- KFF 国产精品视频 News Original Stories 4
- Say That Again: Using Hearing Aids Can Be Frustrating for Older Adults, but Necessary
- California Lawsuit Spotlights Broad Legal Attack on Anti-Bias Training in 国产精品视频 Care
- 'An Arm and a Leg' Podcast: Wait, Is Insulin Cheaper Now?
- Listen to the Latest 'KFF 国产精品视频 News Minute'
From KFF 国产精品视频 News - Latest Stories:
KFF 国产精品视频 News Original Stories
Say That Again: Using Hearing Aids Can Be Frustrating for Older Adults, but Necessary
Hearing loss is more than a nuisance. It also raises the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, falls, depression, and social isolation. (Judith Graham, )
California Lawsuit Spotlights Broad Legal Attack on Anti-Bias Training in 国产精品视频 Care
State laws requiring doctor training on how bias affects treatment violate teachers鈥 right to free speech, opponents say. (Ronnie Cohen, )
An Arm and a Leg: 'An Arm and a Leg' Podcast: Wait, Is Insulin Cheaper Now?
Did the price of insulin go down? It鈥檚 not quite that simple. On this episode of 鈥淎n Arm and a Leg,鈥 producer Emily Pisacreta explores recent changes to the cost of the diabetes medication. (Dan Weissmann, )
Listen to the Latest 'KFF 国产精品视频 News Minute'
鈥湽肥悠 Minute鈥 brings original health care and health policy reporting from the KFF 国产精品视频 News newsroom to the airwaves each week. ( )
Here's today's health policy haiku:
WEAR A GOOD MASK AND GET VAXXED
Covid is still here 鈥
The immunocompromised
- Lynn Albizo
If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Us and let us know if we can include your name. Haikus follow the format of 5-7-5 syllables. We give extra brownie points if you link back to an original story.
Opinions expressed in haikus and cartoons are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions of KFF 国产精品视频 News or KFF.
Summaries Of The News:
Senate Democrats Plan Speedy Action In Defense Of IVF Treatments
鈥淚 warned that red states would come for IVF 鈥 and now they have,鈥 said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat. The group is pushing Republican colleagues to not block a bill that would preserve access to IVF technology. Axios also reports that President Joe Biden's next moves on IVF may be limited.
Senate Democrats on Tuesday highlighted their plan to protect IVF, warning their Republican colleagues they will need to decide by Wednesday whether to block a bill that would preserve access to assisted reproductive technologies. (Becker and Davis, 2/27)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) is sharing her fertility journey as part of a renewed push for legislation to ensure families have access to procedures like in vitro fertilization (IVF). (Shepherd, 2/27)
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) is circulating a nonbinding resolution to Democrats and Republicans expressing 鈥渟trong support for continued access to fertility care鈥 including in vitro fertilization.聽In an email sent to congressional offices, Mace鈥檚 legislative director said the resolution is being introduced聽鈥渋n light of the Alabama Supreme Court鈥檚 ruling which has jeopardized access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) for couples in the state of Alabama.鈥澛(Weixel, 2/27)
Fertility providers are talking with the Biden administration about possible steps it can take to ensure access to in vitro fertilization, while legal experts say the administration likely has some limited powers. (Goldman, 2/28)
Two-thirds of Americans oppose considering frozen embryos as people, with the issue rapidly resonating with Democrats already charged up by election-year messaging on reproductive rights, a new Axios-Ipsos poll finds. The findings suggest the Alabama Supreme Court decision on in vitro fertilization goes well beyond where public sentiment is in the post-Roe world. (Bettelheim, 2/28)
Updates from Alabama 鈥
Alabama鈥檚 GOP-controlled legislature is scrambling to strike a compromise to restore access to in vitro fertilization after a recent state Supreme Court decision declaring that frozen embryos are children forced clinics to pause operations. Under state legislation introduced Tuesday afternoon, Republican lawmakers propose giving doctors who perform in vitro fertilization immunity from civil and criminal prosecution to give clinics enough legal cover to resume providing services. The measure, however, falls short of an earlier draft of the bill that said embryos created during the IVF process that aren鈥檛 implanted in the uterus should be considered a 鈥減otential life鈥 but not 鈥渉uman life.鈥 (Messerly, 2/27)
The Biden Administration dispatched its top healthcare expert here on Tuesday to meet with fertility doctors and families undergoing in vitro fertilization, days after the Alabama Supreme Court effectively halted the treatment in the state. After meeting with affected families, federal 国产精品视频 and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra noted that the court's decision was possible only because the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe vs. Wade and permitted states to ban abortions. (Hagan and Hughes, 2/27)
Also 鈥
Florida lawmakers have paused efforts to pass a bill that would have provided protections to an "unborn child," but which some worry could expose the state's in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics to lawsuits like one that happened this month in Alabama. Florida state Senator Erin Grall said in an emailed statement on Tuesday that she had requested her bill "be temporarily postponed at this time." (Brooks, 2/27)
