KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Roe v. Wade’s (Possibly Last) Anniversary
January 20, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Jan. 22 marks the 49th — and very likely last — anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark abortion decision, Roe v. Wade. The court’s conservative supermajority seems poised to overturn later this year the ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. Also this week, the Biden administration turns 1, with much of its domestic and health agenda yet unrealized. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of the 19th, and Kimberly Leonard of Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, about what a post-Roe world might look like.
‘True Cost of Aging’ Index Shows Many Seniors Can’t Afford Basic Necessities
By Judith Graham
July 25, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The Elder Index, developed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, shows that nearly 5 million older women living alone, 2 million older men living alone, and more than 2 million older couples have incomes that make them economically insecure.
High-Tech’s Business Model Hasn’t Worked for the Cue Covid Test
By Eric Taub
May 20, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Cue got attention with a Super Bowl ad for a stylish high-tech covid-testing machine to use at home. But the product is expensive, which has limited the San Diego company’s market.
$38,398 for a Single Shot of a Very Old Cancer Drug
By Arthur Allen
October 26, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Lupron, a drug patented half a century ago, treats advanced prostate cancer. It’s sold to physicians for $260 in the U.K. and administered at no charge. Why are U.S. hospitals — which may pay nearly as little for the drug — charging so much more to administer it?
Rural Americans Have Difficulty Accessing a Promising Cancer Treatment
By Debby Waldman
August 25, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy has eliminated tumors in some late-stage cancer patients, but the cost and complexity of care mean rural Americans have trouble accessing the treatment.
When Mental Illness Leads to Dropped Charges, Patients Often Go Without Stabilizing Care
By Katheryn Houghton
August 4, 2022
KFF Health News Original
When criminal suspects are deemed too mentally ill to go through the court process and their charges are dropped, they can be left without stabilizing treatment — and sometimes end up being charged with additional crimes.
An Arm and a Leg: Revisiting ‘Christmas In July’
By Dan Weissmann
December 23, 2024
Podcast
From the archives of “An Arm and a Leg”: a family tragedy, a 40-year tradition, and a million dollars in medical debt erased.
‘MAHA’ Update: FDA Dumps 8 Food Dyes; CDC Rethinks Kids’ Covid Vax
April 23, 2025
Morning Briefing
The additives that will be phased out — but not outright banned — are Blue 1 and 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6, Orange B, and Citrus Red 2. In other “Make America Healthy Again” news: The CDC might pull the covid vaccine off its list of recommended vaccines for kids, and the NIH says it won’t have answers about the cause of autism until next year.
Silence in Sikeston: Is There a Cure for Racism?
By Cara Anthony
October 8, 2024
Podcast
In the finale of “Silence in Sikeston,” Black residents organize a Juneteenth barbecue. The Department of Public Safety chief encourages officers to attend to build trust. But improving relations between Sikeston’s Black community and the police won’t be easy. Host Cara Anthony discusses the possibility of institutional change in Sikeston.
Silence in Sikeston: Trauma Lives in the Body
By Cara Anthony
October 1, 2024
Podcast
Denzel Taylor, a young Black father, moved from Chicago to Sikeston, Missouri, for a fresh start in life. There, he proposed to his girlfriend, started a family, and then, in April 2020, was fatally shot by police officers. Taylor had two young daughters and another on the way when he was killed. Pediatrician Rhea Boyd talks about how children process such loss.
CDC Warns Of Surging Fifth Disease
August 14, 2024
Morning Briefing
CNN notes that the proportion of people with recent parvovirus B19 infections climbed to 10% in June, and children ages 5 to 9 had the highest increase. Meanwhile, federal officials concerned about rising H5N1 have been testing retail dairy products and haven’t found live avian flu virus in any samples.
As Red States Push Strident Abortion Bans, Other Restrictions Suddenly Look Less Extreme
By Julie Rovner
March 30, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority has yet to make clear its stand on Roe v. Wade. But state lawmakers aren’t waiting to consider a variety of extreme measures: bills that would ban abortions in cases of ectopic pregnancies, allow rapists’ families to object to terminating a victim’s pregnancy, or prohibit the procedure in the case of fetal disability. Do these proposals make the less extreme restrictions seem more mainstream?
Readers and Tweeters Place Value on Community Services and Life-Sustaining Care
August 19, 2022
KFF Health News Original
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Big Pharma Went All In to Kill Drug Pricing Negotiations
By Arthur Allen
August 12, 2022
KFF Health News Original
For more than a century, the drug industry has issued dire warnings of plunging innovation whenever regulation reared its head. In general, the threat hasn’t materialized.
Texas Abortion Law Gets Speedy High-Court Hearing Monday
By Julie Rovner
October 29, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The Supreme Court justices, who accepted the case only 10 days before the arguments will be made, may skirt the issue of abortion and concentrate instead on the legality of the law’s unusual tack to let private citizens enforce it.
Majority Of $1.25B Mallinckrodt Opioid Payout At Risk In Bankruptcy Plan
August 24, 2023
Morning Briefing
The company has reached a plan for bankruptcy for the second time in three years, The New York Times says. The plan would cancel the majority of the previous settlement plan in return for a final payout of just $250 million. Also in the news: AI takes a role in tackling opioid addiction.
Global Vaccine Program COVAX Will End Dec. 31; Gave Out Nearly 2B Doses
December 20, 2023
Morning Briefing
The program is estimated to have averted at least 2.7 million deaths, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. In other covid news, subvariant JN.1 is on the move, and fast.
American Red Cross Warns Of Emergency Blood Supply Shortage
January 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
The American Red Cross said it was experiencing the lowest number of blood donors in 20 years, with hospitals demanding blood products faster than the organization can replenish supplies. Also in the news: Bayer to expand in U.S., despite blood thinner fails; the “better” ApoB cholesterol test; and more.
Change to Gilead Assistance Program Threatens PrEP Access, HIV Advocates Say
By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez
June 10, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Safety-net clinics especially are bracing for how the drugmaker’s policy shift could reduce their budgets and hamstring their ability to provide care to an at-risk population.
Nurse Convicted of Neglect and Negligent Homicide for Fatal Drug Error
By Brett Kelman
March 25, 2022
KFF Health News Original
RaDonda Vaught, a former nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, could spend years in prison after being convicted of two felonies in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday.
