Kaiser Health News

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PIXABAY

Patients With Epilepsy Navigate Murky Unregulated CBD Industry

Physicians say they are reluctant to advise epilepsy patients on over-the-counter CBD because they don’t know what’s in the bottles.

Jul 13, 2022

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JENI RAE PETERS OF RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA ― PICTURED WITH HER DAUGHTER LISHA JANE FEATHERMAN — WAS DIAGNOSED WITH STAGE 2 BREAST CANCER IN 2020. SHE’S HAD HEALTH INSURANCE THROUGH HER EMPLOYERS, BUT SHE STILL HAD TO PAY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OUT-OF-POCKET./DAWNEE LEBEAU FOR KHN AND NPR

In America, Cancer Patients Endure Debt On Top Of Disease

The high costs of modern-day care have left millions with a devastating financial burden, but few suffer more than those with cancer.

Jul 12, 2022

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JAMES MASSIE, AN ARMY VETERAN AND A PATIENT AT THE SALEM VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER IN SALEM, VIRGINIA, GETS HIS TEETH BRUSHED BY NURSING ASSISTANT TERESA QUARLES IN JUNE. THE SALEM VA REPRIORITIZED ORAL CARE TO COMBAT NON-VENTILATOR HOSPITAL-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA IN 2016, AND THE PROGRAM HAS SINCE EXPANDED ACROSS THE VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION AND IS OFTEN CITED AS A MODEL FOR ALL HOSPITALS./ROSAIRE BUSHEY/KHN

Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia Is Killing Patients. Yet There Is A Simple Way to Stop It.

Hospital patients not getting their teeth brushed, or not brushing their teeth themselves, is believed to be a leading cause of hundreds of thousands of cases of pneumonia a year in patients not on a ventilator.

Jul 12, 2022

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SHUTTERSTOCK

Digital Mental Health Companies Draw Scrutiny And Growing Concerns

Often backed by venture capital firms, online mental health companies are growing in popularity despite experts' concerns.

Jul 9, 2022

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KAREN HABERLAND, PROJECT OFFICER AT ECRI, DEMONSTRATES HOW A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL PUTS ON A DISPOSABLE ISOLATION GOWN./CAROLINE GUTMAN/KHN

Widely Used Hospital Gowns Show Signs Of Exposing Workers To Infection

Gowns worn in medical and intensive care units ripped too easily and allowed 4 to 14 times the expected amount of liquid to seep through, a study says.

Jul 7, 2022

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An advertisement for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline’s 988 hotline at the Shaw-Howard University subway station in Washington, D.C., on July 18, 2023. | ERIC HARKLEROAD/KFF HEALTH NEWS

Gun Safety ‘Wrapped in a Mental Health Bill’: A Look At The New Law

The focus is on improving mental health services, with $13 billion earmarked for such programs.

Jul 7, 2022

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SHUTTERSTOCK

Feds Want A Policy Advocates Say Would Let Hospitals Off On COVID-Era Lapses

The federal government wants to hide hospitals’ safety ratings and waive financial penalties for those with the worst patient-safety track records.

Jul 7, 2022

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OONATEMPEST/KHN

How To Get Rid Of Medical Debt — Or Avoid It In The First Place

Patients, consumer advocates, and researchers offered their hard-won insights on how to avoid or manage medical debt.

Jul 5, 2022

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FRITZ LIEDTKE/OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY

How Pfizer Won The Pandemic, Reaping Outsize Profit And Influence

Pfizer's success in developing COVID medicines has given the drugmaker unusual weight in determining U.S. health policy.

Jul 5, 2022

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NATALIA MERZLYAKOVA/FOTOLIA

How Much Health Insurers Pay For Almost Everything Is About To Go Public

As of July 1, health insurers and self-insured employers must post on websites just about every price they’ve negotiated with providers for health care services, item by item.

Jul 5, 2022