A proposed Missouri abortion rights ballot measure would protect access to in vitro fertilization, supporters and experts say, after an Alabama court decision declaring that frozen embryos are children has led to fears the fertility treatment could be in danger. (Shorman, Bayless and Desrochers, 2/28)
Antitrust Regulators Say PBMs Have Failed To Disclose Requested Info
An inquiry by the FTC into the role of pharmacy benefit managers on prescription drug costs has been stymied so far as the companies involved have not produced requested documents, Stat reports. In related news, advocates for PBM reform continue to push for measures that look to be dropped from the government spending package.
A much-anticipated inquiry by U.S. antitrust regulators into pharmaceutical industry middlemen has been stymied because the companies have failed to provide many of the documents that, in some cases, were requested as far back as June 2022. (Silverman, 2/27)
Advocates for tougher restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers are not giving up after Congress reportedly shelved several proposals this week, even if lawmakers see no immediate path forward. PBM legislation has broad bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Negotiations appear to have broken down, however, regarding which specific measures to include in the full-year government funding bills that must pass by March 1 and March 8. (McAuliff, 2/27)
Also 鈥
Democratic and Republican congressional leaders struck an optimistic tone that they would avert a聽government shutdown this weekend after a White House meeting in which lawmakers also stepped up pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) to allow a long-stalled vote on Ukraine aid to go forward.聽Johnson is expected to put forward legislation in coming days that would keep the government fully open, but the details remained uncertain. The Congress has until Saturday at 12:01 a.m. to fund the departments of Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Agriculture, Energy and several other agencies that have been operating on temporary extensions since Sept. 30. The funding for the rest of the federal government expires after March 8. (Wise, Hughes and Linskey, 2/27)
A federal court in Lubbock ruled Tuesday that proxy voting in Congress doesn鈥檛 count toward a quorum, weakening a law to protect pregnant workers that was passed with proxy votes. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration last year over a massive government funding package that passed largely by proxy votes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding package, passed in December 2022, included the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which protects accommodations for pregnant employees in the workplace and allows workers to sue employers for failing to do so. It prohibited employers from denying employment opportunities or forcing pregnant workers to go on leave if alternative accommodations were possible. (Choi, 2/27)
More health news from the federal government 鈥
At a time when public health guidance is increasingly politicized and divisive, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a plan to bring Americans back together. Dr. Mandy Cohen, who took the helm at the agency in July, says the key to addressing health issues is to begin with topics people agree on and build a relationship across the aisle. 鈥淭his is a journey,鈥 she said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of threats in the world, let鈥檚 start at the places where we have a lot of good agreement.鈥 (Rodriguez, 2/27)
As Michigan voters participate in the 2024 Republican primary, the spotlight falls on the contrasting stances of the leading candidates, former President Donald Trump and former Governor Nikki Haley, on the critical issue of health care. Donald Trump, whose tenure as president saw fervent attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, has recently remained relatively reticent on the topic. ... In contrast, Nikki Haley, the former Governor of South Carolina, has steadfastly opposed the Affordable Care Act. (Yurow, 2/27)
The Department of Veterans Affairs has made significant progress in providing medical treatment and services to female veterans, but shortfalls still exist, especially in mental health care, largely as a result of gender differences, according to a new report from the nonprofit group Disabled American Veterans. More than 600,000 female veterans receive health care through the VA, and the proportion of those who have a service-connected disability has risen since 2000 from 48% to 73% in 2020. Given that there are more than 2 million female veterans in the U.S., many of whom need support and qualify for VA services but aren't using their benefits, the department should do more to improve services for them, DAV analysts wrote in "Women Veterans: A Journey to Mental Wellness." (Kime and Kheel, 2/27)
国产精品视频care interests clamoring for congressional action on artificial intelligence would also like lawmakers to remember the Hippocratic oath: First, do no harm. Second, they would like a little protection. Opinions about precisely which needs legislating or protection, of course, vary greatly among interest groups, some of which have competing agendas. (McAuliff, 2/27)
United国产精品视频 Under Antitrust Investigation By DOJ: Report
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Justice Department has opened an antitrust probe into health care giant United 国产精品视频. Investigators have been questioning competitors about the the company鈥檚 doctor group acquisitions.
The Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation into United国产精品视频, owner of the biggest U.S. health insurer, a leading manager of drug benefits and a sprawling network of doctor groups. The investigators have in recent weeks been interviewing healthcare-industry representatives in sectors where United国产精品视频 competes, including doctor groups, according to people with knowledge of the meetings. (Mathews and Michaels, 2/27)
Updates on the Change 国产精品视频care cyberattack 鈥
United国产精品视频 Group, the American Hospital Association and the 国产精品视频 and Human Services Department remain focused on a cyberattack that has crippled electronic transactions between pharmacies and payers for nearly a week. The AHA continues to advise member hospitals to remain disconnected from United国产精品视频 Group division Change 国产精品视频care's systems, which were attacked last Wednesday. (Berryman, 2/27)
In other health care industry developments 鈥
Two hospitals in New York and Florida have sued one of the country鈥檚 largest providers of anesthesia services, claiming it unlawfully restricts its physicians from freely choosing where to work. Trinity 国产精品视频 affiliates St. Joseph鈥檚 Hospital 国产精品视频 Center in Syracuse and Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale sued North American Partners in Anesthesia and related business entities on Monday in federal court in New York and Florida. (Scarcella, 2/27)
ChristianaCare has teamed up with Emerus to build three micro-hospitals in Southeastern Pennsylvania, the health system announced Tuesday.聽The new facilities are slated to open in 2025, and construction is underway on one hospital聽at ChristianaCare's West Grove, Pennsylvania, location.聽Two others are set to be built in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and a spokesperson for ChristianaCare said they are aimed at filling the county's care gaps. Specific locations for those hospitals have not been chosen.聽(DeSilva, 2/27)
CareSource is looking to bring one of the last remaining Affordable Care Act cooperatives under its umbrella. The nonprofit insurer signed a letter of intent with Common Ground 国产精品视频care Cooperative, a Wisconsin-based聽individual marketplace聽and small group insurer, the companies said in a news release Tuesday.聽The Wisconsin cooperative represents one of just three still operating, according to a Georgetown University Center for 国产精品视频 Insurance Reforms report. (Tepper, 2/27)
An aging population and an increase in chronic conditions among older adults are driving partnerships between Medicare Advantage plans and at-home care companies, though it could take time to see savings from such programs. Insurers are seeking out these value-based care arrangements as the plans face rising medical care costs and a potential 0.16% rate cut in 2025 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.聽(Eastabrook, 2/27)
Some twelve percent of traditional Medicare beneficiaries have heart failure. Roughly a quarter have diabetes. There鈥檚 early evidence suggesting that both conditions 鈥 and a slew of others 鈥 could be better managed with pre-made healthy meals. So why doesn鈥檛 Medicare try out delivering food to sick seniors? (Florko, 2/28)
A growing sector of the tech industry is working to improve women's health and close the gender health care gap, as more companies run by women are creating devices specifically tailored to track women's health. Bloomer Tech, co-founded by Alicia Chong Rodriguez, has created the Bloomer Bra, an undergarment with sensors that track health information to help detect and fight heart disease in women. "We collect data to detect arrhythmia triggers. We also collect breathing patterns, temperature, posture and movement," Chong Rodriguez said. (Oliver, 2/27)
Florida Surgeon General Criticized Over Measles Outbreak Handling
Dr. Joseph Ladapo "politicizes public health and peddles risky freedom of choice rhetoric" said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat, criticizing the handling of the measles outbreak by her state's surgeon general. Meanwhile, another case was reported at a Florida elementary school.
