Economic Burden Of LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapy Is $9 Billion

Bloomberg: LGBTQ Conversion Therapy Costs U.S. $9 Billion Annually
In a first-of-its-kind look at the financial impact of LGBTQ conversion therapy in the U.S., new research shows the practice creates an economic burden of $9 billion annually. Researchers said the yearly direct cost of conversion therapy performed on LGBTQ young people — including payment of services, health insurance reimbursements or fees to religious organizations that perform the practice —  totals $650 million, found the study, published by medical journal JAMA Pediatrics on Monday. Indirectly, conversion therapy costs $8.58 billion annually due to the expense of treating effects like anxiety, depression, suicide attempts or substance abuse, the paper said. (Butler, 3/7)

In other LGBTQ+ news —

The 19th: As Anti-Trans Bills Sweep The Nation, The Country’s Largest Trans Rights Org Fights To Rebuild
In August 2019, six weeks after Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen joined the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) as deputy executive director, news broke that the Justice Department, under President Donald Trump, had asked the Supreme Court to legalize firing transgender workers on the basis of their gender identity. But at one of the moments it was needed most, the nation’s premier transgender policy nonprofit, which had worked shoulder-to-shoulder with presidential administrations, sat empty. Earlier that same day, the staff had walked out over the way the organization treated its employees of color.  The incident would prelude the effective dissolution of the storied organization. (Sosin, 3/7)

North Carolina Health News: Durham Queer Health Fair Serving LGBTQ NCians 
It was only about a decade ago when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first medication that provided pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to lower people’s risk of catching HIV, Truvada. Scotty Elliot still remembers the stigma that followed people who chose to get on the medication. “Guys who took it were called ‘Truvada whores,’” said Elliot, an infectious disease social worker at Duke Academy for Health Professions Education and Academic Development. He said the disparagement was “just a horrible way to start a movement of getting care with people, so they are protected from HIV.” That stigma against people with HIV and members of the LGBTQ community, which was disproportionately impacted by HIV, still exists, Elliot said. (Thompson, 3/8)

Miami Herald: Miami Students Protest ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill At Capitol 
When Javier Gomez testified in front of Florida’s lawmakers in Tallahassee last month, he said he was on the verge of a “panic attack.” But it was important lawmakers heard about the impact of SB 1834, a “Parental Rights in Education” bill in the Florida Senate that critics have labeled the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, from the perspective of students who could be affected most, he said. “I looked everyone in the eyes and I told them my story,” said Gomez, 17, president of the Gay-Straight Alliance chapter at Miami’s iPrep Academy. (Brugal, 3/7)

In abortion news —

The New York Times: States Are Deciding On Abortion Without The Supreme Court 
Both sides of the abortion debate anticipate that come July, the Supreme Court will have overturned Roe v. Wade and with it the constitutional right to abortion, handing anti-abortion activists a victory they have sought for five decades. But from Florida to Idaho, Republican-led state legislatures are not waiting: They are operating as if Roe has already been struck down, advancing new restrictions that aim to make abortion illegal in as many circumstances as possible. (Zernike, 3/7)

The 19th: States Push Abortion Restrictions Prior To Supreme Court Ruling On Dobbs
Florida’s legislature passed a bill that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Idaho’s Senate approved a bill to block the procedure after six weeks, modeled after Texas’ law. Georgia’s Senate advanced legislation that prohibits using telemedicine for abortion medication. And in Kentucky, the state House voted to pass new restrictions on abortion providers that, if enacted, could effectively shut down clinics in the state. Legislatures around the country are voting on a variety of abortion restrictions, many of them not in line with the protections that have existed since Roe v. Wade was decided 49 years ago. They’re doing so with an eye on the Supreme Court, set to rule in a case that is widely expected to give more power to states to add limits to the availability of abortion. (Luthra, 3/7)

In other public health news —

Fox News: Bad Ticker: Does Daylight Saving Time Cause 'Biological Clock Shock' To Your Heart?
Can springing forward cause problems for your ticker? Switching to daylight saving time may cause more than losing an hour of sleep; it may also have a negative impact on your heart and brain health, according to several studies. The American Heart Association said several scientific reports suggest the upcoming time change is associated with an increase in the incidence of heart disease and stroke during the spring ahead time transition. (McGorry, 3/7)

NPR: Finding Help For Teens Who Grow Up Caregiving For Their Disabled Military Parents
The Garey family home outside of Austin, Texas, is a revolving door of medical professionals coming to assist Tom, the patriarch — an Air Force veteran with advanced ALS. Every few hours, a respiratory therapist or hospice nurse enters a key code to get into the house, and the German shepherds, Lou and Remi, go crazy. "It's life here at the Gareys," said Lara Garey, Tom's wife and primary caregiver. "We try to make it like an ICU. But it's really like a zoo ICU." (Frame, 3/7)

AP: Baby Gets Heart Transplant With A Twist To Fight Rejection
Duke University doctors say a baby is thriving after a first-of-its-kind heart transplant -- one that came with a bonus technique to try to help prevent rejection of the new organ. The thymus plays a critical role in building the immune system. Doctors have wondered if implanting some thymus tissue that matched a donated organ might help it survive without the recipient needing toxic anti-rejection medicines. (Neergaard, 3/7)

Stat: Newly Discovered Brain Cells May Be A Memory Filing System 
A scientist opens a laptop in front of a patient. On screen, a boy, tied to a fleet of balloons, fades in. As he rises into the air, the scene cuts abruptly to an office, where a man sits in front of his boss. A question then appears: “Was anyone in the video wearing a tie?” Jie Zheng, a postdoctoral fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital, had flown to Los Angeles to show the video to this patient, who has a severe seizure disorder. Like with the 18 other patients who were part of the study, neurosurgeons had placed electrodes in the patient’s brain to pinpoint what had been causing their seizures. Zheng and a group of scientists in a federally funded BRAIN Initiative consortium used this opportune moment to find neurons involved in the creation of memories. While subjects watched clips from movies and answered questions that tested their memory of the videos, the electrical activity of their brains was monitored. (Delamerced, 3/7)