Mississippi Public Health Advocates Find Opioid Settlement Plan Unsettling
Some fear lawmakers will allow money to be spent on issues other than addressing and preventing overdoses. Other states making news include Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, and California.
AP:
Opioid Settlement Plan Allows Millions To Be Spent On Purposes Other Than The Public Health Crisis
In the fallout of over 9,000 Mississippians dying of overdoses since 2000, lawyers and lawmakers have set up a plan to distribute the hundreds of millions of dollars from corporations that catalyzed the crisis. But public health advocates and Mississippians closest to the public health catastrophe worry the setup could enable these dollars to be spent on purposes other than ending the overdose epidemic. (Siegler, 6/3)
Axios:
Colorado Expands Paid Leave For NICU Parents
Colorado became the first state to offer extended paid family leave to parents with infants in the neonatal intensive care units after Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed the policy into law on Friday. Why it matters: Parents will be able to take up to 12 extra weeks while their infants are in the NICU, where parental engagement has been linked to better developmental outcomes. (Goldman, 6/4)
ABC News:
Florida City Begins Formal Process To Remove Fluoride From Water Supply After State Ban
A city in Florida began the formal process of removing fluoride from its water supply on Tuesday to be in compliance with a new state law. Ocala -- 75 miles northwest of Orlando -- currently has a city ordinance requiring fluoride to be added to the water supply. Last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill banning local governments from adding fluoride to public water systems. (Kekatos, 6/3)
North Carolina Health News:
Advocates Protest Pesticide Measure In N.C. Senate Bill
People dressed in green filled the seats at a North Carolina Senate committee hearing on May 14 — their clothes an act of protest against this year’s Senate version of the North Carolina Farm Act bill, a provision of which would limit liability for pesticide manufacturers. Bill co-sponsor Sen. Brent Jackson (R-Autryville) said the provision would protect pesticide companies from frivolous lawsuits, but critics say the measure would place too high a burden on those seeking justice for being harmed by pesticides. (Vitaglione and Atwater, 6/4)
From Texas and California —
The Texas Tribune:
In Texas, An Unlikely Coalition Unites Over Consumer Health
Months ago, when Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee Chair Lois Kolkhorst first held a hearing on Senate Bill 25 — requiring among other things, warning labels on foods containing certain additives — the first person to speak was Calley Means, a top adviser to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. “Texas can really lead here…These bills represent a Texas way that prioritizes transparency, prioritizes good education and prioritizes incentive change,” said Means, a former food and pharmaceutical consultant, who spearheaded the federal Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission. He’s also the brother of Casey Means, President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Surgeon General. (Langford and Huff, 6/2)
Bloomberg:
Texas Wants To Kill A Cannabis Boom It Accidentally Helped Stoke
Texas is on the cusp of banning all recreational THC products after lawmakers passed a bill to reverse the unintended effects of hemp laws that led to a boom in shops selling gummies, joints, vapes and drinks that create a similar high to marijuana. The proposal, awaiting Governor Greg Abbott’s signature, would outlaw almost all consumable hemp products except for non-psychoactive CBD and CBG. A separate measure expanding the state’s medical use program for THC — the psychoactive molecule found in marijuana and at weaker concentrations in hemp — is also nearing final approval. (Lovinger, 6/3)
KFF Health News:
Newsom’s Push To Block Law Could Save California Nursing Homes Over $1 Billion
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to block a California law from taking effect next year that will require nursing homes to have a 96-hour backup power supply, potentially giving the industry a reprieve from having to spend over $1 billion in capital investments. The Democratic governor tucked the suspension into his budget update to address a projected $12 billion state deficit. If lawmakers go along, it will be the second time nursing homes have forestalled spending on generators or other power supplies required to keep ventilators, feeding and IV pumps, and medication dispensing machines running during emergencies, such as wildfires. (Sciacca, 6/4)
Newsweek:
People In California Warned Over Parasite-Riddled Fish
Southern Californians have been warned that more than 90 percent of popular game fish have been found to contain invasive, parasitic worms that can infect humans. Two species of the parasitic flatworms known as "trematodes" were found infecting five species of freshwater fish from San Diego County in a study by researchers from University of California, San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Infection with the worms typically causes gastrointestinal problems, lethargy and weight loss in humans—but severe cases have even been known to cause heart attack and strokes. (Randall, 6/3)