A South Florida congresswoman is calling for the state鈥檚 controversial surgeon general to be ousted over his handling of a measles outbreak in Broward County. Dr. Joseph Ladapo, known for his outspoken skepticism toward the COVID-19 vaccine, sent a letter last week to parents at Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston where seven students have contracted measles 鈥 but refused to declare a public health emergency. A total of nine people in Broward have so far been confirmed with the highly contagious and potentially deadly virus, according to state health officials. (Albert, 2/27)
Seven measles cases have now been linked to an outbreak at Manatee Bay Elementary in Weston, Florida, the Broward County schools superintendent said Tuesday. The Florida Department of 国产精品视频 is reporting 10 cases statewide. The additional cases were reported as lawmakers and health officials from across the country are calling for parents and state officials to take additional steps to protect students. Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo wrote in a letter last week that the health department is 鈥渄eferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance鈥 during the outbreak. (Musa, 2/27)
A measles outbreak in a Florida school reveals the chilling effect of the state's turn against public health. (Rivkees, 2/27)
The Philadelphia Department of Public 国产精品视频 officially announced the end of the citywide measles聽outbreak that spiked between December 2023 and January 2024 on Tuesday.聽The outbreak impacted nine people, eight of whom -- two adults and six children -- were from Philadelphia. 国产精品视频 Department officials said six of the positive Philadelphia cases were hospitalized at one point but have since been released. (MacAulay, 2/27)
On flu and norovirus 鈥
More than a dozen children have died from the flu this season across New York and New Jersey.New York health officials say 11 children have died from the flu. Their ages have not been released.聽New Jersey reports two child influenza deaths. The victims were between the ages of 5 and 17 years old, and one had significant health conditions.聽国产精品视频 officials urge people to get their flu shots, if they haven't already. (2/27)
Norovirus, the highly contagious illness that causes vomiting and diarrhea, has surged in the Northeast region of the United States in the past few weeks, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC statistics show that food is the most common transmission vehicle for noroviruses. While surveillance data show an increase in positive test results nationwide鈥攁s is typical for norovirus during the winter months鈥攏ortheastern states have been hit especially hard, with a three-week average of 13.7 percent for positive norovirus tests. Those tests have held above a 10 percent positive rate since December 2023. (2/27)
On cholera and HIV 鈥
An unprecedented shortage of cholera vaccine has public health experts fearing that a recent surge of outbreaks across developing countries will only worsen, a situation they argue is as regrettable as it was avoidable. (Merelli, 2/27)
Gay and bisexual men are using condoms less than ever, and the decline has been particularly steep among those who are young or Hispanic, according to a new study. The worrisome trend points to an urgent need for better prevention strategies as the nation struggles to beat the H.I.V. epidemic, researchers said. Over the past decade, prevention medication known as PrEP has helped fuel a moderate drop in H.I.V. rates. And yet, despite persistent public health campaigns promoting the drugs, they have not been adopted in substantial numbers by Black and Hispanic men who are gay or bisexual. (Ryan, 2/27)
California Seized Record Fentanyl: More Than Enough To Kill Everyone On Earth
California confiscated a 62,000 pounds of fentanyl at its ports of entry in 2023 -- 鈥渆nough to potentially kill the global population nearly twice over,鈥 Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 office said Tuesday -- and up from 28,000 pounds seized the year before.
