Opinion: Covid-19 vaccine effectiveness declines rapidly; seniors need to keep up their immunity, and we need a better vaccine

Covid-Net graph, adapted; gray area may have some delayed reporting and does not indicate trends. Kevin Kavanagh, M.D. By Kevin Kavanagh for Infection Control Today I am at high risk for severe Covid-19, being 65 years or older, with additional health problems. I received my bivalent booster as soon as possible...

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Humana says it will drop commercial employer-sponsored health insurance and hopes to grow through government programs

Humana's headquarters on Main Street in Louisville Kentucky Health News Louisivlle-based Humana Inc., which originated as a nursing-home company 60 years ago, then became a hospital company and then a health-insurance company, is planning to transform itself again – into a compaany that offers general health insurance...

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With 'low confidence,' Energy Dept. says Covid-19 likely from lab; FBI confidence 'moderate;' intel panel, 4 other agencies disagree

The Wuhan Institute of Virology is located in the city where the pandemic began. (Photo by Hector Retamal, AFP/Getty) The Department of Energy has concluded that the Covid-19 pandemic "most likely arose from a laboratory leak, according to a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White...

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School officials sound the alarm about students getting sick from vaping and the threat of illegal or deadly substances in devices

Kentucky Health News map; Whitley and Knox counties reflect Corbin Independent Schools. Harlan County school officials have "asked businesses to guard against selling vape pens to minors after students in a nearby county got sick from using vape pens that may have contained an illegal drug," and school officials in...

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Covid-19 risk remains low in most counties; only four estimated to have high risk; Kentucky's 7-day infection rate is 16th in the nation

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maps By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Most of Kentucky's 120 counties continue to have a low risk of coronavirus transmission and only four of them are at high risk, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly risk map.  The CDC's map is...

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American Heart Month and Black History Month are the same month, and are related; Blacks are likelier have heart disease

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Bill to ban transgender health or mental-health care of minors in Kentucky has a head of steam in the state House

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A far-reaching anti-transgender bill filed Tuesday, Feb. 21, was assigned to a legislative committee the same day it was filed, has received the first of three required readings and already has 20 co-sponsors. Rep. Jennifer Decker House Bill 470, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer...

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Regarding obesity as a disease raises questions about cost of drugs for treating it, and wisdom of diagnosing children too early

Illustration by Shoshana Gordon, Axios By Caitlin Owens Axios Doctors and medical experts are leading a rapid cultural shift around obesity, viewing it as a disease rather than a lifestyle choice. That shift is opening new treatments and better care, but also new controversies over who can access those treatments...

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Opioid panel head says rules Beshear signed are sufficient, and being more specific would aid 'the most powerful and privileged'

Bryan Hubbard (Photo by Melissa Patrick) By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The executive director of the state Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission spent a fair amount of time at its latest meeting assuring attendees, both in person and by Zoom, that there were regulations directing the grant request for the...

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18,000 Kentuckians have died as a result of Covid-19, state says

N.Y. Times map adapted by Ky. Health News; Robertson County has had 22 deaths, Harlan 231. By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News New cases of the coronavirus in Kentucky have dropped for two weeks in a row, but deaths from the virus have increased, bringing the state's pandemic death toll to exactly 18,000 people.  The...

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In 2006, Congress ordered HHS to integrate health-data systems; it still hasn't been done, and that causes problems

Photo by Irwan, Unsplash "The pandemic highlighted ineffective data infrastructure across the U.S. health system," reports Sam Whitehead of Kaiser Health News. "Coronavirus case reports sent by fax machine. Clunky tech for monitoring vaccine distribution. . . . Supply chain breakdowns that left health-care providers...

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Radio reporter describes with personal detail what it's like to go to another state to buy legal cannabis for a medical condition

What is it like for Kentuckians to buy cannabis in another state under Gov. Andy Beshear's executive order? WUKY's Karyn Czar, who has one of the 21 medical conditions specified in the governor's order, a side effect of chemotherapy, got legal cannabis in Illinois, the only adjoining state where Kentuckians can buy it. Karyn...

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Bill would require insurers to cover biomarker testing for cancer; expensive screening tool is ‘cutting edge,’ says sponsor

By Sarah LaddKentucky Lantern A bill filed Tuesday would require health benefit plans in Kentucky to cover biomarker testing for cancer, with the goal of improving the state’s dismal cancer statistics. State Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser, R-Taylor Mill, said before filing the legislation, “It’s highly important that we pay attention...

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Cameron is among 20 Republican attorneys general warning CVS and Walgreens that mail-order abortion pills are unlawful

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Attorney General Daniel Cameron joined a coalition of 20 Republican attorneys general in sending a letter to Walgreens and CVS saying their plans to distribute abortion pills through the mail are unlawful.  Daniel Cameron “Having failed to halt the overturning of Roe...

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Alzheimer's drug under study at University of Ky. and other sites has shown it is 'the first crack in the iceberg,' UK researcher says

By Al Cross Kentucky Health News A partially approved drug for Alzheimer's disease that slowed memory decline and loss of functional ability in a study is “the first crack in the iceberg for us,” says a Kentucky researcher involved in the study. Dr. Greg Jicha of the University of Kentucky, one of about 100 study sites, told...

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Delta-8 THC, mildly less potent than marijuana's delta-9, is legal in Ky. but has risks and new rules; could face further regulation

Delta-8 gummies on sale in Louisville (Courier Journal photo by Jeff Faughender) Kentucky Health News "While politicians debate whether to legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky, a lesser-known product that gets people similarly high is flourishing in the state. And it's already legal," reports Morgan Watkins of the...

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Second Appalachian Gathering for Recovery Solutions March 9

The second Appalachian Gathering for Recovery Solutions aims to provide opportunities for in-person communication and networking among recovery programs and resources in Eastern Kentucky. It is a free, one-day gathering set for March 9, at the Union College campus in Barbourville. Scheduled speakers are Tim Robinson, CEO...

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KET panel discusses bill to legalize medical cannabis in Kentucky

Renee Shaw discusses legislation introduced to legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky on KET's Kentucky Tonight with guests (L-R) Jaime Montalvo, founder of Kentuckians for Medicinal Marijuana; Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville; Dr. Danesh Mazloomdoost, an anesthesiologist and degenerative specialist; and Ed Shemelya,...

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Risk is lower, but it's NOT time to resume pre-pandemic life, New York doctors write in one of the nation's top medical journals

An editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Wafaa M. El-Sadr, Columbia University; Dr. Ashwin Vasan, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; and Ayman El-Mohandes, City University of New York Wafaa El-Sadr, M.D. We’ve come a long way. From the early, terrifying days of a rapidly...

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