Latest California Healthline Stories
Listen: Inexpensive Nerve Drug Often Abused As Opioid Epidemic Grows
Gabapentin, a medication approved to help patients with nerve pain or epilepsy, is being abused by people addicted to opioids to help prolong their high or stave off withdrawal from other drugs. Kaiser Health News reporter Carmen Heredia Rodriguez talks about the problem during a wide-ranging health discussion on the NPR program “On Point.”
Trying To Pinpoint Hurricane’s True Toll, Researchers Say 1,139 Died In Puerto Rico
The estimate, published in the journal JAMA, dwarfs the government’s toll of 64 but is far lower than another highly touted analysis.
How Rival Opioid Makers Sought To Cash In On Alarm Over OxyContin’s Dangers
Fentanyl and other painkillers marketed as safer than Purdue Pharma’s blockbuster drug left their own trail of overdose deaths.
Moms Fight Back Against Violence In Their Communities
At the state Capitol on Tuesday, mothers rallied to bring attention to the fallout from violence in communities of color, including anguish, fear and mental health problems.
A muchos universitarios, el hambre no los deja concentrarse en clases
El 50% de los universitarios informan que no comen lo suficiente o están preocupados por su alimentación, según revelan estudios. Programas intentan solucionar este problema del que se habla poco.
For Many College Students, Hunger Can ‘Make It Hard To Focus In Class’
With rising college costs, up to half of college students’ finances are stretched so tight they report that they were either not getting enough to eat or were worried about it, studies find. An innovative program that sprouted at UCLA lets students donate unused meal plan vouchers to those in need. It has caught on at nearly 50 schools.
Medicare Reconsiders Paying For Seniors’ Spine Operations At Surgery Centers
After a USA Today Network-Kaiser Health News investigation, Medicare announced last week that it is re-evaluating whether these procedures “pose a significant safety risk” to patients.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
KHN’s newsletter editor, Brianna Labuskes, wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.
A Transgender Woman’s Quest For Surgery Caught In Political Crosswinds
Dramatic policy swings, from an unprecedented expansion of transgender rights under the Obama administration to the unpredictable reduction of trans rights under President Donald Trump, have left many trans Americans feeling the whiplash.
A Transgender Woman’s ‘Bait-And-Switch’ $92,000 Surgery Bill
After being promised a significant discount for paying cash upfront and forgoing insurance, a Wisconsin patient gets caught in the middle between hospital and insurer — and feels snookered by a last-minute surprise and billing snafu.