At town hall in Benton, U.S. Rep. James Comer defends and explains his vote for House Republican health-care legislation

UPDATE, May 21: The Washington Post 's Chico Harlan has a more detailed report on Comer's town halls in Benton, Albany, Edmonton an...

Anti-smoking expert: Cigarettes kill 8,900 Kentuckians a year, so it's time to raise cigarette tax and pass statewide smoking ban

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News "Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death that we know of," Ellen Hahn, direc...

Senate Health and Welfare Chair Julie Raque Adams, a Republican moderate from Louisville, had a banner session

Sen. Julie Raque Adams By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The term "public servant" comes to mind when state Sen. Julie Raque...

Foundation plans to be more active against tobacco, since it is the cause of many of Kentucky's health problems

As more Kentuckians favor a statewide smoking ban but the state legislature won't even ban smoking at schools, the Foundation for a Heal...

Support for statewide smoking ban rises to 71%

Seventy-one percent of Kentucky adults favor a statewide smoking ban, up 17 percentage points since the Kentucky Health Issues Poll began as...

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...

Nurse practitioners ease doctor shortage, but will have to wait to get more authority to prescribe narcotics; opioid epidemic cited

Nurse practitioner Robin Szczapinski talks with her patient,  Harold Brashear Sr., at the Louisville Veterans Affairs Medical Center.  (Co...

House sends Senate bill to limit most potent painkiller prescriptions to three days, target traffickers of fentanyl

The state House has sent to the Senate a bill to put a three-day limit on prescriptions of high-potency painkillers, and increase penalties ...