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Woman hold pro-choice signs in protest at nation's capital.

A reproductive rights protest in Washington D.C. on Oct. 2, 2021. | SHUTTERSTOCK

Fear and confusion over abortion access persists as SCOTUS takes its first post-Dobbs case

Mifepristone will likely remain legal but could prove much harder to access. Legal and pharmaceutical experts have said this case could have far-reaching implications on approval for medications beyond abortion drugs.

Dec 19, 2023

Providence Portland Medical Center. | M.O. STEVENS/CC BY 3.0/WIKIMEDIA

Anesthesiologist shortage at Providence raises concerns over private equity

Surgeries were cancelled after Providence Health switched its contract to Sound Physicians and cut ties with an Oregon provider-owned company

Dec 19, 2023
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3D ANIMATION PRODUCTION COMPANY/PIXABAY

Representatives propose ban on insurers charging doctors a fee to be paid electronically

After a ProPublica investigation examined how giant insurers and their intermediaries are imposing fees on doctors and hospitals for electronic payment, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced a bill to end the practice

Dec 19, 2023

SHUTTERSTOCK/THE LUND REPORT

Hundreds of millions are being siphoned out of Oregon Health Plan

With more withdrawals on the horizon, some health leaders say it’s time to curb the flow of profits being pulled out of the state’s health program for low-income Oregonians

Dec 19, 2023

OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY

Flavored tobacco ban for Multnomah County set to start on Jan. 1

Nearly 8,000 Oregonians die every year from tobacco-related illnesses, according to the Oregon Health Authority

Dec 19, 2023

man holds gauge of some kind while sitting down

Sid Covington, of Austin, Texas, had a mechanical pump implanted in his heart in January 2022 due to advanced heart failure. Covington says the device, called HeartMate 3, has helped him keep an active lifestyle but that it also requires close attention and care. “Dealing with this thing is a pain in the ass, but it’s allowing me to live my life pretty substantially the way I did before I had it,” he says. | CALLIE RICHMOND/KFF HEALTH NEWS

Patients facing death are opting for a lifesaving heart device — but at what risk?

An analysis of the FDA’s database of medical device incidents found more than 4,500 reports since August 2017 in which the HeartMate 3 may have caused or contributed to a patient’s death

Dec 19, 2023

a white woman's hands clutch a pillow in a hospital bed

ALEXANDER GREY / PIXABAY

Thousands of patients may be undergoing vascular procedures too soon or unnecessarily

Researchers contend that some doctors were overusing — potentially even abusing — invasive vascular procedures, increasing patients’ chances of complications, which include amputation or even death

Dec 14, 2023