Category: Public Health

The Kids Are Not OK

A new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that teenagers, particularly girls, are reporting all-time high rates of violence and profound mental distress. Meanwhile, both sides in the abortion debate are anxiously waiting for a district court decision in Texas that could effectively revoke the FDA’s 22-year-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHN’s chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more.

CDC probing source of multistate Listeria outbreak

The CDC and FDA are investigating a multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, Food Safety News reported Feb. 16.

White House eyes plan to protect access to COVID-19 care post PHE

The Biden administration is weighing a tentative plan that would ensure COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests remain free for uninsured individuals into 2024, according to a Feb. 16 report from Politico.

White House eyes plan to protect access to COVID-19 care post PHE

The Biden administration is weighing a tentative plan that would ensure COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests remain free for uninsured individuals into 2024, according to a Feb. 16 report from Politico.

Republican Lawmakers Shy Away From Changing Montana’s Constitutional Right to Abortion

Lawmakers in 14 states have passed near-total bans on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But in some conservative-led states where court rulings determined their constitutions protect abortion, including Montana, politicians haven’t asked voters to weigh in.

As Covid Grabbed the World’s Attention, Texas’ Efforts to Control TB Slipped

Responding to covid has taken so much attention and energy that some public health workers believe it pushed tuberculosis off people’s radar.

Sparrow Health, Michigan medical groups respond to MSU shooting

Three were killed and five injured in a Feb. 13 shooting at Michigan State University in East Lansing — marking the 67th mass shooting in the United States in 2023, according to The New York Times.

As Opioids Mixed With Animal Tranquilizers Arrive in Kensington, So Do Alarming Health Challenges

The veterinary tranquilizer xylazine, the choice du jour of local drug dealers to cut fentanyl, leads to necrotic ulcers and leaves street medics and physicians confused about how best to deal with this wave of the opioid crisis.

Long COVID has more neurological effects than previously thought

Growing bodies of research continue to shed light on the effects of long COVID-19, including some that is leading one University of California Los Angeles physician, William Pittman, MD, to now say the condition is “a neurological disease” just as much…

Your Money or Your Life: Patient on $50,000-a-Week Cancer Drug Fears Leaving Behind Huge Medical Debt

When Medicare stops paying for a pricey drug that prolongs life, an Ohio man considers giving up treatment to spare his family enormous debt.