North Carolina Health News

Established in November 2011 as a nonprofit organization in North Carolina, NCHN is a dedicated news outlet focused on health care issues within the state. We pride ourselves on our independence, steering clear of any connections to political parties, special interest groups, or activist organizations. Our goal is to bridge the growing gap in health care media coverage by developing a comprehensive website that delivers essential information about health care in North Carolina. NCHN will showcase original articles and in-depth features authored by skilled health journalists like Rose Hoban, Taylor Sisk, and others.

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Advocates protest pesticide measure in N.C. Senate bill

3 days ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Grace Vitaglione |Will Atwater

People dressed in green filled the seats at a North Carolina Senate committee hearing on May 14 — their clothes an act of protest against this year’s Senate version of the North Carolina Farm Act bill, a provision of which would limit liability for pesticide manufacturers. Bill co-sponsor Sen.
Healthy Opportunities Pilot told to prepare for program to shutter July 1

4 days ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Jaymie Baxley |Rose Hoban |Grace Vitaglione

The Healthy Opportunities Pilot, a Medicaid program that addressed the nonmedical health needs of low-income North Carolinians, will cease operations July 1, according to an announcement obtained by NC Health News. The first-in-the-nation effort that has drawn national attention and praise was launched in 2022 and has provided assistance to across three largely rural regions of the state.
NC lawmakers target pharmacy “middlemen” in proposed reforms

5 days ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Grace Vitaglione

Jennifer Burch is a second-generation pharmacist who’s been working at Central Pharmacy in Durham since she was a teen. Some of her current customers have been coming to the store since the days when she still worked with her father. In those days, when they worked with pharmacy benefits managers, they paid a transmission fee — a simple financial transaction. Now, pharmacy benefit managers “control the entire pharmacy benefit very tightly,” she said.
Medicaid work rule could burden N.C. agencies

1 week ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Jaymie Baxley

The possibility of North Carolinians who depend on Medicaid being subject to a work requirement to keep their coverage has grown more plausible with the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of a GOP-backed budget bill that includes the measure.
N.C. House budget reduces HHS positions, tweaks Medicaid funding

1 week ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Grace Vitaglione

The North Carolina House of Representatives approved a budget plan on May 22 for the next two fiscal years that would cut some vacant positions in the health department, loosen child care regulations and eliminate Medicaid coverage of GLP-1 drugs, such as Ozempic, for weight loss. The House’s budget plan came about a month after the N.C. Senate released theirs.
Father’s death led UNC researcher to seek treatments for pancreatic cancer

2 weeks ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Jennifer Fernandez

Finding a way to fight pancreatic cancer is personal for Kirsten Bryant. She was studying cell biology at Cornell University and considering cancer research during the last year of getting her doctorate in 2013 when her father died from pancreatic cancer. “After going through the process of treatment with him and realizing how few options there were for pancreatic cancer patients … I felt like I was in a position to potentially make a difference with the training that I had,” she said.
Seeing red: NC’s beloved Cheerwine faces scrutiny over its iconic color

2 weeks ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Anne Blythe

Cheerwine, a cherry-flavored soda brewed in Salisbury for slightly more than a century, has become widely known as the “nectar of North Carolina.”On May 17, the Rowan County city held its annual festival to celebrate the beverage that L.D. Peeler, a general store owner, created in 1917. Peeler was interested in producing his own soft drink, according to a brief company history, and met a St. Louis salesman who sold him a wild cherry flavoring that he thought would mix well with others.
Up in smoke: Federal cuts threaten to derail NC’s progress on tobacco prevention

2 weeks ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Jaymie Baxley |Rose Hoban

Sally Herndon has spent more than three decades working to get North Carolinians to quit smoking. As head of the state Health Department’s Tobacco Prevention and Control branch, she oversaw various initiatives aimed at reducing tobacco and e-cigarette use among young people. She was instrumental in efforts to reduce residents’ exposure to second-hand smoke, helping to marshal support for a 2010 law that banned smoking in bars and restaurants across the state.
North Carolina residents condemn EPA’s PFAS regulation delay

2 weeks ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Will Atwater

People who have been struggling to clean up decades of industrial pollution in the lower Cape Fear River basin are expressing their dismay and anger at a federal delay announced Wednesday on a crackdown on so-called forever chemicals that have fouled their drinking water.
Child care advocates in NC look for ways to survive after loss of federal pandemic aid

3 weeks ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Jennifer Fernandez

CHARLOTTE — The Queen City has evolved over the years, and industries have followed suit — growing and improving. Except for the child care industry, Laterria Lassiter told a crowd of about 85 people at the Pathway Preschool Center on Monday for a “NC Day Without Childcare” demonstration. “The early childhood industry has continued to be stagnant,” said Lassiter, a parent, advocate and former child care center owner.