Category: Public Health

Doctors’ Lesson for Drug Industry: Abortion Wars Are Dangerous to Ignore

The American Medical Association ducked the abortion issue for years and now sees its members’ professional opinions second-guessed by lawmakers and judges. PhRMA is following the same playbook.

Doctors’ Lesson for Drug Industry: Abortion Wars Are Dangerous to Ignore

The American Medical Association ducked the abortion issue for years and now sees its members’ professional opinions second-guessed by lawmakers and judges. PhRMA is following the same playbook.

Watch: Rulings on Abortion Pill Have Far-Reaching Repercussions

Sarah Varney, a senior correspondent for KHN, joins Ali Rogin of PBS NewsHour to discuss the ruling by a federal judge in Texas that threatens nationwide access to the widely used abortion drug mifepristone, and a separate ruling in Washington state that reached the opposite conclusion.

Fungus infects dozens, hospitalizes 12 at Michigan factory

Blastomycosis, a fungus found in soil and decaying wood, is believed to have infected more than 90 employees at a paper mill in Escanaba, Mich., according to an April 8 report from the Detroit Free Press.

XBB subvariants to crowd out dominant US strain: 3 COVID-19 updates

Omicron subvariant XBB.1.15 has remained dominant since January, but several other XBB offshoots may crowd out the strain over the next few weeks. 

4 ways avian flu must evolve to become a human pandemic

An outbreak of avian flu at a Spanish mink farm in October 2022 and several other reported cases of the virus’s spread to mammals sparked concern of its transmission to humans. But experts say it will take a lot for avian flu to become a full-fledged h…

11 notes on the new omicron subvariant

A new SARS-CoV-2 omicron subvariant, XBB.1.16, is spreading throughout several countries, including parts of the U.S. Health officials at the World Health Organization have said it is something they are closely monitoring. 

CDC warns clinicians about risks of imported cases of Marburg

The CDC issued a health advisory April 6 alerting clinicians in the U.S. to be aware of two Marburg virus disease outbreaks currently happening overseas — though at this time no cases have been confirmed in the U.S.

8 things WHO should add to its to-do list, per health experts

The World Health Organization turns 75 on April 7. While it finalizes its updated list of pandemic pathogens — which is set to be released any day — here are a few things health experts told NPR it should add to its agenda in 2023.

The ‘Unwinding’ of Medicaid

As of April 1, states were allowed to begin reevaluating Medicaid eligibility for millions of Americans who qualified for the program during the covid-19 pandemic but may no longer meet the income or other requirements. As many as 15 million people could lose health coverage as a result. Meanwhile, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is projected to stay solvent until 2031, its trustees reported, taking some pressure off of lawmakers to finally fix that program’s underlying financial weaknesses. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Daniel Chang, who reported the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a child not yet old enough for kindergarten whose medical bill landed him in collections.