Nurse practitioners want to change law that requires them to make deals with physicians to prescribe strong painkillers

Nurse practitioners Julie Gaskins, left, and Beth Partin own Family First Health in Columbia. (Photo by Melissa Patrick) By Melissa Patrick...

Nurses and their allies seek a mandate for a nurse in every school, which they say would improve learning outcomes

Kari Hall, CMA, with a Madison County student By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Putting a full-time nurse in every Kentucky school wou...

Big drug bill heads to governor's desk; has harsher penalties and limits most prescriptions for acute pain to 3 days

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A bill that would limit most painkiller prescriptions to a three-day supply for acute pain, and chan...

Without dissent, General Assembly overrides governor's veto of bill allowing courts to require outpatient mental-health treatment

Mental-health advocates lobbied for "Tim's Law" outside the state Senate chamber on March 29.  (Photo by Melissa Patrick) By M...

Kentucky lawmakers have passed several health-related bills to deal with the opioid epidemic, and could pass several more

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. – The 2017 General Assembly has passed several bills meant to put more "tools in...

Legislature passes bill requiring ads against nursing homes to include their correction plan and when problem was corrected

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. – The 2017 General Assembly has passed two bills long supported by the nursing-home i...

Senate medical-review panel bill passes out House with changes after two hours of debate; Senate says OK, sends it to Bevin

This story has been updated to reflect concurrence of the Senate on March 3. By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A Senate bill that woul...

Immunizations are a hot topic in Frankfort; comment on updated regulation ends Tuesday; shots-for-college bill looks dead

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A bill to require all college freshmen in Kentucky to be immunized before starting classes is likely...

State Senate panel OKs bill to deny most taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood; Ky. affiliate gave up funding in 2015

Feb. 22 Update : SB 8 passed out of the full Senate with a 31-6 vote and now heads to the House for consideration.  By Melissa Patrick Kentu...

Legislature moving bills targeting fentanyl sales, shortening length of most opioid prescriptions to three days

The General Assembly is moving bills to increase penalties for the sale of fentanyl and put a three-day limit on prescriptions of other high...