Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Dangerous Fentanyl Substitute Carfentanil Sees Alarming Surge
AP: 100 Times Stronger Than Fentanyl, Carfentanil Seizures Surge
Nearly two decades after drug addiction sent him to rehab as a teenager, 36-year-old Michael Nalewaja had settled into a quiet life in Alaska where he worked as an electrician. That all came crashing down days before Thanksgiving 2025, when he and a mutual friend unknowingly took a lethal cocktail of fentanyl and carfentanil they may have mistaken for cocaine. (Golden and Mustian, 4/18)
HealthDay: Naloxone's OD-Reversing Powers Challenged By Today's Opioids, Tests Show
Naloxone may not fully reverse ODs caused by synthetic opioids, researchers report in the May issue of the journal Anesthesiology. As a result, bystanders should be ready to give additional doses of naloxone if the first doesn’t restore an overdose victim’s breathing, researchers said. “Our study shows that the current doses of naloxone may not be sufficient to reverse overdoses caused by newer synthetic opioids,” lead researcher Maarten van Lemmen of the pain research unit at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands said in a news release. (Thompson, 4/20)
The New York Times: 4 Drug Lab Investigators Die in Car Crash in Mexico
Four government investigators, two from the United States and two from Mexico, were killed early Sunday in a car accident in the northern state of Chihuahua while viewing newly discovered drug labs, a spokesman for the State Attorney General’s Office said. The Mexican victims included the director of the state’s investigative agency and an officer, state officials said. They were returning from an operation to seize and destroy two clandestine methamphetamine laboratories deep in the state’s mountainous terrain. No details were immediately released about the American officials. (Villegas, 4/19)
In other health and wellness news —
The Washington Post: Audio Consumption Can Be Just As Addictive As Screen Time
At Franklin High School in Portland, Oregon, students are required to seal their phones in special pouches at the beginning of the school day. But headphones and earbuds don’t fit in the pouches. “Technically, AirPods and stuff aren’t allowed, but people use them a lot anyway, especially because they can hide them with their hair,” says junior Easton Atlansky, 17, who has noticed many students using AirPods or headphones between classes. (Singer, 4/19)
The New York Times: Influencers Are Spinning Nicotine As A ‘Natural’ Health Hack
The influencers, many of them aligned with the Make America Healthy Again Movement, say the medical establishment has unfairly demonized the compound. (Blum, 4/20)
The New York Times: The Help That Many Older Americans Need Most
On a recent Monday, Sandy Guzman, a community health worker in rural Oregon, drove to visit a patient in her 60s in a small city called The Dalles. The patient lived alone, and “really struggles with social isolation,” Ms. Guzman said. After a serious fall and subsequent surgery, the woman was using a wheelchair. She confided that she would like to attend services at a church down the road but had no way to get there and did not want to seem “a bother.” (Span, 4/18)
AP: People Chasing Healthy Skin Glow Are Trying Beef Tallow And Salmon Sperm
Bryan Vander Dussen spent years as a dairy farmer before shifting to selling farm-raised beef. In the past year, he and his wife have been making another transition: Cooking up recipes in their kitchen that turn organ fat from his animals into tallow balm that buyers are eager to slather on their skin. One tricky bit: Coming up with formulas that don’t smell like pot roast. (Diab, Taxin and Walling, 4/18)
AP: HiPP Recalls Baby Food Jars In Austria After Rat Poison Found In Samples
Baby food brand HiPP is recalling some of its baby food jars after samples in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic tested positive for rat poison, officials said Sunday. Authorities believe the tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-olds that were sold from SPAR supermarkets in Austria. The first sample tested positive on Saturday. “This recall is not due to any product or quality defect on our part. The jars left our HiPP facility in perfect condition,” HiPP said in a statement. “The recall is related to a criminal act currently under investigation by the authorities.” (4/20)
