Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Texas Bathroom Law Limits How Trans People Can Use Public Facilities
Chron.com: Texas Lawmakers Finally Got Their 'Bathroom Bill.' Here's How It Works
After more than a decade of failed efforts, Texas Republicans finally passed a bill that regulates the restrooms that transgender people use. Senate Bill 8, also known as "The Texas Women's Privacy Act" but more commonly known as the "bathroom bill," will go into force on Dec. 4. (Howerton, 12/3)
LGBTQ Nation: University Forces Students Into "Dangerous" Environments To Comply With GOP Bathroom Bill
Students at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) are being forced out of their current dorm rooms and made to relocate because of a new bathroom ban. While the ban is intended to target trans people, any students sharing a bathroom between their rooms with someone of a different gender assigned at birth are being forcibly rehoused to comply with the new law. “It’s just creating a dangerous environment,” Katarina Rendon, a UTSA sophomore lives in a mixed-gender dorm, told KSAT. “Like, you could have a transgender individual who rooms with their friend, and then all of a sudden, they’re moved with someone who has violent tendencies towards people like that.” (Collington, 12/3)
The Texas Tribune: Stephanie Muth Named Texas Health Commissioner
Stephanie Muth, the former commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, has been named Texas’ next health commissioner. Her first day will be on Jan. 3. (Simpson, 12/3)
From California and North Carolina —
The Washington Post: Doctor Sentenced To 30 Months Over Matthew Perry’s Death From Ketamine
Salvador Plasencia, a physician who pleaded guilty in July to multiple drug charges in connection to actor Matthew Perry’s death, was sentenced Wednesday to two and a half years in prison. “I failed Mr. Perry — I failed him, I failed his family,” Plasencia said in court, according to the New York Times. He told Perry’s family in the courtroom: “I’m just so sorry.” (Beck, 12/3)
North Carolina Health News: NC Prisons Ramp Up Opioid Addiction Treatment Before Release
Evan Ashkin, a family physician and director of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program, has long been concerned about people who are returning to the community from prison — especially people with substance use disorders. (Crumpler, 12/4)
From Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio —
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: CDC: Georgia Posts One Of Nation’s Largest Life Expectancy Gains
Georgia experienced one of the largest increases in life expectancy in the nation in 2022, rising 1.6 years, according to a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Thursday. Georgia residents’ life expectancy of 75.9 years still ranked near the bottom of states and the District of Columbia in 36th place, the report shows. Hawaii ranked first at 80. West Virginia was last at 72.2. (Redmon, 12/4)
Sahan Journal: More Minnesota 911 Centers Embedding Social Workers To Expand Help For Callers In Crisis
911 call takers are often the first people that those in crisis interact with when they seek help, but call takers may not have the expertise or time to best assist them in that moment. Instead of sending traditional responders such as police officers out to assist a 911 caller, the social worker takes calls deemed to be non-emergent after they are screened by an initial call taker. Minneapolis sought to add a social worker into its 911 call center after the release of the Safe and Thriving Communities Report, which proposed new public safety approaches following the 2020 murder of George Floyd. (Pross, 12/1)
KBIA: Some Missouri Restaurants Developing Menus For Red-Meat Allergy
Chris Galloway, or “Pappo,” as he’s better known, said for many years he felt like a monster. There were times in the mid-1980s when he would accidentally ingest red meat. After a few hours, he started to get hives. Then, he realized, it was getting harder and harder to breathe. (Smith, 12/4)
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Toledo Doctor Charged With Forcing Abortion Drugs On Pregnant Girlfriend
A doctor is facing multiple felony charges after he was accused of forcing a pregnant woman to take abortion pills. Dr. Hassan Abbas, 32, a surgical resident at the University of Toledo Medical Center, was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury in Lucas County, WTOL Channel 11 reports. (Pinckard, 12/3)
The Hill: Shredded Cheese Sold In Walmart, Target, Aldi Recalled Over Metal, FDA Says
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers to double-check their shredded cheese after an Ohio-based company recalled multiple products distributed to 31 states for potentially containing metal fragments. The recall from Great Lakes Cheese Co. was first initiated on Oct. 3, but was reclassified on Monday to Class II, which is defined as “a situation in which use of or exposure to a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote,” according to the FDA. (Pflaumer, 12/3)
