Recortes federales pueden afectar a programas en hospitales de prevención de la violencia con armas de fuego
By Stephanie Wolf
March 13, 2025
KFF Health News Original
El objetivo de estos programas es identificar los factores sociales y económicos que contribuyeron a que una persona terminara en una sala de emergencias.
Abortion Reporting Requirements Are Now Too Risky, Advocacy Group Says
March 12, 2025
Morning Briefing
Guttmacher data scientist Isaac Maddow-Zimet worries some of the information could be used to identify patients, AP reports. In other news, an Idaho health system is fighting the state’s abortion ban; a Louisiana mother in a cross-state abortion pill case pleads not guilty; and more.
Morning Briefing for Wednesday, March 12, 2025
March 12, 2025
Morning Briefing
We’d like to speak with personnel from the Department of Health and Human Services or its component agencies about what’s happening within the federal health bureaucracy. Please message us on Signal at (415) 519-8778 or get in touch here.
House Funding Bill Preserves Hospital Provisions, Omits Physician Pay Terms
March 12, 2025
Morning Briefing
The narrowly passed funding bill, which still must win Senate approval to avoid a government shutdown, extends certain programs through September. Separately, a bipartisan bill to expand fentanyl testing has been reintroduced in the Senate.
Gilead’s HIV Drug Prevents Infection With One Shot A Year Instead Of Two
March 12, 2025
Morning Briefing
The company is planning a Phase 3 trial for the new formulation of lenacapavir, Stat reports. Other pharma and technology news is on microplastics and the spread of antibiotic-resistant superbugs; a successful artificial titanium heart trial; AI in hospitals; and more.
Gender Dysphoria Lawsuit Could Raze Protections For Those With Disabilities
March 12, 2025
Morning Briefing
As The Washington Post notes, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits any entity receiving federal funds from discriminating against people with disabilities. Section 504 also says gender dysphoria may sometimes be considered a disability. Seventeen states are suing to overturn it.
Texas-New Mexico Measles Outbreak Has Likely Spread To Oklahoma
March 12, 2025
Morning Briefing
Two people from the Sooner State were reportedly exposed to the virus and followed safety measures to stop the spread. Meanwhile, as cases swell to 223 in Texas and 33 in New Mexico, health officials in California are warning about an exposure risk after a Los Angeles County resident tested positive.
EPA To Shutter Environmental Justice Offices, A Blow For Minorities’ Health
March 12, 2025
Morning Briefing
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the plan in a memo. The work slated for elimination had aimed to ease the pollution that affects poor and minority communities. Also: older Black people in America die at higher rates; the Education Department slashes half its staff; and more.
RFK Jr. Wants Artificial Food Dyes Removed From Foods Quickly
March 12, 2025
Morning Briefing
HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. reportedly wants them gone before he leaves office. In related news, The Wall Street Journal reported that Kennedy also told the FDA to consider changes to a rule governing food additives deemed “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS.
First Edition: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
March 12, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
An Arm and a Leg: Medical-Debt Watchdog Gets Sidelined by the New Administration
By Dan Weissmann
March 12, 2025
Podcast
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is offline — for now. Here’s what that could mean for people with medical debt.
Sent Home To Heal, Patients Avoid Wait for Rehab Home Beds
By Felice J. Freyer
Updated March 12, 2025
Originally Published March 12, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Many patients ready to leave the hospital end up lingering for days or weeks — occupying beds that others need and driving up costs — because of a lack of open spots at nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. A few health systems are addressing this problem by moving post-acute rehab into the home.
Some CT Scans Deliver Too Much Radiation, Researchers Say. Regulators Want To Know More.
By Joanne Kenen
March 12, 2025
KFF Health News Original
Unnecessarily high radiation doses in scans have been linked to cancers. Under new federal rules, doctors and imaging centers have to more closely track and report the doses of radiation that patients receive.
As World Mostly Moves On From Covid, NJ Family Copes With Profound Loss
March 11, 2025
Morning Briefing
Five members of the Fusco family died after gathering for dinner in the early days of the pandemic. Now, five years after covid was declared a global pandemic, their relatives — and millions of other families who lost loved ones to covid — are still reckoning with grief.
Scientists Correct Disease-Causing DNA Mutation Using Targeted Gene Therapy
March 11, 2025
Morning Briefing
In a small study, the errant gene was targeted by a single infusion, which returned the mutated gene to normal. Other science news is on double neural bypass to restore feeling to people with paralysis; hormone replacement therapy on the rise thanks to weight loss drugs; and more.
Colorado Christian Therapist Takes Conversion Therapy Ban To High Court
March 11, 2025
Morning Briefing
Most mental health care providers say conversion therapy is harmful, and more than 20 states have implemented a ban, according to The Washington Post. In other news, HHS opens investigations on four medical schools; a study on menstruation loses it funding after being mis-defined as transgender; and more.
Key West Hospital Searches For New Company To Run It Starting In 2029
March 11, 2025
Morning Briefing
Three hospital operators are vying to take over the Lower Keys Medical Center lease in Florida. Other news from around the nation is on Medicaid in New York, sperm donors in Colorado, midwives in Maine, maternal deaths in Texas, and prison health care costs in North Carolina.
