There’s a ‘huge need’ for addiction services in the Upper Peninsula, as the Sault Tribe opens a medically assisted treatment center.
Michigan Health Watch
In-depth reporting on the intersection between public policy and important health topics ‒ such as insurance coverage, hospital admissions, opioid abuse, access to care, medical research and the business of health care ‒ that impact nearly every Michigan resident.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
In Michigan, cases of whooping cough hint at post-pandemic comeback
The infection, known for causing a can’t-catch-your-breath, whoop-like cough, usually causes only a mild illness, but can be deadly to infants.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan rolls out relief for dairy farmers hurt by bird flu
The Michigan Department of Agriculture is offering financial assistance to dairy farms that have been impacted by the recent outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Millions to help opioid users still unspent in half of Michigan’s counties
As a crisis mounts that kills 3,000 per year, Michigan’s counties have been slow to distribute tens of millions of dollars in funds meant to fight the opioid crisis.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan won’t cover popular weight-loss drugs
Beginning Aug. 1, the state’s largest health insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, will start phasing out coverage of popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Cyberattack on Ascension Michigan, other sites, began with ‘honest mistake’
A person in an Ascension system ‘accidentally downloaded a malicious file that they thought was legitimate,’ the hospital system reported in its latest update.
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How many abortions in Michigan? The state can’t say under new law
Michigan’s 45-plus year history of annually publishing abortion statistics is ending under a law passed last year.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Antidepressant use spikes among girls, young women after pandemic
Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, antidepressant dispensing has increased by 64% among adolescents, thanks to an increase in anxiety and depression diagnoses.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan aims to remedy ‘egregious injustice,' as tribes shut out of opioid funds
While Michigan’s tribes have suffered injury from the opioid epidemic, they haven’t benefited from a landmark lawsuit settlement. Some states give tribes millions; Michigan working on a fix.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Ascension Michigan pharmacies can fill drug scripts now, data crisis lingers
The behemoth Catholic hospital chain has been forced to pivot from computers to paperwork at times after a cyberattack breached its systems May 8. Warned of longer wait times, patients are expected to keep their appointments unless otherwise directed.