Roughly 62,000 pounds of fentanyl smuggled into California was confiscated by authorities in 2023. The total amount of the potent synthetic opioid seized last year 鈥渋s enough to potentially kill the global population nearly twice over,鈥 Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 office announced Tuesday. In 2023, the California National Guard supported other law enforcement agencies in counter-drug operations across the state, seizing a record 62,000 pounds of fentanyl at ports of entry, according to a news release from Newsom鈥檚 office. (Solis, 2/27)
In related news from California 鈥
San Francisco has collected and destroyed 140,000 pounds of unused pills and other medications聽鈥 equivalent to the weight of 10 cable cars聽鈥 as part of a program urging residents to discard unused drugs so they don鈥檛 contaminate landfills and water sources, or fall into the wrong hands, city officials said Tuesday. The drugs were collected from 2017 to 2022 under the Safe Medicine Disposal Program, which was created by a 2015 ordinance spearheaded by then-Supervisor London Breed.聽(Ho, 2/27)
国产精品视频 providers and addiction experts warn the funding structure is unstable for a California initiative that steers patients with substance use disorder into long-term treatment after they are discharged from emergency rooms, which has already led some critical employees to leave their jobs. Supporters of CA Bridge鈥檚 behavioral health navigator program, which started in 2022, say its reliance on one-time money makes it hard for hospitals to retain navigators amid a growing drug crisis. (S谩nchez, 2/27)
Also 鈥
Even with teen opioid overdose deaths soaring, a new study finds most pediatricians aren't prepared to treat young patients struggling with addiction. The nationwide survey was conducted by researchers at Mass General for Children and Yale School of Medicine. Of those pediatricians surveyed, 48% said they felt prepared to counsel teen patients struggling with opioid use. That's despite the fact nearly all of those surveyed believe it's their responsibility to do so. And, even though 24% said they'd diagnosed Opioid Use Disorder in a young patient, just 5% said they had prescribed any medication considered the standard of care for the disorder. (Brown, 2/27)
A new mobile harm reduction service is bringing overdose prevention to the streets of Arapahoe County to help people who use opioids and other drugs. The Arapahoe County Public 国产精品视频 department says it鈥檚 using an equity-focused approach on its new harm reduction van to help reduce the toll of the opioid epidemic on the community. (Flowers, 2/28)
One by one, the companies behind Zoloft, Prozac, and Paxil soured on psychiatry. It was the early 2000s, and as America warmed to the sounds of Sisq贸 and Shakira, the world鈥檚 largest pharmaceutical firms were running out of ideas to treat mental illness. Their blockbuster treatments for depression and schizophrenia had reshaped society and made billions of dollars in the process, but the old cash cows were soon to go generic. (Garde, 2/28)
Indiana Ban On Gender Care For Trans Minors Can Take Effect: Ruling
A federal appeals court ruled that Indiana can indeed block young transgender people from accessing hormone and puberty blocker treatments, which form part of gender care, undoing a lower court decision that had blocked the law. Also in the news: pain and suffering jury award caps.
