Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Ailing Civilian Contractors On Their Own To Fight Red Tape Over Burn Pits
The War Horse: US Military Contractors Exposed To Burn Pits Lack Care Access
As an Army infantryman, Ernest Barrington was very familiar with the thick smoke and fumes that came off the burn pit at Joint Base Balad in Iraq. The toxic dust that wafted from the huge, open-air ditches where the military burned everything from tires and ordnance to medical waste and plastic would coat his skin and settle on the inside of his nose and under his eyelids. “You go to take a shower, it’s in the shower with you. So you’re cleaning your skin, and as you’re drying, the stuff is landing on your body. By the time you make it back to your room, you have the toxins right back on you,” he said. “Every day that you’re there, you’re breathing it in.” ... The toxic ash was the same, but access to care for those battling cancers almost two decades later is not. Veterans are now guaranteed coverage; the estimated tens of thousands of contract workers debilitated by burn pits are not. (Kehrt, 6/6)
On heat and climate change —
Axios: Americans See Climate Change As Health Threat Heading Into Summer
Two-thirds of Americans see climate change as a threat to human health, and most are bracing for a summer of extreme weather they expect will be as bad as or worse than last year, according to the latest Axios-Ipsos American Health Index. The big picture: There's a perception that the record heat, wildfires, floods and other extreme weather events that played out vividly across screens last summer is a new baseline, though sentiment varies by age and political affiliation. (Millman, 6/6)
CBS News: World Hits 12 Straight Months Of Record-High Temperatures — But As Warming Continues, It'll Be "Remembered As Comparatively Cold"
The world has now marked one full year of back-to-back monthly heat records, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service announced on Wednesday. It said last month was the hottest May in recorded history — the 12th consecutive month in which the monthly high temperature record was broken.It was also the 11th consecutive month where the global average temperature was at least 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. If that trend continues, it would mean the world is passing a major climate change milestone. (Cohen, 6/5)
CBS News: Prince George's County Man, 59, Marks Maryland's First Heat-Related Death Of 2024
A 59-year-old man who died recently in Prince George's County marks Maryland's first heat-related death this year, the Maryland Department of Health said Wednesday. Nilesh Kalyanaraman, deputy secretary for public health services with the Maryland Department of Health, said the man's tragic death demonstrates the perils posed by heat-related illness, such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. (Mattu, 6/5)
CBS News: Alameda Nixes Climate Geoengineering Experiment To Test Technology That Could Mitigate Global Warming
An experiment in Alameda involving spraying sea salt particles into the air to determine the feasibility of mitigating global warming, and subsequently halted over safety concerns, will not be resumed after a vote by the City Council. Researchers from the University of Washington were performing the climate experiment on the flight deck of the USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum in Alameda to determine if salt particles can increase the sun reflectivity of clouds, as part of its Marine Cloud Brightening Program. (Castañeda, 6/5)
