Health Network In Florida Gave Patients’ Data To Meta, Lawsuit Alleges
Other news from around the nation is on cesarean sections outside of hospitals, childhood vaccine requirements, "just brutal" heat in Phoenix, and more.
Health News Florida:
A Lawsuit Claims A Palm Beach County Health Network Shared Patient Info With Meta
A recent lawsuit alleges Palm Beach Health Network shared "highly sensitive personal information" with Facebook’s parent company, Meta, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The health network is accused of sharing code from its website with the company, allowing Facebook to target patients with personalized ads based on the sensitive information. (5/27)
KFF Health News:
Florida Allows Doctors To Perform C-Sections Outside Of Hospitals
Florida has become the first state to allow doctors to perform cesarean sections outside of hospitals, siding with a private equity-owned physicians group that says the change will lower costs and give pregnant women the homier birthing atmosphere that many desire. But the hospital industry and the nation’s leading obstetricians’ association say that even though some Florida hospitals have closed their maternity wards in recent years, performing C-sections in doctor-run clinics will increase the risks for women and babies when complications arise. (Galewitz, 5/28)
Missouri Independent:
Therapists, Social Workers Face Scrutiny From Missouri AG
A state investigation of the Washington University Transgender Center in St. Louis expanded to include therapists and social workers across the state who work with minors seeking gender-affirming care. (Hanshaw, 5/25)
Stateline.org:
As States Loosen Childhood Vaccine Requirements, Public Health Experts’ Worries Grow
Louisiana Republican state Rep. Kathy Edmonston believes no one ought to be required to vaccinate their children. So, she wants schools to proactively tell parents that it’s their right under Louisiana law to seek an exemption. “It’s not the vaccine itself, it is the mandate,” Edmonston told Stateline. “The law is the law. And it already says you can opt out if you don’t want it. If you do want it, you can go anywhere and get it.” (Chatlani, 5/27)
North Carolina Health News:
Docs, Community Health Workers Worry About Health Effects Of Immigration Bill
Griselda Alonso remembers the home visit well. It was around 2008, a few years after she had started as a community health worker in Wake County. On typical visits, she focused on children’s health, telling families how to get vaccines, outlining healthy eating habits for them and sharing information about diabetes or asthma medications. During this visit to a family’s home in Fuquay Varina, something seemed off. (Nandagiri, 5/28)
Politico:
‘Just Brutal’: Why America’s Hottest City Is Seeing A Surge In Deaths
Summer burns in Phoenix. Scorching pavement blisters uncovered skin. Pus oozes from burned feet and bacteria-teeming wounds fester under sweat-soaked bandages for people living on the street. They might be the lucky ones. Relentless heat led to 645 deaths last year in Maricopa County, the most ever documented in Arizona’s biggest metropolitan area. The soaring number of heat mortalities — a 1,000 percent increase over 10 years — comes as temperatures reach new highs amid exploding eviction rates in the Phoenix area, leading to a collision of homelessness and record-setting heat waves. (Wittenberg, 5/28)
