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Shirley Jennett, a retired nurse, loves her spacious ranch-style house in Denver, with its big backyard and gazebo. “I want to stay here,” she vowed. “And die here.” She might pull that off. In relatively good health, Jennett still drives to lunch with friends, does her own housekeeping and grocery shopping, and plows through a book a day, usually a mystery. But her children worry about her living alone at 89, especially after she has had a couple of falls. Enter her new housemate, Susan Beese. Despite working four days a week in retail, Beese could no longer afford her…

President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on imported generic drugs could raise some prices for patients, a key GOP lawmaker on health issues said this week. But he said that’s a potentially worthwhile trade-off to protect the nation’s drug supply. “The national security might be something worth paying for,” Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said July 22 in an exclusive interview with KFF Health News. The U.S., which has grappled with drug shortages in recent years, relies primarily on China to produce the active ingredients in many antibiotics, according to a…

This isn’t just a bad year for measles. It looks to be the start of a bad era. Confirmed measles cases just hit a 35-year high, and it’s only July. Together with last year, the number of cases has exceeded the combined total over the previous 25 years. The vast majority of cases stem from domestic outbreaks fueled by low rates of vaccination—and rates are declining. For the first time in a quarter century, the U.S. no longer meets a main criterion for having eliminated measles as a public health threat. That status hinges on sporadic outbreaks fizzling out within…

India faces a growing burden of cancer, but survivors are struggling with the cost of treatment and stigma – even after they have recovered. Life was normal for 27-year-old Delhi-based lawyer Deeba Fariyal until six years ago when she was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer that typically affects young adults. Since then, she has endured six relapses, leaving her with few treatment options. All the treatments have stopped working,” she said. “My cancer is one of the rarest forms, and there are very few treatment options.”  Two years ago, the disease left her temporarily paralysed, although she…

Social Media Health Information is Widely Distrusted, but Still Shapes Decisions Most U.S. adults engage with health content on social media in some form, whether by sharing it or participating in online health communities, according to a new research letter published in JAMA reporting results from the 2024 Health Information National Trends Survey. Most users also said they don’t trust what they see there: 78% of users reported believing that health information on social media was false or misleading. More recent KFF polling from June 2026 supports these findings, with about three in ten adults (31%) now using social media…

THOMASVILLE, Ga. — As Earl Williams drove through a historic Black neighborhood known as Dewey City in his hometown, he hardly recognized what he saw. Homes that once belonged to friends, family, and neighbors had siding covered in mold. Some were boarded up. Others had holes in their roofs. Black churches once used Oquina Creek, which runs along the border of the neighborhood, to baptize their congregants. Today, fecal bacteria and other contaminants have made the water unsafe due to an aging wastewater system. “Sometimes you get the feeling like you’re in a Third World country,” Williams said. After three…

SIKESTON, Mo. — Not everyone at Lloyd Gilmore’s funeral knew him well. One woman, who had ironed her clothes two days in advance, said she just wanted to be there for his family. School-age children, guided by their parents, approached his open casket in the sanctuary of Cornerstone Baptist Church and peeked inside. Other people looked away. On that rainy Friday afternoon, hundreds of such mourners gathered to honor the man who went to the police department for help and didn’t come back. “Stay woke. Stay guarded,” his daughter Lania Gilmore told the church full of mourners in this city…

Thousands of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in England are to be offered a new ‘signal booster’ therapy on the NHS to help them walk more easily and live more independently. Fampridine is the first medicine designed to improve walking in adults with MS and will now be routinely available on the NHS from today, NHS England has announced. Taken as a pill twice a day, fampridine acts like a ‘signal booster’ for nerves damaged by MS, helping electrical messages travel more effectively to the muscles. For some patients, an improvement in walking could make everyday tasks easier, from moving…

Editorial Note: This brief was updated on July 22, 2026, to incorporate new data on abortion statistics. In the years following the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, the volume of abortions nationally has slightly increased. The most recent data from the Society for Family Planning’s #WeCount project show that the average monthly abortion volume in 2025 was higher than the monthly average in 2024. From January to December 2025, there have been 1.13 million abortions compared to 1.11 million abortions in all of 2024 and 1.05 million abortions in 2023. For most of the decade prior to…

Grazing in Nigeria. Animals are an important source of foods rich in protein and micronutrients in many low-income countries but remain expensive. About 43 million fewer people are undernourished today compared to a peak in 2022, during the COVID pandemic. Yet undernutrition and a lack of diet affordability still haunt more than half a billion people globally. Crises and conflicts increase risks. Global food security improved slightly in 2025 as hunger fell to 7.8% from 8.1% in 2024, dropping the number of undernourished people to roughly 645 million. However, the fruits, vegetables, and animal-sourced foods necessary to prevent malnutrition remain…

France has enacted a sweeping youth social media ban for minors under age 15. France has adopted a strict youth social media ban for minors under 15, taking effect in September. But major enforcement hurdles remain, as lawmakers stripped the bill of direct platform sanctions to avoid clashing with European Union rules. The law also faces a constitutional review over the fundamental rights of children and parents. Minors under 15 now face a strict youth social media ban in France when the law enters into force on September 1, following the adoption of new legislation on Tuesday. While new users…

HAMILTON, Mont. — The Trump administration has stepped up arrests and public condemnation of federal scientists studying viruses as the world faces one of its worst Ebola epidemics. In June, Vincent Munster, an infectious disease researcher at the National Institutes of Health, was charged with bringing biological specimens into the U.S. without proper documents. Weeks later, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) ordered Anthony Fauci, Munster’s former boss, to appear before a Senate committee, alleging that he’d lied to Congress about the covid-19 pandemic’s origins. This spring, the FBI detained a former aide to Fauci, and federal officials banned a virus researcher…

The Trump administration is forging ahead with a controversial plan to collect the medical records of millions of federal workers and retirees, as well as their family members. The Office of Personnel Management said in a notice posted last month that it will begin routinely collecting identifiable, personal health information on more than 8 million people — despite concerns from privacy advocates and Democrats, who have demanded the agency drop the plan. The notice will go into effect July 24, allowing OPM to begin its collection at any point afterward. In reaction to privacy concerns raised by insurers and others,…

Although deaths from road traffic crashes have been reduced globally, six countries have recorded substantially increases – including the United States. World leaders recommitted to reducing road traffic deaths and injuries by at least 50% by 2030 at the United Nations High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Road Safety this week – including by introducing measurable national targets, timelines and budgets.  However, the United States voted against the UN consensus progress declaration adopted on Monday afternoon, while all the other 162 countries present voted in favour. The US delegate claimed that the declaration was “mandate creep”, complaining that it called for road…

Companies accused of recklessly marketing and distributing prescription opioid painkillers are paying roughly $58 billion to settle lawsuits over their role in fueling the addiction crisis. It’s a pot of gold eyed by addiction treatment providers, companies creating the latest opioid-related products, and government officials struggling to balance budgets. Nearly half of that money is going to local governments, to be distributed by county commissioners and city councilors. The idea is that local leaders know their communities best and can do justice to these payouts, often described as “blood money” by people who’ve lost loved ones to an overdose. But…

Marie Noon takes eight medications a day. One keeps her heart rate from spiking to avoid a stroke. One prevents debilitating headaches. Another ensures she doesn’t retain excess fluid. More than a decade ago, Noon said, she was diagnosed with adult-onset Still’s disease, a rare type of inflammatory arthritis that can cause rashes, debilitating pain, and fevers. The disease upended her life. She had been living a typical suburban life in Michigan, shuttling her two kids to activities like cheerleading, choir practice, and track. She was active in the PTA. She managed a bank. She went from that to crawling…