Cancer Stole Her Voice. She Used AI, Curse Words, and Kids’ Books To Get It Back.
By April Dembosky, KQED
November 21, 2025
KFF Health News Original
After a total glossectomy and laryngectomy to treat her cancer, Sonya Sotinsky can no longer speak. She searched for a way to sound like herself again and now pays out-of-pocket for an artificial intelligence app that can replicate her old voice — emotion, inflection, and all.
US Cancer Registries, Constrained by Trump Policies, To Recognize Only ‘Male’ or ‘Female’ Patients
By Rachana Pradhan
November 21, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Under Trump policies, cancer registries in 2026 will have to classify sex data strictly as male, female, or unknown, a change scientists and advocates say will harm the health of one of the nation’s most marginalized populations.
What the Health? From KFF Health News: The GOP Circles the Wagons on ACA
November 20, 2025
Podcast
Republicans are solidifying their opposition to extending pandemic-era subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans and seem to be coalescing around giving money directly to consumers to spend on health care. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to leave his mark on the agency, with the CDC altering its website to suggest childhood vaccines could play a role in causing autism. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Avik Roy.
Cáncer de mama y anticonceptivos: un nuevo estudio revela cómo se puede distorsionar la ciencia
By Céline Gounder
November 20, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Mientras la desinformación sobre la salud de las mujeres se propaga más rápido que nunca, médicos dicen que una nueva investigación pone en evidencia los desafíos de comunicar con matices en la era de las redes sociales.
Research Roundup: The Latest Science, Discoveries, And Breakthroughs
November 20, 2025
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News compiles a selection of health policy studies and briefs.
Thousands Of Kids On ADHD Meds Wind Up On Other Psychotropic Drugs
November 20, 2025
Morning Briefing
The Wall Street Journal compared about 166,000 children ages 3 to 14 who started on ADHD medications in 2019 with kids who didn’t, finding the kids on meds were more than five times as likely to be on additional psychiatric medications four years later. The combined effects in young children, the Journal points out, haven’t been studied closely.
Hollywood Elite Shift Focus To Health Care As Actors Back Function Health
November 20, 2025
Morning Briefing
Matt Damon and Zac Efron are among the investors in the subscription-based health tech company, which offers customers more than 100 lab tests and alerts them to potential medical problems such as cancer, thyroid issues, or kidney disease. Other news is on a diagnostic AI startup, hospital closures, and more.
Botulism Cases Tied To Baby Formula Climb To 31 Infants Across 15 States
November 20, 2025
Morning Briefing
Investigators recently have found the recalled ByHeart product available on store shelves in Oregon, Minnesota, and Arizona. Other public health news is regarding fluoride in drinking water, ultraprocessed foods, the fiber fad, and more.
Firefighters Who Battled LA Inferno Show Concerning Health Changes
November 20, 2025
Morning Briefing
In the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study of the risks firefighters face, researchers noted that participants who responded to the Los Angeles fires had alterations in immune function, cancer risk, and DNA function. Other states in the news include North Carolina, Missouri, Texas, and Florida.
Morning Briefing for Thursday, November 20, 2025
November 20, 2025
Morning Briefing
Help us investigate medical care for gunshot wounds: KFF Health News and The Trace are talking to people who’ve been wounded or families of those killed by gun violence to better understand how insurance affects such medical care. Click here to reach our reporting team.
On Official Website, CDC Now Suggests Vaccines May Cause Autism
November 20, 2025
Morning Briefing
The change of language came Wednesday and includes a pledge to dig deeper into the causes of autism, going so far as to say, “Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.”
Senators Squabble Over ‘Health Cost Freight Train’ Racing Toward Patients
November 20, 2025
Morning Briefing
The Senate Finance Committee met Wednesday to discuss possible alternatives for Affordable Care Act subsidies, which expire at the end of the year. Republicans are calling for an overhaul of the system, but Democrats say they waited too long to initiate such reforms.
First Edition: Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025
November 20, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Waning Immunity and Falling Vaccination Rates Fuel Pertussis Outbreaks
By Céline Gounder
November 20, 2025
KFF Health News Original
New details from health officials suggest the whooping-cough surge may be part of a national pattern driven by slipping vaccine coverage and waning immunity, with infants bearing the brunt of the consequences.
Complaints About Gaps in Medicare Advantage Networks Are Common. Federal Enforcement Is Rare.
By Susan Jaffe
November 20, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Health systems drop out of Medicare Advantage plans all the time. Yet government documents obtained by KFF Health News show that federal regulators rarely warn plans that their networks of health providers are so skimpy they violate legal requirements.
Help Us Investigate Medical Care for Gunshot Wounds
November 19, 2025
KFF Health News Original
We’d like to talk to people who’ve been wounded or families of those killed by gun violence to better understand how insurance affects such medical care.
Researchers Develop New Lyme Disease Test For Faster, More Reliable Results
November 19, 2025
Morning Briefing
The molecular test can distinguish between past infections and current ongoing ones, which is important as Lyme disease grows more prevalent in the U.S. Other news follows how Novo Nordisk is using GLP-1s to possibly treat Alzheimer’s.
Strict Abortion Bill Fails To Advance Out Of South Carolina Subcommittee
November 19, 2025
Morning Briefing
Four Republicans abstained from voting, ensuring Democrats would block the measure that called for jailing people who get an abortion. Separately, ProPublica examines cases in which women died after they were unable to access standard reproductive care. Also, one woman’s harrowing delivery.
