A Rural County’s Choice: Use Opioid Funds to Pay Off Debt, or Pay Them Forward to Curb Crisis

Over the past two years, rural Greene County in northeastern Tennessee has collected more than $2.7 million from regional and national settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors. But instead of helping people harmed by addiction, county officials are finding other ways to spend it. They have put $2.4 million toward paying off the county’s debt […]

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Getting too excited can stop men from orgasming – but there’s a solution

The way sex is portrayed in pop culture films and music could easily give you the idea that it, at least physically, should happen easily – particularly for men. Sex may seem like a straightforward activity but it actually involves a high degree of coordination between the brain and body parts. Recent data suggests that […]

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New Mexico Program to Reduce Maternity Care Deserts in Rural Areas Fights for Survival

CLAYTON, N.M. — Thirteen weeks into her pregnancy, 29-year-old Cloie Davila was so “pukey” and nauseated that she began lovingly calling her baby “spicy.” Davila was sick enough that staffers at the local hospital gave her 2 liters of IV fluids and prescribed a daily regimen of vitamins and medication. This will be Davila’s third […]

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As More Hospitals Create Police Forces, Critics Warn of Pitfalls

ATLANTA — When Destiny heard screams, she raced to a hospital room where she saw a patient assaulting a care technician. As a charge nurse at Northeast Georgia Health System, she was trained to de-escalate violent situations. But that day in spring 2021, as Destiny intervened, for several minutes the patient punched, kicked, and bit […]

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Journalists Give Status Reports on the ‘Personhood’ Debate and the HIV Epidemic

KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Bram Sable-Smith discussed personhood laws in Missouri and beyond on “Texas Standard” and KCUR’s “Kansas City Today” on May 11. He discussed the expansion of personhood laws also on KMOX’s “Total Information AM” on May 8. Click here to hear Sable-Smith on Texas Standard Click here to hear Sable-Smith on […]

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ER Doctors Vow to Pursue Case Against Envision Even in Bankruptcy

If Envision Healthcare files for bankruptcy, a group of emergency room doctors would seek permission to continue their federal lawsuit that claims the private equity-backed company is violating California’s ban on corporate control of medical practices. “I anticipate that we would ask the bankruptcy judge to let our case proceed,” said David Millstein, an attorney […]

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‘A System in Crisis’: Dysfunctional Federal Disability Programs Force the Poor to Pass Up Money

Fred Clasen-Kelly Brenda Powell had suffered a stroke and was in debilitating pain when she called the Social Security Administration last year to seek disability benefits. The former Louisiana state office worker struggled at times to write her name or carry a glass of water. Powell, then 62, believed she could no longer work, and […]

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AI May Be on Its Way to Your Doctor’s Office, But It’s Not Ready to See Patients

What use could health care have for someone who makes things up, can’t keep a secret, doesn’t really know anything, and, when speaking, simply fills in the next word based on what’s come before? Lots, if that individual is the newest form of artificial intelligence, according to some of the biggest companies out there. Companies […]

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Students in Rural Colorado Are Left Without Options as Specialized Schools Close

Rae Ellen Bichell and Helen Santoro GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — At first glance, nothing seems particularly unusual about the four-room school in this western Colorado city. Inside, six students are learning about radioactivity. The walls of their classroom are plastered with motivational messages like “Determination” and “Courage” scribbled onto paper cutouts of stars and moons. […]

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Drive-Thru Baby Showers Serve Express Needs of Pregnant Veterans in Atlanta

When 28-year-old Navy veteran Carisma Carter pulled her car up to the front of the Atlanta VA Clinic, her seat was pushed far back from the steering wheel to make room for her big belly. Carter was 8 months pregnant. “I’m having two boys, twins. It’s my first pregnancy,” she said. Carter knows the pregnancy […]

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