Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Some Of Indiana's Anti-Abortion Laws Unconstitutional, Federal Judge Rules
AP: Federal Judge Rules Against Several Indiana Abortion Laws
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that several of Indiana’s laws restricting abortion are unconstitutional, including the state’s ban on telemedicine consultations between doctors and women seeking abortions. The judge’s ruling also upheld other state abortion limits that were challenged in a broad lawsuit filed by Virginia-based Whole Woman’s Health Alliance in 2018 as it fought the denial of a license to open an abortion clinic in South Bend. U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker issued a permanent injunction against the telemedicine ban, along with state laws requiring in-person examinations by a doctor before medication abortions and the prohibition on second-trimester abortions outside hospitals or surgery centers. Barker also ruled against state laws requiring that women seeking abortions be told human life begins when the egg is fertilized and that a fetus might feel pain at or before 20 weeks. (Davies, 8/11)
In updates on the heat wave gripping the western U.S. —
AP: Pacific Northwest Braces For Another Multiday Heat Wave
People in the Pacific Northwest braced for another major, multiday heat wave starting Wednesday, just over a month after record-shattering hot weather killed hundreds of the region’s most vulnerable when temperatures soared to 116 degrees Fahrenheit (47 Celsius). In a “worst-case scenario,” the temperature could reach as high as 111 F (44 C) in some parts of western Oregon by Friday before a weekend cooldown, the National Weather Service in Portland, Oregon, warned this week. It’s more likely temperatures will rise above 100 F (38 C) for three consecutive days, peaking around 105 F (40.5 C) on Thursday. (Flaccus, 8/11)
PBS NewsHour: We Don’t Know Exactly How Many People Are Dying From Heat — Here’s Why
What data exists are the deaths we know about. Deaths from the heat are not always reported as such and experts say many are undercounted or misclassified. The Oregon medical examiner released a report last week that attributed 96 deaths to a heat wave in late June, an event that likely led to hundreds of deaths across the region. Those numbers will likely grow as investigations continue.vThe federal government has pointed to this issue already this year. In an April report on heat-related deaths, the Environmental Protection Agency noted that dramatic increases in heat-related deaths are closely associated with heat waves and higher temperatures, but may not be reported as related to heat on death certificates. “This limitation, as well as considerable year-to-year variability in the data, make it difficult to determine whether the United States has experienced a meaningful increase or decrease in deaths classified as ‘heat-related’ over time,” the report said. (Rodriguez-Delgado, 8/10)
In news from Maryland, Virginia and California —
AP: Group Cites Chemical Concerns At Military Sites Near Bay
The groundwater of at least nine military installations near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia is contaminated with high levels of toxic fluorinated “forever chemicals,” according to a report Wednesday by an environmental group that cites Defense Department records. The Environmental Working Group’s report focuses on installations along the bay and concerns about contamination mostly from chemicals in firefighting foam containing PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They are known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment. (Witte, 8/11)
San Francisco Chronicle: Study Links East San Jose Airport To High Lead In Children, But Can It Be Closed?
East San Jose residents and community leaders gathered Tuesday to demand answers and action following a study that detected high levels of lead in thousands of children living near Reid-Hillview Airport. The study, commissioned by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and released last week, analyzed 17,000 blood samples from children under the age of 18 who lived within a mile and a half of the airport from 2011 to 2020. It found significantly higher levels of lead in their blood, especially for those living within a half-mile of the 180-acre airport. (Narayan, 8/10)
The Washington Post: San Diego Sheriff’s Deputy’s Viral Video Of Alleged Near-Overdose From Touching Fentanyl Not Plausible, Experts Say
The dramatic video of a San Diego County sheriff’s deputy collapsing after processing fentanyl at a crime scene was released to serve as a public service announcement: a warning about the synthetic opioid that was projected to kill more than 700 people in the area by year’s end, and about the lifesaving potential of quickly administering naloxone, the overdose-reversal medication. Instead, the sheriff’s department was met with swift backlash, notably from medical experts who said its claim that the deputy nearly died of an overdose caused by touching the drug was scientifically implausible and promoted dangerous misinformation about an epidemic that has intensified during the coronavirus pandemic. (Bellware, 8/11)
