Counterfeit Masks: Remove 3M Trademark, Judge Rules

AP: Judge Orders Company To Take 3M's Trademarks Off N95 Masks
A federal judge has ordered a Florida company accused of selling counterfeit N95 face masks with 3M’s name on them to stop using the Minnesota company’s trademarks and representing itself as a distributor or authorized retailer for 3M. 3M sued Nationwide Source Inc. in late December, accusing the company of selling more than 10,000 of the counterfeit respirators to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. The hospital allegedly paid more than six times above 3M’s standard price for the mask used by medical workers and others to help protect against the coronavirus. (1/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid Face Masks Are Disrupting A Key Tool Of Human Communications, New Research Shows 
In a world of masks, it’s harder than ever to read the faces around us. Only now are scientists learning how we manage without the revealing tells of smiles, sneers, dimples and frowns that signal our state of mind, as masks in public settings become common in more than 50 countries. While a public health necessity, masks challenge our skill in understanding facial expressions, confusing our ability to distinguish disgust from anger or happiness from indifference, several new studies say. Scientists worry about the implications for infants and children who may lag in learning to recognize subtle facial signals of anger, fear, doubt, delight and sorrow. While data is sparse, one new study suggests that children have as much trouble reading facial expressions when people are wearing masks as when they are wearing sunglasses. (Hotz, 1/18)

In other public health news —

CNN: The Rise Of The Fake Commute, And Why It's Good For Your Mental Health
If the blur between work and home is still a struggle, mimicking your route from the Before Times may be the solution you need. For many people, commuting to work can be the worst part of their day: There is the chance of sitting in standstill traffic. Or, railway problems might leave you disembarking and on an unexpected journey. For others, however, commuting may have been a ritual that was critical for their mental health and work-life balance. Enter the rise of the "fake commute," wherein people replace that daily transition with walks, runs, bike rides and more. (Rogers, 1/18)

The New York Times: Phil Spector Spent Last Days Suffering With Covid-19
Covid-19 has taken the life of Phil Spector, one of the most influential and successful record producers in rock ’n’ roll, who spent the last chapter of his life in prison for murder. Mr. Spector, 81, died on Saturday of complications from Covid-19, according to his daughter, Nicole Audrey Spector. (Richtel, 1/17)

NPR: Homeless Populations Won't Be Counted In Many Areas In 2021
Every January, in the middle of the night, thousands of volunteers and outreach workers spread out across the country to count the nation's homeless population. They search highway underpasses, wooded areas, abandoned buildings and sidewalks to locate those who are living outside. But this year, because of the pandemic, the annual street count has been canceled or modified in hundreds of communities, even as the nation's unsheltered population appears to be growing. (Fessler, 1/18)

Modern Healthcare: Wildfires Producing More Harmful Pollution
Wildfire smoke accounted for up to half of all health-damaging small particle air pollution in the western U.S. in recent years as warming temperatures fueled more destructive blazes, according to researchers at Stanford University
and the University of California at San Diego. Even as pollution emissions declined from other sources, including vehicle exhaust and power plants, the amount from fires increased sharply. “From a climate perspective, wildfires should be the first things on our minds for many of us in the U.S.,” said Marshall Burke, an associate professor of earth system science at Stanford and lead author of the study. (1/16)

KHN: Are Public Health Ads Worth The Price? Not If They’re All About Fear 
The public service announcement showed a mother finding her teenage son lifeless, juxtaposed with the sound of a ukulele and a woman singing, “That’s how, how you OD’d on heroin.” It aired locally during the 2015 Super Bowl but attracted national attention and has been viewed more than 500,000 times on YouTube. (Berger, 1/19)