Amid the Los Angeles wildfires, California’s U.S. senators cosponsored legislation that would provide support to first responders who develop or die from service-related cancers. But those involved with similar efforts say the road to implementation is rough and paved with long waits, restrictive eligibility requirements, and funding issues.
Two senior scientists say National Institutes of Health officials advised them to remove references to mRNA vaccines in grant applications, and they fear the Trump administration will abandon a promising field of medical research.
Unnecessarily high radiation doses in scans have been linked to cancers. Under new federal rules, doctors and imaging centers have to more closely track and report the doses of radiation that patients receive.
The FDA has relied on food companies for decades to determine whether their ingredients are safe. Some chemicals and additives are tied to health risks while others are absent from product labels.
In the waning days of the Biden administration, the Labor Department added ovarian, uterine, cervical, and breast cancer coverage for wildland firefighters. It’s unclear whether the new protections will stick under Trump.
Health is unlikely to be a top priority for the new GOP-led 119th Congress and President-elect Donald Trump. But it’s likely to play a key supporting role, with an abortion bill already scheduled for debate in the Senate. Meanwhile, it’s unclear when and how the new Congress will deal with the bipartisan bills jettisoned from the previous Congress’ year-end omnibus measure — including a major deal to rein in the power of pharmacy benefit managers. In this “catch up on all the news you missed” episode, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
A Massachusetts woman ended up stranded in the hospital because CVS stopped providing the IV nutrition she needs to survive at home. Without it, she’d starve.
Asian American and Pacific Islander women once had a relatively low rate of breast cancer diagnoses. Now, researchers are scrambling to understand why it’s rising at a faster pace than those of many other racial and ethnic groups.
Medical aid in death is legal in 10 states and the District of Columbia. But only Oregon and Vermont explicitly allow out-of-state people who are terminally ill to die with assistance there. So far, at least 49 people have made the trek while state legislation stalls elsewhere.
For rural patients, getting cancer treatment close to home has always been difficult. And now chemotherapy deserts are expanding across the United States as hospitals winnow services to save money, creating financial and logistical hurdles for people seeking lifesaving care.
