Fentanyl and other painkillers marketed as safer than Purdue Pharma’s blockbuster drug left their own trail of overdose deaths.
Category: Kaiser Health News
Patients With Chronic Pain Feel Caught In An Opioid-Prescribing Debate
States are passing laws that limit a doctor’s ability to prescribe opioids. Doctors and patients alike are wrestling with what that means in cases of chronic pain.
To Tame Prescription Prices, HHS Dips A Toe Into Drug Importation Stream
The Trump administration signals it is willing to consider such a move if it is carefully tailored to focus solely on specific situations where a high-priced drug is made by one company.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Let’s Talk Politics
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call talk about health care’s emergence as a possible voting issue in the coming midterm elections. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Emmarie Huetteman about July’s “Bill of the Month”: a transgender woman’s “bait-and-switch” $92,000 surgical bill.
For Many College Students, Hunger Can ‘Make It Hard To Focus In Class’
With rising college costs, up to half of college students’ finances are stretched so tight they report that they were either not getting enough to eat or were worried about it, studies find.
Some Doctors, Patients Balk At Medicare’s ‘Flat Fee’ Payment Proposal
The Trump administration says its plan to overhaul the way Medicare pays doctors will save physicians time and paperwork. But critics worry the changes will hurt patients’ care and doctors’ income.
Missed Visits, Uncontrolled Pain And Fraud: Report Says Hospice Lacks Oversight
A new government watchdog report outlines vulnerabilities in Medicare’s $17 billion hospice program, pointing to inadequate services, inappropriate billing and outright fraud.
Medicare Reconsiders Paying For Seniors’ Spine Operations At Surgery Centers
After a USA Today Network-Kaiser Health News investigation, Medicare announced last week that it is re-evaluating whether these procedures “pose a significant safety risk” to patients.
Mining A New Data Set To Pinpoint Critical Staffing Issues In Skilled Nursing Facilities
Low staffing is a root cause of many injuries in nursing homes. Kaiser Health News senior correspondent Jordan Rau explains how he connected the dots between manpower and risk at facilities nationwide, using a federa tool known as the Payroll-Based Journal.
Community Frets As Buyer For Cherished Rural Hospital Slips From View
Some residents of remote Surprise Valley in Northern California fear their hospital will close like so many others around the country, as hope wanes for financial support from a Denver entrepreneur. The businessman, Beau Gertz, had planned to raise money through lab billing for faraway patients.
