The latest health care news from The Texas Tribune.
A four-year-old project run by the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in a group of West Texas high schools has prevented violent incidents through screenings, according to one Tech official. Could it work in all Texas schools? Full Story
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The Texas Attorney General's Office says Purdue Pharma fueled "the nation's opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing prescription painkillers," including OxyContin. Full Story
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Smith, executive commissioner for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, will step down at the end of May after weeks of intense scrutiny over how the commission handles contracts. Full Story
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Four congressional Democrats objected to the pamphlet this week, saying it includes "blatant lies about the safety of abortion." Full Story
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The state's highest civil court said uninsured patients suing hospitals can access records detailing how much insurance companies paid for similar procedures. Full Story
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We livestreamed our conversation in Tyler on women's health and maternal mortality in Texas. Watch some clips or read the highlights. Full Story
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Despite rising numbers, it's still not known whether the number of women accessing such services has returned to the levels that preceded massive budget cuts during the 2011 legislative session. Full Story
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The Texas Health and Human Services Commission's Office of the Inspector General is investigating how a former agency employee was mailed a box full of private client information. Full Story
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Rice University, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Houston Health Department announced an information-gathering initiative on Wednesday that seeks to better understand the impact of the historic storm on Houston-area residents, including by linking health problems to environmental exposures. Full Story
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Financial barriers and limited access to providers are keeping women at the state's community colleges from getting the effective contraceptives they prefer, according to a new report from the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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For Texans with severe epilepsy, a new treatment recently became legal: medical cannabis oil. As the state’s first dispensaries open, we followed two families trying the medication to reduce seizures. Watch our video documentary, “Out of Options.” Full Story
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Ron Pigott, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission's deputy executive commissioner for procurement and contracting services, is the latest person to leave the agency amid a shake-up over contract mismanagement. Full Story
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Heather Griffith Peterson, chief operating officer for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, resigned amid continued criticism from auditors over mismanagement of state contracts. Full Story
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The State Auditor’s Office released a 30-page report on Monday showing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Department of State Health Services bungled a contract with Genesis Systems Inc. Full Story
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A new report says current and former Texas foster youth face greater pregnancy risks and calls on the state to provide health care and education to at-risk teens. Full Story
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A study published this week in a medical journal revealed that a new state methodology drastically reduced the count of maternal deaths in Texas for 2012. What will that mean for state policy on maternal mortality? Full Story
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Some of the state’s top health experts released a report in the medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology on Monday that used a new method for counting — and found that the number of women who died dropped from 147 to 56. Full Story
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Problems arose with the scoring tool used to decide which company should win a contract to administer the Children’s Health Insurance Program in rural parts of the state. Full Story
Ahead of a Texas House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday to discuss Medicaid therapy rate cuts and the state’s Early Childhood Intervention program, some providers are considering ending services due to financial struggles. Full Story
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The number of Texas children dying from abuse and neglect decreased by 22.5 percent in fiscal year 2017, according to a state report, but drug and alcohol use among caregivers is still leading to deaths from trauma, accidental smothering while sleeping and auto accidents, among other causes. Full Story
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