Should we mention suicide in obituaries? The reluctance to acknowledge suicide has implications beyond the confines of a public notice Salon · Aug 26, 2023
'All we want is revenge': How social media fuels gun violence among teens Teens share photos or videos of themselves with guns and cash, sometimes calling out rivals, on social media. When posts go viral, fueled by "likes" and comments, the danger is hard to contain. WEKU · Aug 25, 2023
Abortion bans are fueling a rise in high-risk patients heading to Illinois hospitals Illinois hospitals are seeing a surge of out-of-state patients who need abortion care at a hospital due to medical complications. But hospital-based abortions are more costly and harder to arrange. WEKU · Aug 23, 2023
The painful pandemic lessons Mandy Cohen carries to the CDC President Biden and others have lauded Mandy Cohen's pandemic leadership in North Carolina. Those in the state's most vulnerable communities tell a more nuanced story about the new CDC director. WEKU · Aug 23, 2023
Big Pharma’s playbook for expensive meds Here are just a few of the many examples of drug pricing practices that have driven consumers to demand change Salon · Aug 20, 2023
Hospitals sued thousands of patients in North Carolina for unpaid bills, report finds The suits pursued patients and their families, sometimes putting liens on homes. "I know my house will never be mine. It is going to be the hospital's," said Donna Lindabury, 70, who lost her case. WEKU · Aug 16, 2023
California grads headed to HBCUs in the South prepare for college under abortion bans As young adults prepare to leave blue states and head to historically black colleges in states where abortion is banned, they're getting ready to safeguard their reproductive health during college. WEKU · Aug 15, 2023
Montana GOP ignores voters on abortion Montana Republicans passed a version of the anti-abortion proposal that voters rejected only months earlier Salon · Aug 11, 2023
A wasted chance to fight addiction? Opioid settlement cash fills a local budget gap State attorneys general vowed the funds would go toward tackling the addiction crisis. But as with the tobacco payouts of the 1990s, local officials have started using them to fill budget shortfalls. WEKU · Aug 2, 2023
They billed Medicare late for his anesthesia. He went to collections for a $3,000 tab Medicare was supposed to cover the entire cost of his procedure. But the anesthesia provider failed to file its claims in a timely manner and billed the patient instead. WEKU · Jul 27, 2023
FDA head's misinformation battle fizzles The FDA Commissioner has called misinformation one of the deadliest killers in the United States — can we fight it? Salon · Jul 21, 2023
Families fleeing anti-trans states Draconian laws banning trans care are forcing some families to flee to more progressive states Salon · Jul 20, 2023
How a combination of COVID lawsuits and media coverage keeps misinformation churning Public health has had its day in court lately. And another day. And another day. Tribune News Service · Jul 20, 2023
A mom owed nearly $102,000 for her son's stay in a state mental health hospital One North Carolina family's six-figure medical bill came from a state hospital. The attorney general, who is running for governor and says he's against high medical costs, tried to collect the debt. WEKU · Jul 19, 2023
Tribune News Service · Jul 18, 2023 Excessive drinking during the pandemic increased alcoholic liver disease death rates Excessive drinking during the covid-19 pandemic increased alcoholic liver disease deaths so much that the condition killed more Californians than car accidents or breast cancer, a KFF Health News analysis has found.
Salon · Jul 15, 2023 Lawsuit over Idaho anti-abortion law Advocates challenge a law that forbids helping teens obtain abortion pills or leave the state for abortion care
Salon · Jul 9, 2023 California improving prisoner healthcare The improvements "should help shut the revolving door between homelessness and incarceration"
Salon · Jul 8, 2023 Idaho drops pregnancy deaths panel The committee found that almost half of maternal deaths in Idaho in 2020 occurred after delivery
Tribune News Service · Jul 6, 2023 CDC to reduce funding for states’ child vaccination programs The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reducing funding to states for child vaccination programs, according to an agency email obtained by KFF Health News.
Tribune News Service · Jul 3, 2023 A new law is supposed to protect pregnant workers — but what if we don’t know how? Vanessa Langness had always been a bit worried about the chemicals she worked with as a biomedical researcher, but when she got pregnant in October, her concerns grew. The 34-year-old based in Santa Maria, California, suspected the ethidium bromide she was using in the lab for molecular cloning could put…
Tribune News Service · Jun 30, 2023 The hospital bills didn’t find her, but a lawsuit did — plus interest Bethany Birch had pain in her diaphragm on and off for eight months in 2016.
Fortune · Jun 28, 2023 Insurers are bypassing hospitals and delivering pricey chemo and other infusion drugs via third-party pharmacies As they lose out on billing for such drugs, hospitals and clinics are trying to convince states to limit this practice, known as "white bagging."
Salon · Jun 27, 2023 Against crowdfunding for medical debt Black Americans use GoFundMe far less than white Americans, studies show. And those who do typically bring in less
WEKU · Jun 27, 2023 The hospital bills didn't find her, but a lawsuit did — plus interest After emergency gallbladder surgery, a Tennessee woman said she spent months without a permanent mailing address and never got a bill from the hospital. She ended up in court a few years later.
WEKU · Jun 26, 2023 'We're not doing that': A Black couple won't crowdfund to pay medical debt Kristie Fields, a cancer patient in Virginia was urged to go public to seek help for her medical bills. But she worried about feeding hurtful stereotypes.