Category: Public Health

‘They See a Cash Cow’: Corporations Could Consume $50 Billion of Opioid Settlements

As opioid settlement dollars land in government coffers, a swarm of businesses are positioning themselves to profit from the windfall. But will their potential gains come at the expense of the settlements’ intended purpose — to remediate the effects of the opioid epidemic?

Ozempic: miracle drug or a band-aid for obesity?

An excerpt from Dr. T’s Drop the Fat Diet: 12 Steps to Leaner You Forever. Semaglutide, a medication often marketed as Ozempic, Wegovy, or Rybelsus, has gained immense popularity in recent years. This is especially true in an age where diabetes a…

Flu climbs for 6th week: 7 FluView notes

Seasonal flu activity is up again for the sixth week in a row. According to the CDC, there were 7,090 flu-related hospitalizations in the last week, compared to 5,753 the week before.

COVID hospital admissions up 3%: 6 notes

As COVID-19-related hospital admissions have risen for another week in a row — 23,432 in the most recently reported week — the CDC is also alerting clinicians to low vaccination rates, urging them to emphasize its importance in preventing severe infect…

CDC: MIS-C cases on the rise

The CDC has issued an alert to clinicians warning of rising cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children following COVID-19 infections.

‘Financial Ruin Is Baked Into the System’: Readers on the Costs of Long-Term Care

Thousands of people shared their experiences and related to the financial drain on families portrayed in the “Dying Broke” series, a joint project by KFF Health News and The New York Times that examined the costs of long-term care.

How long will it take to understand long COVID?

In 2023, infectious disease research inched closer to, but still fell short of, conclusively landing on a standard definition for long COVID. There’s still much to discover about how the post-infection condition manifests in some patients, but not othe…

‘Until It Is Fixed’: Congress Ramps Up Action on Social Security Clawbacks

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, vowed to meet monthly with Social Security officials until the problems surrounding overpayment demands are fixed.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Abortion and SCOTUS, Together Again

The Supreme Court agreed this week to hear its first major case on abortion since overturning Roe v. Wade — one that could restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, even in states where abortion remains legal. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers in the House and Senate finally moved to renew health programs that expired in October — but it’s likely too late to finish the job in 2023. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Riley Griffin of Bloomberg News, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Jen Golbeck, a University of Maryland professor and social media superstar, about her new book, “The Purest Bond,” which lays out the science of the human-canine relationship.

Americans' physical health has worsened since pandemic: 4 findings

The physical health of adults in the U.S. has significantly deteriorated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with obesity and diabetes rates at or nearing record highs, a new Gallup report shows.