Chagas disease, caused by a parasite, affects people primarily in rural Latin America. But an estimated 300,000 residents of the U.S. have the disease, which can cause serious heart problems. Patient advocates call for much more aggressive efforts to fight it.
COVID-19 indicators continue to tick up in the U.S., and the CDC has started tracking a new strain.
In early 2020, U.S. public health labs received covid-19 tests from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that were flawed, as a result of poor design and contamination. Now the CDC is overhauling its lab operations, but efforts to be better prepared for future threats won’t be easy, observers say.
Health officials have started monitoring BA.2.86 — a highly mutated version of the COVID-19 virus. Not much is known yet about the newly detected lineage, though its large number of mutations has prompted the World Health Organization and CDC to begin …
The federal government is proposing having Medicare pay professionals to train family caregivers how to perform tasks like bathing and dressing their loved ones, and properly use medical equipment.
A federal appeals court issued a split decision on whether the abortion pill mifepristone should remain on the market — rejecting a lower court’s decision to effectively cancel the drug’s FDA approval in 2000, while ordering the rollback of more recent rules that made the drug easier to obtain. Nothing changes immediately, however, as the Supreme Court blocked the lower court’s ruling in the spring. It will be up to the high court to determine whether the pill remains available in the U.S. and under which conditions. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ 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.
After COVID-19-related disruptions last year, experts anticipate respiratory syncytial virus to follow a more typical seasonal pattern this year, with activity ramping up in the fall and peaking in December or January, CNN reported Aug. 17.
In addition to having the highest obesity rates, the U.S is currently facing significantly higher prices for several major drugs used for weight loss and other health needs, according to a new KFF analysis of the list prices for semaglutide and tirzepa…
A class of drugs initially approved for diabetes treatment has captured the public’s and policymakers’ attention as interest in their off-label use for weight loss rises. The weight-loss benefits of these drugs have led to their prescribed use for obes…
More than 10,000 people in the U.S. were hospitalized with COVID-19 for the week ending Aug. 5, up 14.3 percent from the previous week and marking the fourth straight week of increase.
