Viewpoints: What’s Behind The Shortage Of ADHD Meds?; How To Combat Soaring Health Care Costs
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
Editorial writers tackle ADHD medications, rising costs of health care, the newest covid booster and more.
Lawsuit Challenges North Dakota’s Ban On Minors’ Gender Care
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
AP notes this is the latest lawsuit in many states with similar bans. Meanwhile, in Florida, the state is asking an appeals court to allow a new law preventing trans minors from accessing gender care by citing a ruling in a similar case in Alabama last month.
Philadelphia City Council Votes To Ban Most Supervised Injection Sites
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
The almost-unanimous vote on the contentious issue came, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, after a meeting that was “raucous at times.” In other news, Appalachian communities are coming together for a Narcan distribution event to help fight the overdose crisis.
Study: Legionnaires’ Disease Spread From Donor Lungs To Recipients
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
The new study notes this may be the first time transplanted organs were the likely source of infection, after the organ donor died from drowning in a river — a place where Legionella bacteria are naturally found. In other news, a pig kidney worked for a record two months in a human patient.
ER Visit Times Stretch Longer As Hospitals Face Staffing Crunch
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
Axios reports that hospitals in Washington, D.C., logged the longest median ER visit times in 2022, clocking in at 5 hours and 29 minutes. Other health care industry news is on union membership, rural nursing home staffing, out-of-network ambulance claims, and more.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Beth Israel Plan New Boston Cancer Center
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
The newly-announced plans will “reshape” oncology in the region, the Boston Globe reports. Separately, New York’s Mount Sinai Medical Center is set to close its Beth Israel campus in downtown Manhattan after what Bloomberg reports as “years” of financial losses.
Billion-Dollar Effort To Reform Mental Health Care Will Go To Calif. Voters
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
Among new bills that California lawmakers endorsed this week, a $6.4 billion bond measure to reform California’s mental health care will appear on the March 2024 ballot. Also: a possible $25 minimum wage for local health workers.
New Covid Shots Reaching Health Providers And Pharmacies; Who Will Get One?
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
Updated covid vaccines are being sent to hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies across the U.S. News outlets report on where patients can get a shot and what’s being done to reach vulnerable populations.
New Study Finds ‘Exciting’ Result In MDMA Treatment For PTSD: It’s Safe
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
Stat says the study adds to a body of evidence supporting MDMA as a treatment for PTSD. The New York Times says the psychedelic is inching toward approval. Also in the news: Magic mushrooms may soon be legal in California, and thousands have signed up for an Oregon psilocybin tea experiment.
Poisonous Yellow Oleander Found In Alternative Weight-Loss Drugs
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
Tests in a lab in Oregon showed that in nine out of 10 diet pills and health food products, what was labeled as Tejocote root was yellow oleander, which is poisonous and sometimes deadly. Some products have been withdrawn, but the FDA has warned that other, similarly-labeled ones remain on sale.
House Disarray Before Recess Ups Chances Of Disruptive Shutdown
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
The federal government will shut down if lawmakers do not reach a spending deal by Sept. 30 — an outcome that would have a big impact on health programs. Yet House members made little progress in the 3 days before their fall recess that were dominated by chaos surrounding leadership and the Biden impeachment inquiry.
Drug Companies, Walgreens Sued Over Cold Meds That Didn’t Work
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
A flurry of lawsuits were filed this week after an FDA panel concluded the ingredient phenylephrine was essentially ineffective. Meanwhile, the FDA says it will seek public opinion before deciding whether to remove the ingredient from store shelves.
Planned Parenthood To Resume Abortion Services In Wisconsin
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin plans to again offer abortions at clinics in Milwaukee and Madison by next week after a judge ruled that an 1849 law didn’t apply to abortion. The reproductive health organization is also challenging an abortion ban in South Carolina.
Morning Briefing for Friday, September 15, 2023
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
Social Security overpayments, nursing home staffing, looming shutdown, decongestant, ER wait times, opioids, and more are in the news.
First Edition: Sept. 15, 2023
September 15, 2023
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Social Security Overpays Billions to People, Many on Disability. Then It Demands the Money Back.
By David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group
September 15, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Beneficiaries in five states described what happened when they received letters calling on them to return overpayments that can reach tens of thousands of dollars or more.
A New Covid Booster Is Here. Will Those at Greatest Risk Get It?
By Amy Maxmen
September 15, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The CDC says everyone over 6 months old should get the new covid booster. But the emergency response mechanisms that supported earlier vaccine campaigns are gone. As one expert wonders: How to get boosters to people beyond Democrats, college graduates, and those with high incomes?
Rural Nursing Home Supporters Fear Proposed Staffing Standards Will Trigger More Closures
By Tony Leys
September 15, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The Biden administration says a recently proposed minimum staffing standard would help ensure quality care, but nursing home leaders predict many rural facilities would struggle to meet it.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Underinsured Is the New Uninsured
September 14, 2023
Podcast
The percentage of working-age adults with health insurance went up and the uninsured rate dropped last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. There isn’t much suspense about which way the uninsured rate is now trending, as states continue efforts to strip ineligible beneficiaries from their Medicaid rolls. But is the focus on the uninsured obscuring the struggles of the underinsured? Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KFF Health News’ Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these issues and more.
Muchos estados todavía no financian la exitosa línea 988 para crisis de salud mental
By Christina Saint Louis
September 14, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Según un análisis de KFF de datos de la línea de Prevención del Suicidio y Crisis, desde el verano pasado el 988 recibió casi 5 millones de contactos, incluyendo llamadas, textos y mensajes de chat.