Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. Today's selections are on the FDA, the 4B movement, food safety, teen health, and more.
The New York Times:
From AI To Musk’s Brain Chip, The F.D.A.’s Device Unit Faces Rapid Change
There are now artificial intelligence programs that scan M.R.I.s for signs of cancer, Apple AirPods that work as hearing aids and devices that decode the electrical blips of the brain to restore speech to those who have lost it. Medical device technology is now deeply entrenched in many patients’ health care and can have a stunning impact on their lives. As advancements become more tangible to millions of Americans, regulation of the devices has commanded increasing attention at the Food and Drug Administration. (Jewett, 11/1)
Politico:
‘I Think It Will Happen Again If Trump Is The President’: The Ongoing Trauma Of Family Separation
Even today, one of the most controversial immigration measures in modern history is not fully understood. Children were spread across the country, sent to shelters and foster homes, and challenged with navigating a daunting immigration system without their parents. In some cases, attorneys even carried infants into court to appear before a judge, who would read out the charges against them. (Ward, 11/3)
Wired:
After Trump's Victory, The 4B Movement Is Spreading Across TikTok
The 4B movement, from South Korea, calls for women to not date, marry, sleep with, or have children with men. Women are calling for the movement to take off in the US after Donald Trump won the election. (Elliott and Watercutter, 11/7)
The Atlantic:
America Has An Onion Problem
Certain foods are more likely than others to wreak havoc on your stomach. Cucumbers have carried Salmonella, peaches have been contaminated with Listeria, and eating a salad feels a bit like Russian roulette. Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and sprouts are all considered high risk for foodborne illnesses. (Scott Faber, a food-safety expert at the Environmental Working Group, put it to me bluntly: “Don’t eat sprouts.”) By comparison, onions have an almost-divine air. They are blessed with natural properties that are thought to prevent foodborne illnesses, and on top of that, they undergo a curing process that acts as a fail-safe. According to one analysis by the CDC, onions sickened 161 people from 1998 to 2013, whereas leafy greens sickened more than 7,000. (Florko, 11/7)
Undark:
Are Schools With Armed Police Actually Safer?
More than 41,000 schools employ at least one sworn law enforcement officer or school resource officer, according to federal data collected by the Department of Education in the 2021-2022 school year and published this year. Some districts have increased their numbers. And other cities, such as Denver, are reinstating school resource officers several years after they were removed, according to reports. But starting around the time of nationwide protests over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in 2020, at least 50 school districts nationwide decided to take a different approach — decreasing funding or ending school resource officer programs, according to federal data reported in Education Week. (McCullom, 11/6)
The New York Times:
Growing Up In Climate Chaos: How Is Climate Change Affecting Teenagers?
Today’s teenagers were born into the global-warming crisis, but already it’s upending their adolescence — and will define their future. (Locke, 11/4)
