Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Conagra Must Pay $25M To Calif. Man Who Says Cooking Spray Ruined Lungs
Chicago Tribune: Conagra Ordered To Pay $25 Million In Lawsuit Over Pam Spray
A jury awarded a Los Angeles man $25 million in a lawsuit against Chicago-based Conagra alleging its butter-flavored Pam cooking spray caused a rare chronic lung disease that will require a double lung transplant. (Channick, 2/11)
In other health news from across the U.S. —
ProPublica, The Denver Gazette: Colorado Marijuana Regulators Consider Changes In Testing Sample Products
Colorado marijuana manufacturers would no longer be allowed to choose which product samples they send for mandatory lab testing under a new regulatory proposal discussed at a policy forum on Friday. Instead, the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division may require independent labs or outside vendors to collect product samples for the testing that’s required before companies can sell their products to ensure they’re free of contaminants. (Osher and Wyloge, 2/11)
North Carolina Health News: Who Gets A Bed In NC’s State Psychiatric Hospitals — And Who Waits?
North Carolina’s three state-run psychiatric hospitals — Cherry, Central Regional and Broughton — serve about 570 patients each day. But hundreds more who need inpatient treatment wait weeks — even months — for a bed to open. (Crumpler and Knopf, 2/12)
ProPublica, The Frontier: Their Water Was Undrinkable. Oklahoma’s Oil Regulators Failed To Help.
In the summer of 2022, months after Tammy Boarman and her husband, Chris, moved into their newly built “forever home” 30 miles from Oklahoma City, the plants in their yard began to turn yellow. The shrubs wilted, though Tammy watered them often. And the couple began to notice a salty taste in their drinking water. The water came from a private well, drilled the year before, and they hoped that the bad taste would fade with time and with the help of a water softener. (Bowlin, 2/12)
KFF Health News: Louisville Found PFAS In Drinking Water. The Trump Administration Wouldn’t Require Any Action
Every day, the Ohio River sends billions of gallons of water flowing past Louisville’s pumping station, where the Kentucky city’s utility sucks it up to turn it into tap water. To ensure it tastes good and is safe to drink, a small team of scientists and technicians is constantly testing the water for pH, odors, heavy metals, and microbes. But unlike many smaller municipal utilities in the U.S., Louisville Water regularly checks for PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. (Watkins, 2/12)
On social media and mental health —
The Texas Tribune: Texas Sues Snapchat Over Inappropriate Content, Addictiveness
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday sued the company that owns Snapchat, accusing the social media organization of failing to adequately warn parents about inappropriate material on the platform and downplaying its addictiveness. (Simpson, 2/11)
AP: Instagram Chief Casts Doubt On Clinical Addiction To Social Media
Adam Mosseri, the head of Meta’s Instagram, testified Wednesday during a landmark social media trial in Los Angeles that he disagrees with the idea that people can be clinically addicted to social media platforms. The question of addiction is a key pillar of the case, where plaintiffs seek to hold social media companies responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Meta Platforms and Google’s YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap have settled. (Huamani and Ortutay, 2/12)
