Category: Public Health

Montana, an Island of Abortion Access, Preps for Consequential Elections and Court Decisions

A 25-year-old state Supreme Court ruling protects abortion rights in conservative Montana. That hasn’t stopped Republicans and anti-abortion advocates from trying to institute a ban.

They Were Injured at the Super Bowl Parade. A Month Later, They Feel Forgotten.

In the first of our series “The Injured,” a Kansas family remembers Valentine’s Day as the beginning of panic attacks, life-altering trauma, and waking to nightmares of gunfire. Thrown into the spotlight by the shootings, they wonder how they will recover.

Exclusive: Social Security Chief Vows to Fix ‘Cruel-Hearted’ Overpayment Clawbacks

New Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley is promising to change how the agency reclaims billions of dollars it wrongly pays to beneficiaries, saying the existing process is “cruel-hearted and mindless.”

Child mortality reaches record low: UN group

A higher percentage of children worldwide are living beyond their fifth birthdays as childhood mortality rates hit a record low in 2022, according to a joint report published by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

FDA seeks $7.2B for 2025 budget: 3 healthcare notes

 The FDA has requested $7.2 billion from the president’s proposed budget for next year — funding the agency says will bolster the nation’s supply chain, support infrastructure upgrades and expand the public health workforce. 

New Mexico reports 1st bubonic plague death in 4 years

Officials with the New Mexico Department of Health confirmed that a man has died following hospitalization with the bubonic plague.

Concerns Grow Over Quality of Care as Investor Groups Buy Not-for-Profit Nursing Homes

For-profit groups own more than 70% of U.S. nursing homes. Industry leaders and researchers wonder whether corporations and investors can succeed where not-for-profit organizations have struggled. Or, will quality of care suffer in the name of making money?

More parents are delaying pediatric vaccines, pediatricians say

Pediatricians in California are noticing a concerning trend of more vaccine-hesitant parents delaying their child’s routine immunizations, The Los Angeles Times reported March 11. 

18 states where virus levels are high as flu holds steady

Key metrics for COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus continue to fall, though flu activity is still elevated, CDC data for the week ending March 2 shows. 

An Arm and a Leg: The Medicare Episode

On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann breaks down the complicated and expensive world of Medicare with practical tips to pick the right plan and avoid penalties.