Public Health

Pediatricians and public health researchers know they have to be on the lookout for lead exposure from paint chips and contaminated drinking water. A new report suggests food — particularly baby food — could be a problem, too. The Environmental Defense Fund, in an analysis of 11 years of federal data, found detectable levels of […]

Tawny Biggs’ seemingly happy childhood in the northern Los Angeles County suburb of Santa Clarita, Calif., showed no outward sign that she would one day struggle with drug addiction. As Biggs tells it, she was raised with two siblings “in a very good family” by an assistant fire-chief dad and a stay-at-home mom. Her after-school […]

Hospital officials in Washington state have apologized after failing for months to inform a pregnant woman she was likely infected with the Zika virus that can cause devastating birth defects. Andrea Pardo, 33, of Issaquah, Wash., was tested for the virus in October, after becoming pregnant while living in Mexico. The results were ready by […]

SOBRE NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL Noticias en español es una sección de KFF Health News que contiene traducciones de artículos de gran interés para la comunidad hispanohablante, y contenido original enfocado en la población hispana que vive en los Estados Unidos. Funcionarios de un hospital en el estado de Washington se disculparon después de no haberle […]

Earlier this week, an influential group of experts in preventive care affirmed that children age 6 and older should be screened for obesity and referred to intensive treatment when necessary. While the Affordable Care Act requires that nearly all plans cover such treatment, most kids don’t have access to programs featuring exercise, nutrition and counseling, […]

Un influyente grupo de expertos en atención preventiva acaba de afirmar que los niños de 6 años o más deberían someterse a exámenes de detección de obesidad y, de ser necesario, recibir tratamiento intensivo de manera urgente. Aunque la Ley del Cuidado de Salud Asequible (ACA) requiere que casi todos los planes cubran estos tratamientos, […]

Last week, a jury awarded a Pennsylvania man $620,000 for pain and suffering in a medical malpractice lawsuit he filed against a surgeon who mistakenly removed his healthy testicle, leaving the painful, atrophied one intact. However, if a bill before the House of Representatives passes, the maximum he would be able to receive for such […]

Adults with a mental illness receive more than 50 percent of the 115 million opioid prescriptions in the United States annually, according to a study released Monday. The results prompted researchers to suggest that improving pain management for people with mental health problems “is critical to reduce national dependency on opioids.” People with mental health […]

As summer begins, signaling peak time for insect stings, allergists across the U.S. are warning of a shortage of a little-known but crucial product — honeybee, hornet and wasp venom extracts used in shots that prevent life-threatening reactions. Supplies of the extracts — which are made from venom gathered by hand from millions of individual insects […]

If 22 million Americans lose their health care coverage by 2026 under the GOP Senate’s plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, how many people could die? The question is at the heart of the debate raging in Washington, D.C., but has been difficult to answer. “Show me the data on lives saved […]