Category: fda

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Democrats Roll Dice On SCOTUS And The ACA

A group of Democratic state attorneys general are betting the Supreme Court will take up the case and overturn a federal appeals court ruling in time for the 2020 elections. In other high-court news, most Republicans in Congress are asking the justices to use a Louisiana law to overturn the landmark abortion-rights ruling, Roe v. Wade. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Rovner also interviews NPR’s Richard Harris, who wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature.

A Reality Check On Artificial Intelligence: Are Health Care Claims Overblown?

As happens when the tech industry gets involved, hype surrounds the claims that artificial intelligence will help patients and even replace some doctors.

Reports Of Patients’ Deaths Linked To Heart Devices Lurk Below Radar

Because of a little-known federal exemption program, death data about heart devices sits in inaccessible FDA files that can take up to two years for the public to see under open-records laws.

Promising Greater Safety, A Tiny Widget Creates Chaos For Tube Feeders

A standard connector for feeding tubes was supposed to improve patient safety by preventing accidental misconnections to equipment used for IVs or other purposes. But critics say the design instead could keep patients from real food and inadvertently creates a host of new risks, including for vulnerable premature infants.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: We Spend HOW MUCH On Health Care?

The annual accounting of national health spending is out. And the 2018 health bill for the U.S. was $3.6 trillion, consuming nearly a fifth of the nation’s economy. Meanwhile, Congress is nearing the end of the year without having finished either its annual spending bills or several other high-priority health items. Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Markian Hawryluk about the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month.”

Medical Device Failures Brought To Light Now Bolster Lawsuits And Research

Millions of injuries and malfunctions once funneled into a hidden Food and Drug Administration database are now available.

Medical Device Failures Brought To Light Now Bolster Lawsuits And Research

Millions of injuries and malfunctions once funneled into a hidden Food and Drug Administration database are now available.

No Safety Switch: How Lax Oversight Of Electronic Health Records Puts Patients At Risk

Special interests and congressional inaction blocked efforts to track the safety of electronic medical records, leaving patients at risk.

A Regulatory Haze: Vape Marketers Are Online, Creating New Headaches For Feds

The subculture around vaping has been fueled by social media, and traditional regulations don’t easily address potential pitfalls.

Flavor Bans Multiply, But Menthol Continues to Divide

As states and communities ban the sale of flavored tobacco products linked to vaping, anti-smoking activists are piggybacking on the momentum to target menthol cigarettes. But some African Americans say menthol cigarette bans will lead to discrimination.