Category: YOUR HEALTH
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Pike County judge orders release of documents in OxyContin case, including deposition of former president of family-owned firm
Sealed documents about marketing of OxyContin, which some experts say started the epidemic of prescription-drug abuse, will become public if the order of a Pike County judge is upheld. Circuit...
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Study shows uninsured rate keeps falling, preventive services are popular and rural hospitals have more uncompensated care
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The share of Kentuckians without health insurance continues to drop, and new Medicaid enrollees continue to take advantage of free preventive health services, according...
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Many Americans, including those on Obamacare plans, can’t afford their health-insurance deductibles, studies show
The United States has entered the era of high out-of-pocket medical cost as a way to keep insurance premiums low, but recent studies have found that many Americans are having...
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Beshear calls for transparency as Bevin and feds work on Medicaid changes and stakeholders prepare to meet Thursday
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Former Gov. Steve Beshear sent an open letter to Gov. Matt Bevin and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell May 9, accusing his...
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Bardstown hospital makes health-analytics company’s list of Top 100 Rural and Community Hospitals
Flaget Memorial Hospital in Bardstown is the only Kentucky hospital to make the list of Top 100 Rural and Community Hospitals compiled by iVantage Health Analytics. No Kentucky hospitals made...
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Humana leaving some state health-insurance exchanges to cut its Obamacare losses
Humana Inc. said last week that it may leave some state health-insurance exchanges to cut its losses, and then left two, in Alabama and Virginia. “Humana also continues to reel...
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In many people, OxyContin doesn’t give 12-hour pain relief as advertised, and that can cause an addiction problem
Oxycontin tablets (Los Angeles Times photo by Liz Baylen) Why have so many people become addicted to the painkiller OxyContin? We know about the overselling of the drug by its...
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Childhood obesity rates continue to rise nationally while Ky.’s rate has leveled off, but 1/3 of kids are still overweight or obese
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Nationally, childhood obesity rates are not declining and severe obesity rates are still rising, especially among minority children. However, in Kentucky, child obesity rates...
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Three more Kentucky counties get needle exchanges; several others discussing, some debating; most are in early stages
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Harrison, Pike and Knox counties are the latest in Kentucky to approve a needle-exchange program, bringing the total number of counties to 14, and...
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Study says intravenous drug users in almost half of Kentucky’s counties are at high risk of getting hepatitis C or HIV
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A preliminary report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 220 counties in the United States as being most vulnerable...