Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

Worsening conflict in Gaza cripples health care facilities, WHO warns

Israel's intensified military operations continue to threaten an already weakened health system, amidst worsening mass population displacement and acute shortages of food, water, medical supplies, fuel and shelter.

23 May 2025

Republicans aim to punish states that insure unauthorized immigrants

President Donald Trump's signature budget legislation would punish 14 states that offer health coverage to people in the U.S. without authorization.

23 May 2025

Study highlights economic burden of RSV in European children requiring primary care

Infections from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children requiring primary care led to significant societal economic costs from outpatient treatment and parental work absences in Europe, according to a study just published on Eurosurveillance.

22 May 2025

Long-term antidepressant use linked to higher risk of withdrawal symptoms

People who have been taking antidepressants for more than two years are substantially more likely to experience withdrawal symptoms compared to short-term users when they come off the medication, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

21 May 2025

Study identifies populations at risk for high-dose opioid prescriptions

Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine have shed light on what populations are more likely to be prescribed a high dose of opioid medication. This increases their risk of developing opioid use disorder.

21 May 2025

3 things to watch on mental health in Trump’s early budget proposals

Since President Donald Trump released his 2026 budget blueprint in early May, calling for $163 billion in federal spending cuts, much of the attention has focused on his slashing of foreign aid and boosting of border security.

21 May 2025

Study reveals high rates of cannabis use disorder in older US veterans

A large national study of U.S. veterans aged 65–84 found that 10.3% reported cannabis use in the past 30 days, with over one-third of these meeting criteria for cannabis use disorder. Frequent use and inhaled forms of cannabis sharply increased the risk.

19 May 2025

Housing, nutrition in peril as Trump pulls back Medicaid social services

During his first administration, President Donald Trump's top health officials gave North Carolina permission to use Medicaid money for social services not traditionally covered by health insurance.

19 May 2025

Many heart failure patients miss out on life saving specialist care

If you have cancer, you expect to see an oncologist, but if you have heart failure you may or may not see a cardiologist.

18 May 2025

Customized CRISPR gene editing therapy successfully treats infant with rare disease

In a historic medical breakthrough, a child diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder has been successfully treated with a customized CRISPR gene editing therapy by a team at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Penn Medicine.

15 May 2025

Kinder Foundation donates 150 million to fight childhood cancer

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Texas Children's Hospital today announced a $150 million gift from Kinder Foundation.

15 May 2025

Predictive tools aim to improve pediatric pneumonia outcomes

Researchers derived pragmatic models that accurately distinguish mild, moderate and severe pneumonia in children, based on evidence from a study performed in 73 Emergency Departments (EDs) in 14 countries through the international Pediatric Emergency Research Network (PERN).

14 May 2025

Flawed federal programs maroon rural Americans in telehealth blackouts

Ada Carol Adkins lives with her two dogs in a trailer tucked into the timbers off Upper Mud River Road.

14 May 2025

HIV uses circular RNAs to evade immunity and boost replication

In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine have identified a never-before-seen mechanism that enables the human immunodeficiency type 1 virus (HIV-1) to evade the body's natural defenses and use it to support its survival and replication.

13 May 2025

Readers scrutinize federal cuts and medical debt

The recent KFF Health News article "Beyond Ivy League, RFK Jr.'s NIH Slashed Science Funding Across States That Backed Trump" (April 17) struck a nerve.

13 May 2025

Study reveals low rate of opioid addiction medications after overdose

Medications proven to effectively treat opioid addiction are rarely given after emergency department visits for overdose, and who gets them varies, sometimes greatly, depending on race, ethnicity or geography, University of Michigan researchers say.

12 May 2025

New QR4 model identifies hidden risk factors in cardiovascular disease

Collaborative research, led from the University of Oxford and published today in Nature Medicine, has developed a new tool called QR4 that more accurately predicts an individual's 10-year risk of cardiovascular diseases, like heart disease and stroke, particularly identifying high-risk patients that current prediction tools miss.

9 May 2025

Trump team faces key legal decision that could put mental health parity in peril

The Trump administration must soon make a decision that will affect millions of Americans' ability to access and afford mental health and addiction care.

9 May 2025

AI reveals how hearing, mood, and sleep predict who suffers most from tinnitus

Researchers used machine learning and UK Biobank data to identify predictors of subjective tinnitus presence and severity. Hearing health was the strongest factor, but mood, sleep, and neuroticism shaped how severely tinnitus affected individuals over time.

8 May 2025

Ovary and fallopian tube removal linked to lower death risk in BRCA carriers with breast cancer

Women diagnosed with breast cancer who carry particular BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic variants are offered surgery to remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes as this dramatically reduces their risk of ovarian cancer.

8 May 2025