Pharmaceuticals

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Feds Look to Pharmacists to Boost Childhood Immunization Rates

KFF Health News Original

Fears over COVID-19 have contributed to a slump in inoculations among children. Now the federal government is looking to pharmacists for help, but many of them do not participate in a program that offers free shots to half the kids in the U.S.

How COVID-19 Highlights the Uncertainty of Medical Testing

KFF Health News Original

Widespread COVID testing has revealed uncomfortable truths about medical tests: A test result is rarely a definitive answer, but instead a single clue. A result may be falsely positive or negative, or it may show an abnormality that doesn’t matter. And as COVID testing has made too clear, even an accurate, meaningful result is useless unless it’s acted on appropriately.

New Legal Push Aims to Speed Magic Mushrooms to Dying Patients

KFF Health News Original

A proposal in Washington state would use right-to-try laws to allow terminally ill patients access to psilocybin — the famed magic mushrooms of America’s psychedelic ’60s — to ease depression and anxiety.

Surprise Federal Drug Rule Directs Insurers to Reveal What They Pay for Prescription Drugs

KFF Health News Original

A provision the Trump administration tucked into its final rule on health plan price transparency requires telling consumers what they will pay out-of-pocket for drugs and showing them what the plan paid.

Search for a Snakebite Drug Might Lead to a COVID Treatment, Too

KFF Health News Original

Human clinical trials are scheduled for a drug that could prevent some of the 100,000-plus deaths from snakebites worldwide each year. The same drug may also help people suffering from COVID-related acute respiratory distress.

VA Joins Pentagon in Recruiting Volunteers for COVID Vaccine Trials

KFF Health News Original

The Department of Veterans Affairs hopes to enroll 8,000 people in advanced-stage trials of four leading vaccine candidates. The Defense Department earlier announced plans to enlist 3,000 volunteers in trials.

A $200 Debit Card Won’t Do Much for Seniors’ Drug Costs

KFF Health News Original

President Donald Trump wants to send seniors $200 apiece. Beyond the legal and logistical problems, health care experts point out it does little to help someone with even typical prescription costs.

Scientists Warn Americans Are Expecting Too Much From a Vaccine

KFF Health News Original

Some argue that vaccines capable of preventing any COVID-19 symptoms should qualify for widespread use, but others want much larger trials to prove the vaccines can reduce hospitalizations or deaths.