Health
3 years after its first reported case, Kentucky has nation’s third-highest COVID-19 infection rate
This week marks the third anniversary of the announcement of Kentucky’s first case of COVID-19, a disease that has infected more than 1.7 million Kentuckians and killed 18,130 of them. And while the Covid-19 national emergency and public-health emergency declarations that have been in place since early 2020 will end May 11 and the state […]
Borderline personality disorder is highly stigmatized and lonely
This story discusses suicide and self harm. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.? When Mo Lewis was 11 years old, his dad died.? In the following years, he developed traits of borderline personality disorder. He became suicidal, harmed himself and repeatedly […]
Kentucky House passes controversial anti-transgender bill
This story mentions suicide.?If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.?The Trevor Project, which aims to end suicide among LGBTQ+ youth, also has trained counselors available around the clock. Reach them at 1-866-488-7386, via chat at https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/, or by texting START to 678678.? […]
Bipartisan bill would clear way for distribution of fentanyl test strips in Kentucky
FRANKFORT — Fentanyl test strips could no longer be considered drug paraphernalia in Kentucky under a bipartisan bill that passed a House committee Wednesday.? The House Standing Committee on Judiciary approved the measure 17-0, with three members passing? House Bill 353, sponsored by Reps. Kimberly Poore Moser, R-Taylor Mill and Rachel Roberts, D-Newport, states:? “Testing […]
New study finds coal miners in Central Appalachia at highest risk of dying from lung diseases
Central Appalachian coal miners in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia are more than eight times more likely than men in the general population to die from respiratory diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and black lung, according to recent research. “This higher mortality has also worsened over time with modern miners facing greater risk than […]
Racialized notions of ‘beauty’ hazardous to health
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here. ATLANTA — Perched in a stylist’s chair at Yaya’s Natural Hair Boutique, Akeyla Peele-Tembong teared up as she recalled how, when she was a […]
Someone who attended the ‘large spiritual revival’ at Asbury University has measles
Someone who attended the “large spiritual revival” at Asbury University on Feb. 18 has measles, the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services announced Friday night.? “Anyone who attended the revival on Feb. 18 may have been exposed to measles,” Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, said in a statement. […]
Postpartum depression bill advances in Kentucky Legislature
This story mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. A bill aimed at providing education and resources for new parents passed Kentucky’s Senate unanimously.? The legislation can now go to the House for a vote.? The Republican-sponsored Senate Bill 135 […]
Doctors recount ‘heart-wrenching’ stories in new study on medical care post-Roe
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) are trying to piece together how the end of Roe v. Wade has so far transformed pregnancy-related medical care in America, and the yet-to-be-released preliminary data are alarming, the lead principal investigator told States Newsroom in an exclusive interview. The team has already received dozens of […]
Bill adding exemptions to Kentucky prior authorization requirements clears committee
A Kentucky health committee passed a bill Thursday that would add exceptions to prior authorization requirements.? With 18 yes votes and one against, HB 134, framed as a way to save doctors and patients time,?can now move to the House floor for a vote.? That’s despite testimony from insurance representatives who asked legislators to vote […]
Bill addressing Kentucky’s health care workforce shortages clears committee
A Kentucky bill drafted to address the state’s health care workforce shortages easily passed a House committee Thursday. The bill, which has bipartisan support, sailed out of the House Standing Committee on Health Services with 18 yes votes and one pass. No one voted against the bill. It now goes to the House floor. House […]
Bills opening way for freestanding birthing centers in Kentucky await votes in both chambers
FRANKFORT — Katelyn Foust delivered her first child in a Louisville hospital.? Though “nothing particularly went wrong, physically,” she said, “there definitely wasn’t that support aspect.”? So, when it was time to have her second child, she traveled past Kentucky hospitals into Indiana to give birth at a Jeffersonville freestanding birth center.? It was that […]