Latest Morning Briefing Stories

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Washington’s Slow Churn

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on Acast. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Click here for a transcript of the episode. In the wake of three high-profile mass shootings in less than a month, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have renewed […]

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: A(nother) Very Sad Week

Two mass shootings in two weeks — one at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 fourth graders and two teachers — have reignited the “guns-as-public-health-problem” debate. But political consensus seems as far away as ever. Meanwhile, the FDA is in the congressional hot seat over its handling of the infant formula shortage. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Dr. Richard Baron, head of the American Board of Internal Medicine, about how doctors should discipline colleagues who spread medical misinformation.

‘Almost Like Malpractice’: To Shed Bias, Doctors Get Schooled to Look Beyond Obesity

Research has long shown that doctors are less likely to respect patients who are overweight or obese — terms that now apply to nearly three-quarters of adults in the U.S. The Association of American Medical Colleges plans to roll out new diversity, equity, and inclusion standards aimed at teaching doctors, among other things, how to treat patients who are overweight with respect.

The New MADD Movement: Parents Rise Up Against Drug Deaths

People who have lost children to pills laced with fentanyl are demanding that lawmakers adopt stricter penalties and are pressuring Silicon Valley for social media protections. The movement harks back to the 1980s, when Mothers Against Drunk Driving activated a generation of parents.