Drugmakers Funnel Millions To Lawmakers; A Few Dozen Get $100,000-Plus
Drugmakers’ contributions to lawmakers have peaked as surging drug prices emerge as a hot-button political issue. In the past decade, Congress has received nearly $79 million from 68 pharma PACs, run by employees of companies that make drugs treating everything from cancer to erectile dysfunction.
A new Kaiser Health News database tracks campaign donations from drugmakers over the past 10 years.
Dementia And Guns: When Should Doctors Broach The Topic?
As the number of Americans with dementia rises, health professionals grapple with how to talk to patients about gun safety at home.
Despite Red Flags At Surgery Centers, Overseers Award Gold Seals
A decade ago, California stopped licensing surgery centers and then gave approval power to private accreditors that are commonly paid by the same centers they inspect. That system of oversight has created a troubling legacy of laxity, a Kaiser Health News investigation finds.
Unwitting Patients, Copycat Comments Play Hidden Role In Federal Rule-Making
As HHS decided to cut $1.6 billion in drug payments to hospitals, it weighed thousands of comments generated by a pharmaceutical-funded advocacy group.
Avoidable Sepsis Infections Send Thousands Of Seniors To Gruesome Deaths
No one tracks sepsis cases closely enough to know how often these severe infections turn fatal. But the toll — both human and financial — is enormous, finds an investigation by KHN and the Chicago Tribune.
Religious Conservatives’ Ties To Trump Officials Pay Off In AIDS Policies, Funding
Shepherd Smith, a strong supporter of abstinence-only sex education for AIDS, has been close to the new director of the CDC for decades. This connection is just one example of the “new in crowd” surrounding the Trump administration, where politics and religion mix.
The Man Who Sold America On Vitamin D — And Profited In The Process
The doctor most responsible for turning the sunshine supplement into a billion-dollar juggernaut has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the vitamin D industry, according to government records and interviews.
Lax Oversight Leaves Surgery Center Regulators And Patients In The Dark
A Kaiser Health News and USA Today Network investigation finds that a hodgepodge of state rules governing outpatient centers allow some deaths and serious injuries to go unexamined. And no rule stops a doctor exiled by a hospital for misconduct from opening a surgery center down the street.
Unlocked And Loaded: Families Confront Dementia And Guns
As more Americans are diagnosed with dementia, families who have firearms struggle with ways to stay safe. A KHN investigation uncovered dozens of cases of deaths and injuries.
How America Got Hooked On A Deadly Drug
An inside look at how Purdue Pharma pushed OxyContin despite risks of addiction and fatalities.
FDA Launches Criminal Investigation Into Unauthorized Herpes Vaccine Research
The Food and Drug Administration rarely prosecutes research violations, but its criminal division is looking into the experimental herpes vaccine research by Southern Illinois University professor William Halford.
Patient Advocacy Groups Take In Millions From Drugmakers. Is There A Payback?
Kaiser Health News launches “Pre$cription for Power,” a groundbreaking database to expose Big Pharma’s ties to patient groups.
Participants In Rogue Herpes Vaccine Research Take Legal Action
Three participants in unauthorized herpes vaccine research file a lawsuit against scientist’s company, alleging adverse side effects.
As Surgery Centers Boom, Patients Are Paying With Their Lives
An investigation by Kaiser Health News and the USA TODAY Network discovers that more than 260 patients have died since 2013 after in-and-out procedures at surgery centers across the country. More than a dozen — some as young as 2 — have perished after routine operations, such as colonoscopies and tonsillectomies.
Listen: Got A Sky-High Bill? Don’t Write The Check.
Have you gotten a medical bill that sounds way too expensive or is just downright confusing? Send it to us. KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal talks with NPR Morning Edition Host Steve Inskeep about the launch of “Bill Of The Month,” KHN and NPR’s new crowdsourced investigation.
Bill Of The Month: A College Student’s $17,850 Drug Test
Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with NPR, kicks off a series that will examine and decode your perplexing medical bills.
Pain Hits After Surgery When A Doctor’s Daughter Is Stunned By $17,850 Urine Test
Elizabeth Moreno got hit with a $17,850 bill from a Texas lab after leaving a urine sample at her doctor’s office.
Big Pharma Greets Hundreds Of Ex-Federal Workers At The ‘Revolving Door’
A KHN data analysis finds that the door of opportunities connecting Capitol Hill, the federal government and the drug industry likely spins in Big Pharma’s favor.
University Under Fire For Off-The-Grid Herpes Vaccine Experiments
Southern Illinois University’s medical school has halted all herpes research, one of its most high-profile projects, amid growing controversy over a researcher’s unauthorized methods offshore and in the U.S.
