Review Of $2.1 Billion J&J Baby Powder Payout Ruled Out By Supreme Court

The Washington Post: Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder: Supreme Court Won't Hear Company's Challenge Of $2.1 Billion Cancer Case Award
The Supreme Court ruled in low-profile cases Tuesday, but it was the justices’ decision to bypass an appeal that might have the most lasting impact. The court turned down a request from Johnson & Johnson to review a $2.1 billion award to women who claimed the company’s talc-based baby powder contained cancer-causing asbestos. (Barnes, 6/1)

CNBC: Supreme Court Rejects Johnson & Johnson's Appeal Of $2 Billion Baby Powder Penalty
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from Johnson & Johnson seeking to undo a $2.1 billion award against it over allegations that asbestos in its talc powder products, including baby powder, caused women to develop ovarian cancer. The top court announced in an order with no noted dissents that it will not hear the case. Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh recused themselves from consideration of the case, according to the order. (Higgins, 6/1)

In other public health news —

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Prevention Measures Are Keeping Childhood Diseases Like Chickenpox At Bay 
The disinfecting and hand-washing that became common during the Covid-19 pandemic have also served as powerful tools against a host of childhood ailments such as chickenpox, stomach viruses and strep throat, recent data suggest. Doctors say that as countries with widespread Covid-19 vaccination, including the U.S., get back to normal, people would be well-advised to keep up some of the practices they have adopted—even if pandemic weariness makes them less than eager to take that advice. (Landers and Inada, 6/1)

Stat: Flu Virus Became Less Diverse, Simplifying Task Of Making Flu Shots 
In the eight years leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the subtypes of influenza A viruses started acting bizarrely. Flu viruses continuously evolve, to evade the immune defenses humans develop to fend them off. But after 2012, H3N2 started to behave differently. It was almost as if there was a falling out within a family. The viruses formed into factions — clades, in virologists’ language — drifting further and further apart with each passing year and making the process of choosing the version of H3N2 to include in flu shots an increasingly challenging task. (Branswell, 6/2)

Fox News: Accidental Drownings A Concern As Pandemic Postponed Swimming Lessons For Some
In June 2020 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released a report that found child drownings to be the leading cause of unintentional death among children ages 1 to 4 years old. Now, with an increase in at-home pool installations and the pandemic-related cancellation or delay of youth swimming lessons, some are concerned that the number of drownings could increase even further. "This summer, we’re going to see a surge in accidental drownings," Rowdy Gaines, a three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer who partnered with the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA) said in a statement. "As excited as we are about getting back in the water, it’s important that we stay focused on safe pool behaviors. Parents have to keep a close eye on their children 100% of the time, even when lifeguards are nearby." (Hein, 6/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: Lyme-Carrying Ticks Thriving On California Coast, Study Finds
Disease-carrying ticks, long considered something to fear in thick woods, are also prevalent in Northern California’s open coastal areas, a new study shows. The research, published after four years of field work in the Bay Area, indicates that the reach of tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease is greater than previously thought and a concern that those headed to the beach or walking on a bluff should keep in mind. (Alexander, 6/1)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Judge Signs Order To Stop Real Water Production
A federal judge signed an order on Tuesday that could effectively put Las Vegas-based Real Water permanently out of business in response to a deadly outbreak of liver disease tied to the product. Should the company ever intend to resume operations, it must follow a long list of requirements that include a sanitation plan, a bottling plan, a food safety plan and an employee training program, according to the permanent injunction signed by U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey. (Ferrara, 6/1)

Also —

The Washington Post: Amazon’s OSHA Data Shows Its Workers Injured At Higher Rates Than Rival Companies 
Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the United States, is also a leader in another category: how often its warehouse workers are injured. New work-related injury data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration showed those jobs can be more dangerous than at comparable warehouses. Since 2017, Amazon reported a higher rate of serious injury incidents that caused employees to miss work or be shifted to light-duty tasks than at other warehouse operators in retail. (Greene and Alcantara, 6/1)

Consumer Reports: Easing The Aches From Hand Osteoarthritis, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome 
We use our hands for activities from cooking to brushing our teeth to gardening to writing a shopping list. So when our hands, wrists or fingers hurt, that pain can interfere with much of what we do. This kind of discomfort can also be more likely to occur with age: The Arthri­tis Foundation estimates that about half of all women and a quarter of men will experience hand pain because of osteoarthritis — when the protective cartilage between bones wears down — by age 85. But there are ways to ease the ache. (Konkel, 5/31)

Philadelphia Inquirer: He Died Of A Brain Aneurysm, And His Heart Was Preserved For Donation With Warm-Temperature ‘Perfusion.’ The Technique May Help Others
The doctors said there was no hope. Alex Anaya was just 29, yet a weakened blood vessel had ruptured in his brain, and surgeons couldn’t save him. Family members decided that he should be removed from a ventilator, and they gathered at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to say goodbye. His heart would keep beating for a while on its own, but soon he would die. Then the family was approached by a coordinator from Gift of Life, a nonprofit that arranges organ transplants in the Philadelphia region. She told them, gently, that it might be possible to restart Anaya’s heart and save someone else. But it would require the use of a new device to “perfuse” the organ with a warm solution of nutrients and oxygenated blood, allowing it to beat outside his body until it was time for the transplant. (Avril, 6/2)

KHN: Doctors Tell How To Make The Most Of Your Telehealth Visits
When the pandemic sidelined in-office visits at his practice, Dr. Dael Waxman “wasn’t exactly thrilled with being at home.” But he quickly shifted gears to video and telephone appointments. Now, he finds, there are good reasons to keep these options open even as in-office visits have resumed and many parts of the country have sharply loosened coronavirus restrictions. (Appleby, 6/2)

KHN: Readers And Tweeters React To Racism, Inequities In Health Care
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (6/2)