Journalists Zero In on Bird Flu and Weight Loss Drugs
May 25, 2024
KFF Health News Original
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
The South Can Be a Dangerous Place To Be Black and Pregnant
By Lauren Sausser
May 24, 2024
KFF Health News Original
In much of the developed world, dying while pregnant or delivering a child is practically unknown. In Australia, for example, there were just 3 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2021. But that’s not the case in the American South. And especially not for Black women. In South Carolina, Black women were more […]
No Health Risk Found From Cloud-Brightening Climate Experiment
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
The University of Washington experiment, which sprays sea salt into the air in an effort to help cool the planet, doesn’t present a health risk. Separately, reports say that oil refineries are now pumping out less toxic benzene than they used to.
CDC Analysis Suggests Stroke Rates Are Rising Once Again
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
Stat reminds us that strokes had been seeing a “steady decline among all Americans,” as it notes new CDC data now shows that trend reversing. The WHO, meanwhile, underlines the addictive health threat from vapes.
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. This week’s selections include stories on psychiatry, pink noise, “forever chemicals,” a blood scandal, and more.
Viewpoints: Marijuana Can Reform Senior Health Care; Crisis Pregnancy Centers Should Come To An End
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
Editorial writers discuss medical marijuana, crisis pregnancy centers, reproductive rights, and more.
Lawmakers Argue Whether Farm Bill Would Slash States’ SNAP Benefits
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
As Reuters reports, the proposed legislation would not reduce current levels of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, but would freeze the list of covered products, and the values allowed to purchase them, at their present levels.
HPV Shot Linked To Reduction In Head, Neck Cancer Risk In Men
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
New research shows the benefits for men of getting an HPV vaccination, but reports ponder why so few people are actually embracing the shots. In other news, researchers find that two doses of the mpox vaccine offer almost complete protection.
Paper Charting, Hand-Delivered Orders: How Ascension Hack Disrupts Care In 19 States
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
As fallout from the cyberattack on the Ascension health system is ongoing, staff at some of the 140 affected hospitals voice concerns for patient safety. Health workers are having to take notes by hand and don’t have access to previous patient records.
FDA Advisers Recommend Approval Of Colon Cancer Blood Test
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
The FDA’s advisory panel of outside experts expressed some concerns that Guardant Health’s blood-based colon cancer screening is not as accurate as a colonoscopy but determined the benefits outweigh the risks. Approval by this group is a requirement for winning CMS coverage.
Jury Rejects Illinois Woman’s Claim That Zantac Causes Cancer
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
This case in Chicago is the first of thousands of lawsuits with essentially the same argument, Reuters reminds us. Meanwhile reports also tackle the tricky question of who, exactly, is going to get the $1.1 billion payout from the Philips sleep apnea suit?
Morning Briefing for Friday, May 24, 2024
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
Tissue donation, bird flu, abortion law, HPV shots, colon cancer screening, SNAP benefits, stroke rates, and more are in the news. Plus, weekend reads.
Florida’s Abortion Ban Drove Up Wait Times In East Coast Clinics
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
Florida’s strict abortion ban went into effect May 1. Meanwhile, reports highlight that Florida law does not define rape, which worries doctors when it comes to considering abortion ban exemptions.
Louisiana Senate Passes Bill To Ban Unprescribed Abortion Pill Possession
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, is expected to sign the measure that would classify mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances. Meanwhile, California has granted Arizona doctors emergency licenses so they may tend to Arizonans who now must travel out of state for abortion care.
Dairy Farms Are Slow To Dole Out PPE To Its Workers As Bird Flu Spreads
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
In an effort to respond to the growing bird flu threat, the USDA will provide financial support to farms so that they may launch biosecurity plans and complete other required measures.
First Edition: May 24, 2024
May 24, 2024
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations. Please note: First Edition will not be published Monday, May 27, in honor of Memorial Day. See you Tuesday!
FDA Urged To Relax Decades-Old Tissue Donation Restrictions for Gay and Bisexual Men
By Rae Ellen Bichell
May 24, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Federal regulations prevent gay and bisexual men from donating tissue, such as corneas, ligaments, and blood vessels. Similar restrictions have been relaxed or lifted for donated blood and organs in recent years.
The Case of the Armadillo: Is It Spreading Leprosy in Florida?
By Sam Ogozalek, Tampa Bay Times
May 24, 2024
KFF Health News Original
A single Central Florida county reported 13% of all U.S. leprosy cases in 2020. Researchers have teamed up to investigate whether armadillos are passing the bacteria that cause the disease to humans — which is especially concerning as the animals expand their range farther north.
Reclaman revisar viejas restricciones que previenen que hombres gay y bisexuales donen tejidos
By Rae Ellen Bichell
May 24, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Defensores piden que las pautas para los tejidos donados por hombres gays y bisexuales sean las mismas que aplican al resto del cuerpo humano.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Anti-Abortion Hard-Liners Speak Up
May 23, 2024
Podcast
While Republican candidates in many states downplay their opposition to abortion, the most vehement wing of the movement, which helped overturn Roe v. Wade — those who advocate prosecuting patients, outlawing contraception, and banning IVF — are increasingly outspoken. Meanwhile, some state legislatures continue to advance new restrictions, like a proposal moving in Louisiana to include abortion medications mifepristone and misoprostol on the list of the most dangerous drugs. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins schools of public health and nursing and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Shefali Luthra of The 19th about her new book on abortion in post-Roe America, “Undue Burden.”