Indiana鈥檚 ban on hormone treatments and puberty blockers for transgender minors can go into effect, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday, undoing a lower court decision last year that had largely blocked the law. The three-paragraph ruling by a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, based in Chicago, said it was staying a preliminary injunction that the district court had issued in June, just before the law was scheduled to take effect last summer. (Smith, 2/27)
Some people opposed to removing caps on pain and suffering damages are speaking with CBS News Colorado following this story聽showing why some Colorado attorneys feel the removal is necessary to ensure people who suffer life-altering injuries receive the money they deserve. ... Some Colorado doctors worry removing those caps could make it hard for small business owners to stay afloat, and could end up passing higher costs on to consumers, because doctors' insurance premiums would increase.聽(Weis, 2/27)
Lawmakers are poised to make it easier and cheaper for Florida residents to undergo potentially lifesaving skin cancer screenings by ensuring that all costs are covered by health insurance. (Friedman, 2/27)
The phones at many dental offices across North Carolina have been ringing repeatedly in recent months with requests for oral health care from newly enrolled Medicaid recipients. The state鈥檚 expansion of Medicaid benefits to nearly 600,000 low-income residents on Dec. 1 opened a robust array of services such as dental exams, routine cleanings and more complicated care for many people who previously had little access to a dentist because of the cost. (Blythe, 2/28)
KFF 国产精品视频 News:
California Lawsuit Spotlights Broad Legal Attack On Anti-Bias Training In 国产精品视频 Care聽
Los Angeles anesthesiologist Marilyn Singleton was outraged about a California requirement that every continuing medical education course include training in implicit bias 鈥 the ways in which physicians鈥 unconscious attitudes might contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Singleton, who is Black and has practiced for 50 years, sees calling doctors out for implicit bias as divisive, and argues the state cannot legally require her to teach the idea in her continuing education classes. She has sued the Medical Board of California, asserting a constitutional right not to teach something she doesn鈥檛 believe. (Cohen, 2/28)
Florida lawmakers in Tallahassee are considering major changes to the state's Purple Alerts used to help find missing adults who suffer from an intellectual or developmental disability. The bills, sponsored by Democrats, would limit the number of statewide alerts in favor of local, countywide notifications where someone may have vanished. (Teitel, 2/27)
When Lilly Miller was in elementary school, teachers told her parents they needed to immediately sign up their youngest daughter, who has Down syndrome, for a wait list so the state would pay for a day program when she grew up. The teachers predicted a six-year wait. The Millers have been waiting 10 years. Lilly is now 21 and has aged out of special education programs in the public schools in their hometown of Wichita, Kansas. Her parents, also teachers, have hired a home caregiver. A day program, where she would learn new job skills or flex existing ones while socializing, would cost between $1,500 and $2,000 a month, Marvin Miller said. (Hanna, 2/28)
Stroke, Heart Attack Risks Rise For Any Marijuana Use: Study
Consuming marijuana via smoking, vaping, or edibles was linked to higher risks even if the person had no previous conditions and didn't use tobacco, a new study found. Meanwhile, the FDA may roll out a new "healthy" logo to promote food products that really are healthy.
Smoking, vaping or eating marijuana is linked to a significantly higher risk of heart attack and stroke, even if a person had no existing heart conditions and did not smoke or vape tobacco, a new study found. (LaMotte, 2/28)
The Food and Drug Administration could roll out a new logo as soon as this year for companies to stamp on the packaging of "healthy" foods they make, aimed at clearing up confusion on what products actually should count as good for you. The new symbol will follow a long-awaited update to the FDA's definition, due to be published this April, of what foods can claim to be healthy to eat under federal rules. It comes as the agency is also working on another major new rule: front-of-package nutrition facts. (Tin, 2/27)
Old accumulations of the toxic metal in the deep sea are circulating into shallower waters where the fish feed, new research found. (Tabuchi, 2/27)
Samantha Peterson sat in a reclining chair with a headset stretched across her face. Colorful lights danced over her eyes as she peered around the room. Through the glasses, a holographic garden bloomed. Meanwhile, a narrow tube protruded from her forearm into a blood bag dangling below. She was the latest donor to try mixed reality technology at a blood drive at the Field Museum on Tuesday. (Armanini, 2/27)聽
A vitamin-sized diagnostic could be the future of esophageal cancer prevention. Cancer of the esophagus 鈥 the muscular tube that moves food from the mouth into the stomach 鈥 has just a 20% five-year survival rate. Yet there are no standard or routine screening tests for the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Lucid Diagnostics, a New York-based biotech company, is looking to change that with its newly developed test, which only requires taking a single, pill-sized diagnostic. (Rudy, 2/27)
Recent tracking rule changes led to a significant increase in reported Lyme disease cases in the U.S. The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated definitions to better understand the tick-borne disease. In 2022, reported cases rose by 68.5% after the new definition went into effect. (Balzer, 2/28)
KFF 国产精品视频 News:
Say That Again: Using Hearing Aids Can Be Frustrating For Older Adults, But Necessary聽
It was an every-other-day routine, full of frustration. Every time my husband called his father, who was 94 when he died in 2022, he鈥檇 wait for his dad to find his hearing aids and put them in before they started talking. Even then, my father-in-law could barely hear what my husband was saying. 鈥淲hat?鈥 he鈥檇 ask over and over. (Graham, 2/28)
KFF 国产精品视频 News:
Listen To The Latest 'KFF 国产精品视频 News Minute'聽
This week on the KFF 国产精品视频 News Minute: Pain specialists say injections for kids don鈥檛 have to hurt so much, and states overwhelmed by the housing crisis are using Medicaid funds to curb homelessness. (2/27)
Analysts: Weight Loss Drugs Could Lift US Economy By A Trillion Dollars
Goldman Sachs analysts suggested in a report that because poor health hurts the economy, better health outcomes thanks to drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic could thus boost economic output. Separately, a new study shows Americans are doubtful the drugs can fix the obesity epidemic.
