Babies Dependent On Opioids Need Touch, Not Tech
One doctor in Kansas works to make sure every hospital in the state can provide the soft start, ideally with their mothers, that babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome need.
Purdue Pharma’s Sales Pitch Downplayed Risks Of Opioid Addiction
Through a widely circulated brochure and a videotape of testimonials, the maker of OxyContin stressed patients’ right to opioid treatment for pain.
Voters To Settle Dispute Over Ambulance Employee Break Times
Unlike most other workers, private-ambulance employees are frequently called away from their meals and rest breaks to respond to emergency calls, but there’s no law explicitly allowing that practice. Proposition 11 would change that, but some say its real purpose is to get California’s largest ambulance company out of costly litigation.
“Nunca se está listo para morir”: cómo eligen su último día los pacientes de muerte digna
Para Aaron McQ no fue fácil elegir su último día. Abatido por la leucemia y por una enfermedad degenerativa, el ciclista y navegante contó su viaje de la vida a la muerte por decisión propia.
Listen: The Latest On Workplace Wellness Programs
Ohio’s Republican gubernatorial candidate has proposed using a wellness program inspired by the Cleveland Clinic for the state’s Medicaid population. But these types of plans are not new — they have a list of pros and cons, as well as regulatory issues.
‘No One Is Ever Really Ready’: Aid-In-Dying Patient Chooses His Last Day
With its expansion to Hawaii this year, medical aid-in-dying is now approved in eight U.S. jurisdictions. Even when legal, the controversial practice of choosing to die after a terminal diagnosis is difficult, said one Seattle man who shared his final deliberations.
Advances In Treating Hep C Lead To New Option For Transplant Patients
The opioid epidemic has increased the number of donated organs. Until recently, though, organs from donors who died of drug overdoses were often discarded because an estimated 30 percent of them were infected with hepatitis C.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.
Clinicians Who Learn Of A Patient’s Opioid Death Modestly Cut Back On Prescriptions
A study published Thursday shows that doctors, dentists and other medical providers cut overall opioid dosages by nearly 10 percent after receiving notification of a death from a medical examiner and information on safe prescribing.
Lax Oversight Leaves Surgery Center Regulators And Patients In The Dark
A Kaiser Health News and USA Today Network investigation finds that a hodgepodge of state rules governing outpatient centers allow some deaths and serious injuries to go unexamined. And no rule stops a doctor exiled by a hospital for misconduct from opening a surgery center down the street.
GOP Congressman Chris Collins Indicted On Insider Trading Charges
The New York congressman was a major investor in an Australian biotechnology firm and prosecutors allege that he tipped off his son and others to sell stock shortly before the company reported poor results in its drug testing.
Breathing ‘A Chore’: California Wildfires Threaten The Health Of Young And Old
The state battles at least 17 large blazes, with no clear end in sight. Climate change is among the factors that fuel the fires, scientists say.
As Opioid Crisis Rages, Some Trade ‘Tough Love’ For Empathy
An approach known as Community Reinforcement and Family Training, or CRAFT, coaches families to deal with a loved one’s substance abuse with compassion.
How Genetic Tests Muddy Your Odds Of Getting A Long-Term-Care Policy
Federal law bars insurers from using these test results for health coverage, but they can influence whether you get a plan covering long-term care.
La otra crisis de Puerto Rico: más de un millón en riesgo por recortes a Medicaid
La isla, que todavía está recuperándose de las tormentas de 2017, sufrirá un nuevo revés sanitario: fuertes recortes a Medicaid pueden impactar en la atención médica de los más vulnerables.
In Weary Post-Storm Puerto Rico, Medicaid Cutbacks Bode New Ills
The island’s government must squeeze $840.2 million in annual savings from Medicaid by 2023, part of the U.S. territory’s agreement with the federal government as Puerto Rico claws its way back from fiscal oblivion. Experts warn such drastic cuts defy actuarial science.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
KHN’s newsletter editor, Brianna Labuskes, wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.
Listen: Inexpensive Nerve Drug Often Abused As Opioid Epidemic Grows
Gabapentin, a medication approved to help patients with nerve pain or epilepsy, is being abused by people addicted to opioids to help prolong their high or stave off withdrawal from other drugs. Kaiser Health News reporter Carmen Heredia Rodriguez talks about the problem during a wide-ranging health discussion on the NPR program “On Point.”
Trying To Pinpoint Hurricane’s True Toll, Researchers Say 1,139 Died In Puerto Rico
The estimate, published in the journal JAMA, dwarfs the government’s toll of 64 but is far lower than another highly touted analysis.
How Rival Opioid Makers Sought To Cash In On Alarm Over OxyContin’s Dangers
Fentanyl and other painkillers marketed as safer than Purdue Pharma’s blockbuster drug left their own trail of overdose deaths.
