Health Care
The long road to answers for some chronic illnesses
Growing costs, research cuts, and staffing shortages are health care issues that are top of mind for many in the country right now, especially for the millions of people who deal with chronic illness. Some of those people don’t even know what to call their illness.
Trump signs executive action to lower drug prices
The action is intended to build upon the existing program for Medicare drug price negotiations, which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act that passed during the Biden administration.
Doctors remove pig kidney from an Alabama woman after a record 130 days
Towana Looney is recovering well from the removal surgery and has returned home to Gadsden. In a statement, she thanked her doctors for “the opportunity to be part of this incredible research.”
Alabama lawmakers pass legislation that could give pregnant women more access to health care
The “presumptive eligibility” legislation states that Medicaid will pay for a pregnant woman’s outpatient medical care for up to 60 days while an application for the government-funded insurance program is being considered.
Supreme Court to decide if states can strip Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funds
At issue is whether a state, in this case, South Carolina, can remove Planned Parenthood clinics from its state Medicaid program, even though Medicaid funds cannot generally be used to fund abortions.
Five years out, an ER doc reflects on how he and his colleagues faced down COVID-19
In Alabama, emergency departments were overrun during the Covid-19 pandemic – the state had one of the highest rates of hospitalizations in the country. Children’s of Alabama ER doc David Bernard remembers “the first time we started to feel that maybe we wouldn't die.”
Advocates push for Medicaid expansion in holdout Alabama
Advocates gathered at the Alabama Statehouse Tuesday urging lawmakers to reconsider their long-held reluctance to expand Medicaid, saying the decision is hurting both working families and health care providers. But the push comes at a time there is gathering uncertainty about possible cuts and changes in Washington to Medicaid.
In court, Luigi Mangione’s lawyer claims he was searched illegally during arrest
Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had his first court appearance since he was arraigned in December on charges including murder as an act of terrorism.
Inside a Mississippi man’s fight with health insurance and a hospital for life-saving surgery
Trevor Malosh’s heart surgery was finally on the books after months of negotiations with his insurance company and the hospital. Then, another setback happened.
Trump administration yanks CDC flu vaccine campaign
As flu rages, the Trump administration has pulled the plug on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention flu immunization campaign that targeted high-risk groups, including pregnant women.
Deep cuts to NIH funding would cause economic harm across Trump-friendly Alabama
Birmingham has become one of the country’s leading hubs for biomedical research. Banners downtown brag about the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s status in the top 1% of institutions for NIH funding, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars into the region.
Alabama woman with a functioning pig organ is thriving after a record 2 months
An Alabama woman passed a major milestone Saturday to become the longest living recipient of a pig organ transplant – healthy and full of energy with her new kidney for 61 days and counting.
The Gulf South needs more sexual assault nurse examiners. Is teleSANE the answer?
While some see telemedicine as a useful tool to help provide care to sexual assault survivors, others believe it's not enough to solve the nursing shortage.
In New Orleans, focus shifts toward community recovery, healing after terror attack
Officials and health experts are working to make sure those affected by the Bourbon Street attack have access to the medical and financial resources they need.
Living HealthSmart in Alabama is getting easier thanks to a growing UAB initiative
The Live HealthSmart Alabama initiative, which the University of Alabama at Birmingham launched in 2019, has a goal of pulling Alabama out of the bottom 10 states in terms of negative health indicators by removing systemic barriers. Pilot projects in four Birmingham neighborhoods wrapped up this year, and organizers hope their success can be replicated throughout the state.
An Alabama woman is doing well after the latest experimental pig kidney transplant
Towana Looney is the fifth American given a gene-edited pig organ — and notably, she isn’t as sick as prior recipients who died within two months of receiving a pig kidney or heart.
Alabama leads US in ‘pregnancy criminalization’ cases following Dobbs decision: report
The report’s findings help shed light on the use of criminal laws informed by the idea of fetal personhood, a legal premise gaining traction in the South.
Medicaid coverage is expanding into prisons in 2025, starting with children
New federal policies extend Medicaid to incarcerated youth and open the door for adult inmates to get coverage before they’re released.
‘Where’s Jeff?’: Unhoused and struggling with opioid addiction in Birmingham
As Alabama decides how to spend its opioid settlement funds, a good Samaritan spends her free time helping “her people” who struggle with addiction.
Alabama, Mississippi receive millions to improve rural health care; here’s how they’ll spend it
The federal funding from the Biden-Harris administration will help each state improve maternal health care and opioid addiction treatment in rural communities.
One thing about unspeakable tragedy … you have to speak about it
Writer, musician, and standup storyteller, Sean Dietrich, entertains audiences across the country, including venues like the Grand Ole Opry. But he’s equally well known as an advocate for suicide prevention. His first bit of advice to people going through difficult times is to talk.
Deceptive drug tests ensnare new parents and babies
Imagine giving birth and then testing positive for a drug. Except you didn't take any drugs. Still the state Department of Human Resources opens an investigation based on that erroneous test.
‘A dream come true’: Alabama ‘grandfamilies’ are set to receive opioid settlement funds
The new state program— the first of its kind in the U.S. — will give $280,000 from opioid settlement funding to grandparents raising their grandchildren.
11th Circuit allows Alabama to enforce its ban on gender-affirming care for minors
In a decision released Wednesday night, a majority of judges on the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals declined a request by families with transgender children for the full court to reconsider a three-judge panel’s decision to let the law go into effect.
High school football is back. How are Gulf South schools keeping players safe from the heat?
Student-athletes may not be too concerned about playing in extreme heat, but parents, coaches and trainers are taking plenty of precautions to keep them safe.
Heart disease is rampant in parts of the rural South. Researchers are hitting the road to learn why
Public health experts from some of the nation’s leading research institutions have deployed a massive medical trailer to rural parts of the South to test and survey thousands of local residents. The goal: to understand why the rates of heart and lung disease are dramatically higher there than in other parts of the U.S.
Need help with breastfeeding? Here are some local resources for Alabama parents
August is National Breastfeeding Month, but the Gulf South has some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the country. Advocates are trying to change that.
Women’s health care in the Gulf South is ‘bleak,’ new report says. Here’s how Alabama ranks
Poor ratings in preterm birth rate, infant mortality led to Alabama ranking 45th in the U.S. in the Commonwealth Fund's new "scorecard" on women's health care.
This free training aims to address the Gulf South’s shortage of sexual assault nurses
The week-long, free program gives medical professionals tools to provide trauma-informed care — and potentially help with prosecutions.
Alabama birthing units are closing to save money
One of the last remaining birthing units in southern Alabama will close next month to qualify for federal funding that will save the hospital’s emergency services, but doctors warn the move may cost newborns and pregnant women essential access to obstetric care.
Should heat waves get names like hurricanes? Some believe it could help save lives
As heat waves and heat domes become more intense, the idea of naming extreme heat as we do with other major disasters is gaining traction with some experts.
Price increases? Job losses? How will UAB’s acquisition of St. Vincent’s impact local health care?
The president of Alabama’s hospital association says the acquisition will help maintain access to care, but some economists predict the move will lead to job cuts and higher health care costs.