The US economy is set to reap considerable benefits from Americans taking popular medications used for weight loss, including Ozempic and Wegovy, Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a recent research report. (Mena, 2/27)
Most Americans who've heard of Ozempic and other new GLP-1 drugs think they can help people with severe weight problems, a new Pew Research Center survey finds. The public recognizes the injectable treatments' potential to help on the individual level, but they're less convinced that drugs being touted as a major breakthrough 鈥 and already upending markets 鈥 will put a major dent in America's obesity problem. (Millman, 2/27)
An obesity medication from Viking Therapeutics succeeded in a Phase 2 clinical study, the company said Tuesday, helping patients lose up to nearly 15% of their weight over about three months and further fueling the competition in the exploding obesity drug market. (Joseph, 2/27)
In other pharmaceutical news 鈥
The FDA is recalling additional saline and sterile water products made by Nurse Assist after receiving reports of adverse events. On Nov. 6, Nurse Assist, a Texas manufacturer of water-based medical products, voluntarily recalled some products that were found to not be sterile. At the time, no adverse events were associated with the affected products. However, a Feb. 13 FDA update said the agency has received reports of adverse events associated with Nurse Assist products. The events are under investigation and no details were provided.聽(Taylor, 2/27)
The U.S. health regulator on Tuesday warned patients and healthcare providers about the potential risk of serious complications arising from the use of Hologic's devices that are implanted in soft tissue. The company's devices, BioZorb Marker and BioZorb LP Marker, are implanted in soft tissue, including breast tissue, where the site needs to be marked for future procedures, such as radiation for breast cancer treatment. (2/27)
KFF 国产精品视频 News:
KFF 国产精品视频 News' 'An Arm And A Leg': Wait, Is Insulin Cheaper Now?聽
Pharmaceutical companies that manufacture insulin made headlines last year when they voluntarily agreed to provide discount cards that lower the monthly cost of insulin for many people to $35.聽But getting your hands on this card 鈥 and persuading a pharmacist to accept it 鈥 can be a hassle. (2/28)
On pesticides and PFAS 鈥
Bayer AG (BAYGn.DE), opens new tab has asked the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider, for the second time, a three-judge panel's ruling that it must face a lawsuit by a Georgia doctor who says the company's Roundup weedkiller gave him cancer. The petition for en banc rehearing, filed Monday, is the latest effort by the German conglomerate to shield itself from Roundup-related lawsuits by invoking the legal doctrine of preemption, in which federal law overrides, or preempts, state law. (Pierson, 2/27)
The United States government has asked a federal judge to dismiss more than two dozen lawsuits filed against it for allegedly contaminating water and soil at hundreds of sites near military bases and facilities across the country with toxic 鈥渇orever chemicals. 鈥漈he U.S. told a federal judge in Charleston, South Carolina, late Monday that it is immune to the lawsuits filed by state and local governments, businesses and property owners who say the U.S. military is liable for property and environmental damage caused by its use of firefighting foams containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. (Mindock, 2/27)
Family Applied For Exemption, But Insulin Pump Came With Huge Bill
Read recent pharmaceutical developments in KFF 国产精品视频 News' Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
The Enquirer is investigating readers鈥 medical bills. For our first story, we talked to Ashley Hack, the mom of a 12-year-old with Type 1 diabetes.聽(Kim, 2/27)
CARB-X, the Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, announced it's giving $2.2 million to LimmaTech Biologics AG, a Swiss biotech firm, to fund the development of its novel vaccine candidate targeted to prevent Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections. (Soucheray, 2/27)
