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Nationwide IV fluid shortage could change how hospitals manage patient hydration
By Jackie Fortiér Hospitals around the country are conserving critical intravenous fluid supplies to cope with a shortage that may last months. Some hospital administrators say they are changing how they think about IV fluid hydration altogether. Hurricane Helene, which hit North Carolina in September and ravaged parts of Southwest Virginia, wrecked a Baxter International facility […]
Does fluoride cause cancer, IQ loss, and more? Fact-checking Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claims
By KFF Health News/Samantha Putterman, PolitiFact President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration could try to remove fluoride from drinking water, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy, who was tapped last week by Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, called fluoride an “industrial waste” and linked it to cancer and other diseases […]
Disability rights advocates say adult changing tables prevent humiliating bathroom situations
By Tony Leys/KFF Health News ADAIR, Iowa — The blue-and-white highway sign for the eastbound rest stop near here displays more than the standard icon of a person in a wheelchair, indicating facilities are accessible to people who can’t walk. The sign also shows a person standing behind a horizontal rectangle, preparing to perform a […]
Decades of national suicide prevention policies haven’t slowed the deaths
If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.” By Cheryl Platzman Weinstock When Pooja Mehta’s younger brother, Raj, died by suicide at 19 in March 2020, she felt “blindsided.” Raj’s last text message was to his college lab […]
Millions are trying FDA-authorized alternatives to Big Pharma’s weight loss drugs
By Arthur Allen Pharmacist Mark Mikhael has lost 50 pounds over the past 12 months. He no longer has diabetes and finds himself “at my ideal body weight,” with his cholesterol below 200 for the first time in 20 years. “I feel fantastic,” he said. Like millions of others, Mikhael credits the new class of […]
The Supreme Court just limited federal power. Health care Is feeling the shockwaves.
By Stephanie Armour A landmark Supreme Court decision that reins in federal agencies’ authority is expected to hold dramatic consequences for the nation’s health care system, calling into question government rules on anything from consumer protections for patients to drug safety to nursing home care. The June 28 decision overturns a 1984 precedent that said […]
US surgeon general declares gun violence ‘a public health crisis’
By Rachana Pradhan and Fred Clasen-Kelly U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared firearm violence a public health crisis, as gun deaths and injuries punctuate daily life in America. On nearly every day of 2024 so far, a burst of gunfire has hit at least four people somewhere in the country. Some days, communities have endured four or […]
After Appalachian hospitals merged into a monopoly, their ERs slowed to a crawl
By Brett Kelman and Samantha Liss/KFF Health News In the small Appalachian city of Bristol, Virginia, City Council member Neal Osborne left a meeting on the morning of Jan. 3 and rushed himself to the hospital. Osborne, 36, has Type 1 diabetes. His insulin pump had malfunctioned, and without a steady supply of this essential hormone, Osborne’s […]
More states move to protect licenses of health workers with mental illness or addiction
States are redefining when medical professionals can get mental health treatment without risking notifying the boards that regulate their licenses. Too often, health care workers wait to seek counseling or addiction treatment, causing their work and patient care to suffer, said Jean Branscum, CEO of the Montana Medical Association, an industry group representing doctors. “They’ve […]
Halfway through ‘unwinding,’ Medicaid enrollment is down about 10 million
This story first appeared on KFF Health News. Halfway through what will be the biggest purge of Medicaid beneficiaries in a one-year span, enrollment in the government-run health insurance program is on track to return to roughly pre-pandemic levels. Medicaid, which covers low-income and disabled people, and the related Children’s Health Insurance Program grew to […]
There’s a new COVID-19 variant and cases are ticking up. What do you need to know?
BY JULIE APPLEBY/KFF HEALTH NEWS It’s winter, that cozy season that brings crackling fireplaces, indoor gatherings — and a wave of respiratory illness. Nearly four years since the pandemic emerged, people are growing weary of dealing with it, but the virus is not done with us. Nationally, a sharp uptick in emergency room visits […]
Child care gaps in rural America threaten to undercut small communities
Candy Murnion remembers vividly the event that pushed her to open her first day care business in Jordan, a town of fewer than 400 residents in a sea of grassland in eastern Montana. Garfield County’s public health nurse, one of few public health officials serving the town and nearly 5,000 square miles that surround it, […]