Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Judge Orders Missouri To Recast Ballot Summary For Anti-Abortion Measure
AP: Missouri Judge Strikes Ballot Summary For Anti-Abortion Amendment
A Missouri judge has struck down a ballot summary for an anti-abortion amendment backed by Republican state lawmakers while concluding that it presented an unfair and insufficient description to voters. Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled Friday that the ballot summary must be rewritten, but he rejected a request by abortion-rights advocates to block the proposed constitutional amendment from going to voters. (Lieb, 9/20)
San Francisco Chronicle: A Bay Area Asylum-Seeker Miscarried In ICE Detention
A few weeks after arriving at the immigrant detention center in Bakersfield, Angie Rodriguez felt sick to her stomach. It ached, her head throbbed, even her teeth hurt. Suspecting an infection, the 26-year-old asylum-seeker — who had been living in San Jose before her July arrest at San Francisco’s immigration court — used one of the tablets in the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center women’s dormitory to request medical attention. The next day, she said, she was seen by a medic who took a urine sample that proved an inconvenient miracle: Rodriguez was pregnant. (Hosseini, 9/21)
The New York Times: Pregnant Women Should Not Use Cannabis, New Medical Guidelines Say
Women who are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding should be screened for cannabis use and strongly discouraged from it, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in new clinical guidelines published on Friday. Cannabis use during pregnancy has been rising for years. Many women rely on the drug to cope with nausea and other pregnancy symptoms. (Caryn Rabin, 9/19)
Stat: Gender-Affirming Care Report Author Decries 'Misuse' Of His Work
Earlier this year, clinical epidemiologist Gordon Guyatt co-authored three systematic reviews on different types of gender-affirming care for children and young adults: puberty blockers, hormones, and top surgery. The studies were led by a Ph.D. student, and Guyatt was specifically pulled onto the team to make sure the assessment was as objective as possible. It’s a strength of his. Guyatt, a professor of health research methods, evidence, and impact at McMaster University in Canada, coined the term “evidence-based medicine” in 1991, and has spent more than 45 years focused on reviewing the safety and effectiveness of myriad medical interventions by authoring systematic evidence reviews and contributing to clinical guidelines. His process for the reviews on gender-affirming care was the same as it always is. (Gaffney, 9/22)
In other public health news —
CBS News: Flesh-Eating Bacteria Kills 5th Person This Year In Louisiana
A fifth person has died after contracting a rare, flesh-eating bacteria in Louisiana, state health officials said this week. Vibrio vulnificus is a bacteria that occurs in warm coastal waters, CBS News previously reported, and is more common between May and October. It can cause illness including life-threatening necrotizing fasciitis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About one in five people with a Vibrio vulnificus infection die, according to the CDC. It's not clear how the person contracted the bacteria. (Breen, 9/19)
The Hill: 12 Brands Of Cinnamon Recalled For High Lead Levels
The Food and Drug Administration issued a recall for a dozen brands of cinnamon sold nationwide for elevated lead levels. Consuming the cinnamon “may be unsafe,” and consumers should throw away the products immediately, the FDA warned. (Kutz, 9/19)
NBC News: Costco Recalls Poke Sold Under Kirkland Signature Brand Over Possible Listeria Contamination
Over 3,300 pounds of Ahi Tuna Wasabi Poke sold under Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand have been recalled because potential listeria contamination in the green onions used in the product. Western United Fish Co. announced the recall with the knowledge of the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday after its green onion supplier reported a positive listeria monocytogenes test result on Sept. 17. (Lenthang, 9/22)
Los Angeles Times: Could Wildfire Smoke Become America's Leading Climate Health Threat By 2050?
In one of the most comprehensive pictures yet of the growing health risks associated with wildfire smoke, new research suggests ash and soot from burning wildlands has caused more than 41,000 excess deaths annually from 2011 to 2020. By 2050, as global warming makes large swaths of North America hotter and drier, the annual death toll from smoke could reach between 68,000 and 71,000, without stronger preventive and public health measures. (Briscoe, 9/21)
Also of note —
NBC News: The Policy Divide Between Blue And Red States Keeps Widening
In New York, residents are able to access to abortion through the 24th week of pregnancy, are banned from carrying concealed firearms in sensitive places and can easily obtain the new Covid vaccines. In Florida, abortions are available only through the sixth week of pregnancy, people can now openly carry guns without permits in most places, and the state’s surgeon general is eliminating vaccine mandates while signaling he wants to ban the Covid shot. Politically, these two states haven’t had much in common for decades. (Edelman, 9/20)