Manufacturing issues have led the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reject a New Drug Application (NDA) for cefepime-taniborbactam, a combination antibiotic under review as a potential treatment for urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria. (Dall, 2/27)
A global problem In what has been called an overlooked pandemic, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global problem that affects all walks of life. In 2019, an estimated 1.3 million deaths around the globe could be attributed to AMR. (University of California - Santa Barbara, 2/21)
At its meetings last week the European Medicines Agency human medicines committee recommended approval for two human H5N1 avian flu vaccines, one called Celldemic and the other Incellipan. Both are inactivated adjuvanted cell-based vaccines manufactured by Seqirus. (Schnirring, 2/26)
In this trial, we assessed whether omalizumab, a monoclonal anti-IgE antibody, would be effective and safe as monotherapy in patients with multiple food allergies. (Wood, M.D., et al, 2/25)
Read recent commentaries about pharmaceutical issues.
As a pediatric rheumatologist, I care for children with rare forms of chronic illness for which we now have highly effective therapies. But too often, my patients can鈥檛 access these effective therapies because insurers put up many barriers to coverage. (Dori Abel, 2/28)
Disparities in PrEP uptake affecting Black cisgender women arise from a lack of both targeted media outreach and interventions for this population.2,4 Hair stylists have long been established as effective leaders in health promotion activities, especially in the Black community.5 Therefore, we codesigned a mixed-methods study using a community-partnership approach involving Black women, hair stylists, and an established community advisory council to develop and pilot a salon-based intervention, UPDOs Protective Styles (Using PrEP and Doing It for Ourselves). (Schenita D. Randolph, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N., F.A.A.N., and Ragan Johnson, D.N.P., F.N.P.-B.C., C.N.E., 2/24)
Editorial writers tackle cannabis, measles, heart disease, and more.
The evidence is mounting that your daily toke can be bad for your heart. A large new study in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that the more often someone partakes in cannabis, the higher their risk of heart disease, heart attack or stroke. Daily users had a 25% higher chance of having a heart attack and 42% higher odds of a stroke than non-users. (Lisa Jarvis, 2/28)
As life-saving as the COVID-19 vaccines have been, the measles vaccine has been an even greater success story. Before the vaccine was developed in 1963, outbreaks that occurred every two to three years were killing 2.6 million people worldwide a year, most of them children. Others developed pneumonia, or suffered brain injury and deafness from measles-associated encephalitis. (2/28)
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 5 deaths is attributed to the condition. (Leana S. Wen, 2/27)
We are two moms whose only sons, Miguel Carrasquillo and Andrew Flack, lived in Illinois and died young from cancer. Our boys, both in their 30s, made emotional videos pleading to die peacefully from aggressive cancers. As similar as our two stories are, our sons experienced very different deaths. (Nilsa Centeno and Suzy Flack, 2/28)
In 2023, enrollment in Medicare Advantage, the version of Medicare run by private insurers, surpassed 50% of eligible beneficiaries for the very first time. Going by this headline, or perhaps the predictable flood of advertisements for plans during the fall鈥檚 open enrollment period, you might be fooled into thinking 2023 was MA鈥檚 best year yet. In fact, the opposite is true. (Wendell Potter and Philip Verhoef, 2/28)
Sewage overflows in restrooms, methane gas leaks, mold, brown tap water, extreme temperatures, bedbugs, rodents and cockroaches. These are just some of the conditions that our servicemembers have been subjected to in their barracks.聽(Rep. Mike Rogers, Rep. Mike Waltz, Rep. Jim Banks and Rep. Don Bacon, 2/27)