medicare Part D drug program.

Medicaid Prompt-Pay Bill Introduced; Grassley Asks CMS About Hedge Funds

Morning Briefing

Modern Healthcare reports that Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., have introduced legislation to require Medicaid to pay its bills promptly. Also in the news, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Monday that he believes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services may have given special treatment to information requests from hedge funds and political intelligence brokers.

Central African Republic In State Of ‘Chronic Medical Emergency,’ MSF Report Says

Morning Briefing

“The Central African Republic (CAR) is in the grips of a chronic medical emergency, according to a report released today by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF),” an MSF press release states. “Four mortality studies carried out by MSF over the past 18 months reveal crude mortality rates in some regions of CAR at three times the emergency threshold of one death per 10,000 people per day, which, according to the World Health Organization, is considered a humanitarian crisis,” the press release adds (12/13).

People In Swaziland Protesting Shortages Of ARVs Amid Government Financial Crisis

Morning Briefing

In Swaziland, where a “deepening financial crisis is taking a toll on service delivery, and the country is experiencing an unprecedented number of protests over issues such as school closures and a lack of HIV treatment,” “[a] new wave of HIV activism is rising … as people living with HIV take to the streets in protest, many for the first time in their lives, over continued shortages of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment,” PlusNews reports.

Unexplained Kidney Disease Affecting Rural Workers Across Central America, PRI’s ‘The World’ Reports

Morning Briefing

PRI’s “The World” reports on an epidemic of an unexplained kidney disease that is affecting rural workers across Central America, writing, “[I]t’s the second biggest cause of death among men in El Salvador, and in Nicaragua it’s a bigger killer of men than HIV and diabetes combined,” and “the latest theory is that the victims are literally working themselves to death.” According to the news service, “El Salvador’s health minister recently called on the international community for help,” stating that “the epidemic is ‘wasting away our populations.'”

Early Warning Systems Helping Aid Agencies Respond To Potential ‘Food Crisis’ In Sahel Region

Morning Briefing

Africa’s Sahel region is facing a potential “food crisis,” “[b]ut the good news is that the world’s Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) is giving West African countries and donor nations a period of time to prepare, says the aid group Oxfam,” the Christian Science Monitor reports. “Early reports suggest that as many as six million people in Niger and 2.9 million people in Mali live in vulnerable areas, where low rainfall, falling groundwater levels, poor harvests, lack of pastureland, rising food prices, and a drop in remittances from family members living abroad are starting to take their toll,” according to the newspaper.