State judge dismisses constitutional challenge to anti-vaping law

By Sarah Ladd Kentucky Lantern Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2024 law banning the sale of some vaping products. Wingate sided with the lawsuit’s defendants — Allyson Taylor, commissioner of the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Secretary of State Michael Adams — who filed a motion to dismiss. The law designates the ABC as its enforcement agency. The Kentucky...

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UK expands heart and vascular care to hospitals across the state

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News One of the many ways that UK HealthCare strives to improve the heart health of Kentuckians is through its Gill Heart and Vascular Institute Affiliate Network, which includes a community of hospitals across the state working to ensure patients receive high-quality cardiac care close to...

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Messaging campaign to encourage back to school vaccines is underway; Kentucky vaccination rates are below U.S. average

Lexington-Fayette County Health Department graphic By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News With just weeks left before school starts, it's time to make sure your school-aged children are up to date on required immunizations.   Toward this effort, the Kentucky Association of Health Plans, the trade group...

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Why millions are trying FDA-authorized alternatives to Big Pharma’s weight-loss drugs, exceedingly popular in Kentucky

Editor's note: Last year Kentucky led the nation in the percentage of population that had received these weight-loss druges by prescription. By Arthur Allen Britannica image KFF Health News Pharmacist Mark Mikhael has lost 50 pounds over the past 12 months. He no longer has diabetes and finds himself “at my ideal...

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New health laws are in effect; one in limbo due to lack of funding

Kentucky Capitol (Wikipedia photo) By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A number of new state health laws took effect July 15, ranging from measures on maternal health to improved access to a commonly used allergy medication. The General Assembly passed more than 200 bills during its 60-day session. They...

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Local governments mulling ways to use opioid settlement funds

KFF Health News graphic By Zacharie Lamb WKMS More than a year after local governments across Kentucky began receiving shares of the legal  settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors, several local leaders in far western Kentucky are still figuring out how best they can use those funds to tackle the...

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Mental-health care access can be a challenge in Eastern Kentucky; on top of that, the subject still carries stigma for some

Appalachian Region Healthcare Behavioral Health Facility (Photo submitted to WEKU) By Stan Ingold WEKU Experts are concerned about a growing mental-health crisis nationally. This story looks at the struggles faced by those dealing with access to mental-health care in Eastern Kentucky. “We're Appalachian people, so...

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Program for mothers and pregnant women with substance-use disorder gets grant to help more Black women get its services

Freedom House (Photo provided to Kentucky Lantern) By Sarah Ladd Kentucky Lantern The Volunteers of America chapter that includes Kentucky will spend $123,000 over the next nine months to figure out how to get more Black women into treatment for substance-use disorder. Volunteers of America Mid-States received...

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As part of resetting its relationship with rural hospitals, UK will not build a new hospital at interstate junction in southeast Lexington

By Al Cross Kentucky Health News The University of Kentucky will not build a hospital in southeast Lexington because it wants to do what its network of rural hospital partners want: focus on its mission as a top-level care facility for the sickest patients, a UK vice president told a legislative subcommittee Wednesday. Mark...

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Study to help reduce risk of heart disease and diabetes is looking for participants on Zoom in 16 Central Kentucky counties

Map by Kentucky Health News By Gia Mudd-Martin University of Kentucky Heart disease and Type 2 diabetes are often preventable, but Kentucky has the nation’s ninth-highest rate of heart disease and the fifth highest rate of diabetes. Plus, many Kentuckians have pre-diabetes but don’t know it. A team of at the University...

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Cigarette tax collections in Ky. dropped after the last two tax increases; the state's smoking rate has also been on the decline

Kentucky Health News graph from state data By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Increasing state cigarette taxes has proven to be an effective policy to decrease smoking rates, and it appears that is also true in Kentucky. Nearly 30 percent of Kentucky adults smoked in 2011, two years after the legislature had...

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Kentucky is a national leader in lung-cancer screening, but still has a long way to go to get all eligible people screened

American Cancer Society photo illustration By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Kentucky ranks second among states for lung-cancer screening, but experts say many more Kentuckians need to be screened. Only 10.6% of those at high risk have received screening; the national rate is 4.5%. A recent study led by American...

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Lee Co. harm-reduction chief says 80% of clients are homeless

Jo Ann Fraley runs the harm-reduction program for the Kentucky River District Health Department. (Photos by Stu Johnson, WEKU) By Stu Johnson, WEKU Homelessness is a reality in virtually every section of Kentucky. Although often thought of as an urban challenge, rural Kentucky also finds the plight of the unhoused...

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Breathitt, Lee, Jessamine and Nelson counties are certified as Recovery Ready Communities, making 14 in effort's 14 months

Gov. Andy Beshear presents Recovery Ready Community certificate for Lee County to Scott Lockard and Joanna Fraley of the Kentucky River District Health Department. (Photo by Al Cross)  By Al CrossKentucky Health News Four more Kentucky counties have been certified as Recovery Ready Communities, signaling...

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