Mass. House Moves To End Mandate That Can Stigmatize Addiction Meds
Drug-exposed babies in Massachusetts must be reported by a medical professional to child welfare officials, even if the drug is a drug addiction treatment like methadone or buprenorphine. State lawmakers want to change that mandate.
The Boston Globe:
House Seeks To Drop Reporting Mandate For Substance-Exposed Babies
Massachusetts House leaders are pushing a proposal that would free doctors, hospital officials, and others from requirements to report suspected neglect to child welfare officials solely because a baby is born exposed to drugs, offering a dramatic shift in the state’s approach to child welfare reporting. The measure is expected to pass the House on Thursday as part of a wide-ranging bill intended to address the state’s still-raging opioid epidemic. (Stout, 6/11)
Fox News:
Through Pilot Project, Medical Marijuana Could Become More Accessible To Seniors
A new initiative dubbed The Commonwealth Project, based in Massachusetts, aims to integrate medical cannabis into traditional health care for seniors. "People 65 and over are the fastest-growing segment using cannabis, but they're using it for ailments of aging, [for] relief," Howard Kessler, the group’s founder, told Fox News. Medical marijuana is legal in 37 states, four U.S. territories and Washington, D.C. (Baier and Munneke, 6/11)
AP:
With 1 Out Of 3 Californians On Medicaid, Doctors Push Ballot Measure To Force State To Pay More
California Gov. Gavin Newsom last year agreed to a tax increase that aimed to do two things: Help balance a budget with a multibillion-dollar shortfall, and pay doctors more money to treat patients covered by Medicaid — the taxpayer-funded health insurance program for people with low incomes that now covers one out of every three people in the state. A year later, California is relying on this tax more than ever. Newsom raised it again in March to help cover another multibillion-dollar shortfall this year. And he’s proposing to raise it a third time to generate even more money as the deficit has continued to grow. (Beam, 6/12)
NPR:
In Baltimore, Nurses Deliver Primary Care Door-To-Door
Raquel Richardson arrived for work at the Johnston Square Apartments in East Baltimore this February expecting to have just another Tuesday. The 31-year-old typically spends her days solving residents’ problems, answering questions at reception and making maintenance rounds. That day, however, she noticed a team offering free blood pressure checks in the lobby — and decided to sit for one too. (Walker and Gorenstein, 6/11)
CBS News:
At-Home Rapid HIV Tests Being Developed By Colorado State University
Researchers at Colorado State University are nearing completion of an effort to create and develop rapid at-home tests for HIV. The staff and students in Fort Collins are using technology and science developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to now create the HIV testing devices. The National Institute of Health has awarded CSU $2.9 million to try and create more accurate and reliable at-home tests for HIV. (Thomas, 6/11)
In environmental health news —
Reuters:
US Industry Groups Sue To Block 'Forever Chemical' Drinking-Water Rule
U.S. manufacturing and chemical industry groups have filed a lawsuit seeking to block a federal rule announced this year setting the first-ever drinking water standard to protect people against toxic "forever chemicals." The rule is intended to reduce exposure to the group of 15,000 chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for approximately 100 million people. It would avoid deaths that have been linked to PFAS, according to the EPA. (Pierson, 6/11)
Reuters:
Toxic Gas In Louisiana Air Far Exceeds Safe Levels, EPA Estimates, US Study Finds
The toxic gas ethylene oxide (EtO) is detectable in southeastern Louisiana at levels a thousand times higher than what is considered safe, according to a new study. EtO emissions largely come from petrochemical manufacturing, and southeastern Louisiana has a high density of facilities that use or manufacture petrochemicals. (Lapid, 6/11)
NPR:
This Arizona Medical Examiner Is Tracking Heat-Related Deaths
Greg Hess deals with death day in, day out. Hess is the medical examiner for Pima County, Ariz., a region along the United States-Mexico border. His office handles some 3,000 deaths each year — quiet deaths, overdoses, gruesome deaths, tragic ones. From April through October every year, Hess is confronted with an increasingly obvious and dramatic problem: His morgue drawers fill with people who died sooner than they should have because of Arizona’s suffocating heat. (Borunda, 6/11)
