Latest KFF Health News Stories
Beset By Lawsuits And Criticism In U.S., Opioid Makers Eye New Market In India
What began in India as a populist movement to bring inexpensive morphine to the diseased and dying poor has paved the way for a booming pain management industry. Now, new customers are being funneled to U.S. drugmakers bedeviled by a government crackdown back home.
In Rural Utah, Preventing Suicide Means Meeting Gun Owners Where They Are
In Utah, 85% of deaths from firearms are suicides. To help people who might be vulnerable, outreach workers are discussing suicide prevention at gun shows and firearms classes.
Mysterious Vaping Lung Injuries May Have Flown Under Regulatory Radar
Doctors who saw patients with a mysterious lung illness in the past suspected vaping as the cause but didn’t know where to report such cases.
Pharma Cash Rolls Into Congress To Defend An Embattled Industry
Congress has a variety of reforms in mind that could roil the drugmaking business and potentially slash prices.
How And When Immigrants’ Use Of Government Benefits Might Affect Their Legal Status
Confusion about a new federal rule to restrict legal immigration based on the use of public benefits may dampen sign-ups for health care, housing and food aid even among immigrants not directly targeted by the rule. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions that will help clear up some of the misunderstanding.
Judge Cites Opioid ‘Menace,’ Awards Oklahoma $572M In Landmark Case
The state judge ruled that drugmaker Johnson & Johnson contributed to the opioid epidemic that has claimed the lives of 6,000 Oklahomans.
Coming Out About Mental Health On Social Media
Talking about your mental health on social media is a thing, and it could actually help.
Why Red Wyoming Seeks The Regulatory Approach To Air Ambulance Costs
Wyoming is taking on expensive air ambulance bills by trying to expand Medicaid to cover transport for all patients. This is a big change: a red state seeking to control what’s been a growing free-market bonanza.
Doctors Fight Legislation Prompted By Sex Abuse Scandals
In response to recent high-profile sex abuse cases, some California lawmakers want doctors to give patients more information about pelvic exams, and then get a signature proving they did. Doctors in the Golden State and beyond are pushing back.
Addiction Clinics Market Pricey, Unproven Treatments To Desperate Patients
An amino acid infusion called NAD is not approved by the FDA to treat addiction. Yet patients with addiction can be desperate enough to try it, at prices as high as $15,000.
Years Ago, This Doctor Linked A Mysterious Lung Disease To Vaping
In an exclusive interview, a West Virginia physician says that back in 2015 he had a sense a patient’s illness “probably wasn’t the first case ever seen nor would it be the last.” Was it a sentinel event?
Dialysis Industry Spends Big To Protect Profits
Dialysis companies are fighting a bill in the California legislature that could disrupt their business model. Their weapons: campaign cash and a sophisticated public relations campaign.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: All About Medicare
Before “Medicare for All,” there was just Medicare, the federal program that provides insurance to 60 million Americans. This week, KHN’s Julie Rovner talks to Tricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation about how Medicare works and whom it serves. Then, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join Rovner to talk about some current Medicare issues being debated in Washington, D.C.
Feds Pave The Way To Expand Home Dialysis — But Patients Hit Roadblocks
What changes are needed to bring home dialysis to more patients — especially older adults, the fastest-growing group of patients with serious, irreversible kidney disease? We asked nephrologists, patient advocates and dialysis company officials for their thoughts.
Shopping Abroad For Cheaper Medication? Here’s What You Need To Know
Americans routinely skirt federal law by crossing into Canada and Mexico or tapping online pharmacies abroad to purchase prescription medications at a fraction of the price they would pay at home. Is it safe? Not necessarily. Here’s some advice.
Joe Camel Was Forced Out Of Ads. So Why Is Juul Allowed On TV?
For nearly 50 years, cigarette advertising has been banned from TV and radio. But the marketing of electronic cigarettes isn’t constrained by that law.
MDMA, Or Ecstasy, Shows Promise As A PTSD Treatment
MDMA, the psychoactive ingredient in the club drug known as molly or ecstasy, is being tested in combination with therapy as a treatment for severe trauma.
The Collapse Of A Hospital Empire — And Towns Left In The Wreckage
Jorge A. Perez and his management company, EmpowerHMS, helped run an empire of rural hospitals. Now, in a staggering implosion, 12 of them have entered bankruptcy and eight have closed their doors, leaving hundreds of residents without jobs and their communities without lifesaving emergency medical care. So, what happened?
A Brush With A Notorious Cat, My Rabies Education And The Big Bill That Followed
An encounter with a cat led to rabies shots and provided yet another illustration of how confusing, contrary and expensive the American health care system is.
After A Rural Hospital Closes, Delays In Emergency Care Cost Patients Dearly
The loss of the longtime hospital in Fort Scott, Kan., forces trauma patients to deal with changing services and expectations.
