Aug 06 Watch Concerns grow as fentanyl fuels rise in opioid overdose deaths By PBS News Hour According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overdose deaths involving prescription opioids have quadrupled since 1999. But amid growing concern over the country’s problem with heroin and prescription opioids, a lesser-known drug in that same group is just… Continue watching
Aug 06 Feds approve controversial plan to release genetically modified mosquitoes to fight Zika By Kamala Kelkar As the Zika virus continued to spread in Florida, federal officials on Friday approved a plan to release millions of mutant mosquitoes there in hopes they can suppress the disease-carrying insect’s population. Continue reading
Aug 05 Column: Marilyn Monroe and the prescription drugs that killed her By Dr. Howard Markel Long before the opiate and opioid epidemics struck American life with such resounding force, there were plenty of other prescription drugs abused to excess with deadly results. Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe consumed, if not abused, a great deal of them. Continue reading
Aug 04 Does modern society worsen allergies and asthma? Ask the Amish By Lindzi Wessel, STAT A recent study compares the health of Amish children with others, its conclusion boosts support for the so-called hygiene hypothesis: the idea that a lack of early childhood exposure to a diversity of germs can keep the immune system underdeveloped… Continue reading
Aug 04 Government to raise hospital readmission penalties By Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News The new penalties, which take effect in October, are based on the rehospitalization rate for patients with six common conditions. Since the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program began in October 2012, national readmission rates have dropped as many hospitals pay more… Continue reading
Aug 03 How much does a mass shooting cost the health care system? By Abe Aboraya, Kaiser Health News So just how much will the Pulse nightclub shooting cost all of the victims? It’s a difficult, if not impossible question to answer right now. Continue reading
Aug 02 Watch 5:57 What Miami-Dade County is doing about Zika By PBS News Hour With 12 confirmed cases of the Zika virus in Miami-Dade County, officials are asking residents to take part in mosquito-prevention efforts, including draining standing water and wearing insect repellent. Gwen Ifill speaks with Alina Hudak, Deputy Mayor of Miami-Dade County,… Continue watching
Aug 02 Amid shortage of psychiatric beds, mentally ill face long waits for treatment By Michael Ollove, Stateline Across the country, a critical shortage of state psychiatric beds is forcing mentally ill patients with severe symptoms to be held in emergency rooms, hospitals and jails while they wait for a bed, sometimes for weeks. Continue reading
Aug 02 Doctors unprepared for treating drug addiction, some health experts say By Natalie Jacewicz, Kaiser Health News Americans are overdosing at epidemic rates on opioids such as heroin and prescribed painkillers, and the nation’s doctors are inadequately prepared to help, according to some public health experts. They say the shortfall begins in medical school. Continue reading
Aug 02 Gun violence and mental health laws, 50 years after Texas tower sniper By Lauren Silverman, KERA For decades, people have struggled to figure out why Charles Whitman stuck his rifle over the edge of the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin and started shooting. Continue reading