American taxpayers have foot the bill for billions of dollars spent treating gunshot wounds, a new study says. Treatment for firearm injuries cost U.S. hospitals an estimated $7.7 billion between 2016 and 2021, with the largest share falling on urban hospitals that serve the highest proportion of Medicaid patients, researchers report in JAMA Health Forum.…  read on >  read on >

Farm workers have a higher risk for kidney disease, mainly due to exposure to high heat and agricultural chemicals, a new small-scale study says. Workers on a grape farm near the Arizona-Sonora border had high levels of arsenic, cadmium and chromium in their urine, and those were linked to increased signs of kidney injury, according…  read on >  read on >

The White House has struck a deal with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. to lower the cost of prescription drugs for the Medicaid program. The agreement — announced at the White House Tuesday by President Donald Trump and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla — comes as the administration pushes for similar deals with other major drug manufacturers.…  read on >  read on >

People with aching knees might receive relief from a course of low-dose radiation therapy, a new study suggests. People with mild to moderate wear-and-tear knee arthritis felt less pain and had better mobility after radiation treatment, researchers reported Sunday at a meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology in San Francisco. “People with painful…  read on >  read on >

Nearly everyone who suffers a heart attack, stroke or heart failure had at least one warning sign that cropped up years before, a new study says. More than 99% of patients had one or more risk factors prior to their heart emergency, including high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, poor blood sugar control or smoking, researchers…  read on >  read on >

A newly developed AI tool may help predict which kids with asthma are at higher risk for severe complications like respiratory infections and pneumonia, researchers say. A subgroup of kids identified by the AI tool developed pneumonia more than twice as often as other children with asthma, researchers recently reported in the Journal of Allergy…  read on >  read on >