A minute of health news from around the nation.

Jackie Fortiér [FOR-tee-ay] reads the week’s news: Laser cataract surgery, which can be pricier, may not be worth the extra cost. Plus, the federal government is pulling funding for test strips that can help users detect fentanyl in drugs in favor of other public health approaches.

Transcript

Scalpel or laser?

Either can fix your cloudy vision, but one approach could cost you thousands of dollars more.

I'm Jackie Fortier, and this is your KFF Health News Minute.

A growing number of older Americans pay up to $3,000 extra per eye for a doctor to use a laser to restore and correct their vision.

Some doctors also say the laser helps make more precise cuts than the traditional scalpel.

But the American Academy of Ophthalmology says studies haven't found lasers to be safer or more effective.

Test strips can tell a drug user if their supply contains fentanyl before it causes an overdose, but the federal government is pulling support to hand them out.

Kandi Kerr is a harm reduction advocate.

We need tests for strips so that we can continue to make sure people are safe.

The Trump administration wants to focus on other techniques instead, such as giving out naloxone nasal spray to reverse overdoses.

There's more at kffhealthnews.org.