A state law says giving false information to patients about covid-19 constitutes unprofessional conduct for which regulators can discipline doctors. Vaccine skeptics, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., join civil liberties groups and others in arguing that it violates free speech.
Any day now a conservative federal judge in Texas could upend the national abortion debate by requiring the FDA to rescind its approval of mifepristone, a drug approved in the U.S. more than 20 years ago that is now used in more than half of abortions nationwide. Meanwhile, a controversial study on masks gets a clarification, although it may be too late to change the public impression of what it found. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
While there are no hard-and-fast rules about when to opt for a telehealth visit versus seeing a doctor face-to-face, physicians offer guidance about when it may make more sense to choose one or the other.
Social media marketing lures people to South Florida’s lucrative cosmetic surgery scene with the promise of cheap Brazilian butt lifts. But some researchers, patient advocates, and surgeon groups say that the risks of the procedure are generally not understood by prospective patients, and that an unsafe number of surgeries can be performed per day in office settings, maximizing profits.
The Senate’s top health committee focused on the worsening health care workforce shortage during its first hearing Thursday, with Sen. Bernie Sanders, its new chair, boldly promising bipartisan solutions.
Hundreds of physicians came to Washington this week to lobby Congress about their “recovery plan” for physicians, which includes a Medicare pay boost and an end to some frustrating insurance company requirements.
KHN shares the cream of the crop of creative valentines about health policy submitted by readers and tweeters. Our favorite is anointed with an original illustration and bragging rights as “the one.”
Congress’ $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package included a two-year extension of pandemic-era funding that helped telehealth services grow nationwide. But that cash bridge, embraced by those delivering services to patients in rural areas, doesn’t provide much certainty for the future of remote medicine.
Many health professionals in rural areas don’t know how to provide gender-affirming care, leaving transgender patients with few options.
The public university’s health system is renewing contracts with outside hospitals and clinics even as some doctors and faculty say clearer language is needed to protect physicians performing abortions and gender-affirming treatments.
