The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a public health advisory about risks associated with kratom, an herbal supplement used to treat pain and reduce opioid withdrawal symptoms.

In the first update to U.S. guidelines on blood pressure in 14 years, a writing committee changed the definition of high blood pressure from 140/90 millimeters of mercury or higher to 130/80 or higher.

The tax reform bill introduced by Republicans in the U.S. House last week included a provision that could be bad news for patients receiving bad news. The GOP proposal eliminates the ability for individuals to itemize their federal income taxes to deduct medical expenses that exceed 10 percent of their total income.

While the proposed rule for the second year of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA)’s Quality Payment Program (QPP) earned mostly praise from the healthcare industry, the finalized rule earned a mixed reaction from groups alternating saying it’ll burden providers and it’s allowing too many physicians to avoid the program altogether.

Conservative donors who backed efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may have found a new health policy cause: making it easier for veterans to see private hospitals and physicians instead of going to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities.

The All of Us Research Program, established by the White House in 2015, has selected Fitbit as the wearable that will be used to collect data that will be used in subsequent research on preventing diseases based on individual characteristics.  

Two state ballot referendums on Nov. 7 dealt with healthcare issues, with voters in Maine approving an expansion of Medicaid eligibility while Ohio voters soundly rejected a measure to tie pharmaceutical prices paid by the state to rates paid by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA).

States will have more flexibility to change their Medicaid programs, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a speech that criticized the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s expansion of eligibility and called opposition to work requirements for able-bodied beneficiaries “soft bigotry” from the last administration.