Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

This Week In Public Health: Opioids Are Big Business For These Small-Town Pharmacies

Phil Galewitz/Kaiser Health News
In one small Kentucky town, 11 pharmacies serve 1,500 people. Among the best sellers? Opioids.

This week - In one small Kentucky town, 11 pharmacies serve 1,500 people. Among their best-selling products? Opioids. ... Many homeless got Medicaid coverage under Obamacare, now they're worried about getting care if it is repealed. ... And the psychiatrist who wrote the book on diagnosing mental illnesses says, don't diagnose Trump ... Read on ...

150 Opioid Doses For Each Man, Woman And Child In One Year In this Kentucky Town

In Clay County, Ky., a wealth of new pharmacies are feeding people's demand for high-potency painkillers: Over one year, residents there filled prescriptions for nearly 3 million doses of the drugs. In a time where opioid abuse has reached epidemic proportions, the Medicaid expansion that gave more people access to these drugs to manage their pain is seen as both good and bad, reports Kaiser Health News' Phil Galewitz.

Genetic Tests Help Parents Avoid Passing On Disease

Some parents are choosing to have embryonic genetic testing done to ensure that diseases they carry will not be passed onto their children, but the testing comes with its own set of ethical, cost and practical questions. For WHYY's The Pulse, Irina Zhorov follows one family's quest to make sure they have healthy kids.
 

Obamacare Helped The Homeless, Who Now Worry About Coverage Repeal

Health Care for the Homeless President Kevin Lindamood says that before Obamacare, only 30 percent of the patients his clinics saw had health insurance -- now it's 90 percent, thanks in large part to the Medicaid expansion in 31 states and the District of Columbia. But some are worried that repeal of the Affordable Care Act could mean a return to the uninsured ranks for much of the homeless in the U.S., reports Pam Fessler for NPR.

In Indiana this week: 

Bill Aims To Limit Prescription Of Opioids In Indiana

The bill would limit the prescriptions amount to seven days for first-time adult patients and children, but some say that's too strict.

Quick Hits

We're living longer lives,but there's a shortage of doctors who help us die.

Diagnosing President Trump from afar with narcissistic personality disorder is detrimental and stigmatizing to those who actually have mental illnesses, says one prominent psychiatrist.

Lung cancer screening is cost-free for many former smokers, but most still don't get tested.

In California, a lawmaker is trying to change laws that he says are outdated that criminalize the transmission of HIV.

What role does "implicit bias" play in screening people for diseases like diabetes?