Journalists Draw Link Between Internet Dead Zones, Threatened Medicaid Cuts, and Health

Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed covid-19 vaccines and prostate cancer on WAMU’s “1A” on May 27. Click here to hear Gounder on “1A.” Senior correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble discussed how internet dead zones deepen chronic health issues in rural communities on The Commonwealth Fund’s “The Dose” on May 23. Click here to hear Tribble on “The Dose.” Read Tribble’s “Dead Zone” series. Rural editor and correspondent...

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At Trump’s FDA, Anti-Regulatory Approach and Cost-Cutting Put Food Safety System at Risk

The Trump administration’s anti-regulatory approach and cost-cutting moves risk unraveling a critical system of checks and balances that helps ensure the safety of the U.S. food supply, industry experts told KFF Health News.  An E. coli outbreak that occurred late last year — for which the investigation was concluded in February — signals how, with the FDA changes, more people could get sick with foodborne illnesses as companies and growers...

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U.S. Cancels Contract With Moderna to Develop Bird Flu Vaccine

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly questioned the safety of mRNA technology, which is used in the company’s shot. from NYT > Health https://ift.tt/NdLeZ...

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American Doctors Are Moving to Canada To Escape the Trump Administration

Earlier this year, as President Donald Trump was beginning to reshape the American government, Michael, an emergency room doctor who was born, raised, and trained in the United States, packed up his family and got out. Michael now works in a small-town hospital in Canada. KFF Health News and NPR granted him anonymity because of fears he might face reprisal from the Trump administration if he returns to the U.S. He said he feels some guilt that he...

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Opioid Settlement Windfall: Where the Billions Are Going

LISTEN: Tens of thousands of people have filed claims for compensation from pharmaceutical companies accused of fueling the opioid crisis. But few have actually gotten a check. On May 28, WAMU’s “Health Hub” featured KFF Health News senior correspondent Aneri Pattani, who explained why some survivors feel like the money isn’t going to the right places. Billions of dollars from opioid settlements are being paid out by drug manufacturers, distributors,...

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A Medicaid Patient Had a Heart Attack While Traveling. He Owed Almost $78,000.

On Christmas Day at the WaTiki indoor water park, Hans Wirt was getting winded from following his son up the stairs to the waterslides. Wirt’s breathing became more labored once they returned to the nearby hotel where they and Wirt’s girlfriend were staying while visiting family in Rapid City, South Dakota. Then he grew nauseated and went pale. Wirt thought the cause might...

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How to Have Self-Compassion

Cultivating self-compassion can actually help you cope better with life’s struggles. from NYT > Health https://ift.tt/fC4J0...

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Checks on Migrant Children by Homeland Security Agents Stir Fear

Agents are showing up unannounced to interview minors in what the government calls “wellness checks.” Critics see the visits as part of the immigration crackdown. from NYT > Health https://ift.tt/1F80G...

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Judge Finds Government Acted Illegally in Russian Scientist Case

The judge said a customs officer had acted improperly in stripping Kseniia Petrova, a researcher at Harvard Medical School, of her visa after she failed to declare research samples she was carrying into the country. from NYT > Health https://ift.tt/V3S76...

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In Arizona County That Backed Trump, Conflicted Feelings About Cutting Medicaid

GLOBE, Ariz. — Like many residents of this copper-mining town in the mountains east of Phoenix, Debbie Cox knows plenty of people on Medicaid. Cox, who is a property manager at a real estate company in Globe, has tenants who rely on the safety-net program. And at the domestic violence shelter where she volunteers as president of the board, Cox said, staff always look to enroll...

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A New Front Line for Abortion Rights

A grand jury in Louisiana indicted a New York doctor for sending abortion pills to a Louisiana resident. from NYT > Health https://ift.tt/m5Lko...

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Un mini accidente cerebrovascular puede tener graves consecuencias

Diez años atrás, Kristin Kramer se despertó temprano una mañana porque uno de sus perros necesitaba salir. Fue cuando sucedieron un par de cosas extrañas. Cuando intentó llamar a su otro perro, “no podía hablar”, recordó. Y al bajar las escaleras para dejarlos salir al jardín, “me di cuenta que no podía mover mi mano derecha”. Así y todo volvió a la cama, “lo cual fue una tontería”, dijo Kramer, ahora de 54 años, quien es gerenta de una oficina en...

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A Ministroke Can Have Major Consequences

Kristin Kramer woke up early on a Tuesday morning 10 years ago because one of her dogs needed to go out. Then, a couple of odd things happened. When she tried to call her other dog, “I couldn’t speak,” she said. As she walked downstairs to let them into the yard, “I noticed that my right hand wasn’t working.” But she went back to bed, “which was totally stupid,” said Kramer, now 54, an office manager in Muncie, Indiana. “It didn’t register that something...

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Federal Cuts Ripple Through a Bioscience Hub in Rural Montana

HAMILTON, Mont. — Scientists are often careful to take off their work badges when they leave the campus of one of the nation’s top research facilities, here in southwestern Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. It’s a reflection of the long-standing tension caused by Rocky Mountain Laboratories’ improbable location in this conservative, blue-collar town of 5,000 that was built on logging. Many...

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Journalists Talk Medicaid Cuts and New Limitations on Weight Loss Drugs and Covid Shots

KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed Medicaid cuts in the House budget bill on CBS News on May 22. Click here to watch Rovner on CBS News. Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed weight loss drugs and covid-19 vaccines on CBS’ “CBS Mornings” on May 22 and May 21, respectively. Click here to watch Gounder discuss weight loss drugs on “CBS Mornings.” Click here to watch Gounder...

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Republicanos buscan castigar a estados que ofrecen seguro de salud a inmigrantes sin papeles

La emblemática legislación del presupuesto del presidente Donald Trump castigaría a 14 estados que ofrecen cobertura de salud a personas que viven en el país sin papeles. Estos estados, la mayoría liderados por demócratas, dan seguro médico a algunos inmigrantes de bajos ingresos —a menudo niños—, independientemente de su estatus migratorio. Defensores argumentan que la política es humanitaria y que, en última instancia, ahora costos. Sin embargo,...

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Trump’s Team Cited Safety in Limiting Covid Shots. Patients, Health Advocates See More Risk.

Larry Saltzman has blood cancer. He’s also a retired doctor, so he knows getting covid-19 could be dangerous for him — his underlying illness puts him at high risk of serious complications and death. To avoid getting sick, he stays away from large gatherings, and he’s comforted knowing healthy people who get boosters protect him by reducing his exposure to the virus. Until now, that is. Vaccine opponents and skeptics in charge of federal health agencies...

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