Walking The Tightrope Between Curbing Vaping Epidemic And Pushing Kids Toward Traditional Cigarettes

Stateline: The Surprising Reasons Vaping Bans Draw Pushback
The number of adolescents who vape has more than doubled since 2017. An estimated 28% of high-schoolers and 11% of middle-schoolers are current vape users, according to a recent national survey by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. State tactics include levying hefty taxes on vaping products, restricting vape store zoning, requiring warning labels and otherwise limiting the sale and marketing of nicotine vaping liquids. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia had raised the smoking age to 21 for both cigarettes and vaping when in late December the Trump administration raised the national smoking age to 21, effective immediately. (Vestal, 1/28)

The New York Times: 9/11 Workers May Be At Higher Cancer Risk
People who worked at ground zero after the World Trade Center attack in 2001 have higher rates of cancer than the general population, a new study has found. Since 2002, researchers have followed 28,729 people who worked on the debris pile or at the site immediately after the 9/11 attack. Average time working at the site was 52 days. (Bakalar, 1/27)

The Washington Post: U.S. Kids Getting More Well-Child Checkups, Having Fewer Sick Visits
Children in the United States have been getting more preventive checkups and having fewer sick visits in recent years, a new study suggests. Researchers examined data on more than 71 million pediatric primary care visits from 2008 to 2016 for children with private health insurance. During the study period, overall visits decreased 14.4 percent, driven by a decline in sick visits, researchers say in JAMA Pediatrics. (Rapaport, 1/28)

The New York Times: Access To Care May Explain Disparities In Prostate Cancer Outcomes
African-American men with prostate cancer are almost twice as likely to die from the illness as white men with the same disease. Disparities in medical care, rather than racial differences in the course of the cancer, may be a large part of the explanation, a new study suggests. In a six-year study, researchers followed 18,201 black and 41,834 white prostate cancer patients who all got the same care through the Veterans Affairs health care system. (Bakalar, 1/27)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: National Suicide Rates Rose 40% From 2000 To 2017, With Blue-Collar Workers Most At Risk
Between 2000 and 2017, the suicide rate in the U.S. increased by 40%, with blue-collar workers in industries such as mining, oil and gas extraction, construction, agriculture, transportation, and warehousing most at risk, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study used data from 32 states — including Pennsylvania and New Jersey — that participated in the 2016 National Violent Death Reporting System, which combined data from death certificates, coroner and medical examiner reports, and law enforcement reports. Researchers looked at the suicide rates by profession for 20,975 people, ages 16 to 64. They found that both male and female workers in construction, mining, oil, and gas had the highest suicide rates. (Ao, 1/27)

Boston Globe: J&J CEO Relied On Internal Experts For Claim Baby Powder Is Safe
Johnson & Johnson chief executive Alex Gorsky told a New Jersey jury weighing punishment for the company over cancer claims that he relied on internal experts when he went on national TV to insist the company’s baby powder was safe and didn’t contain asbestos. With J&J facing almost 17,000 lawsuits from users of talc-based powders, Gorsky testified Monday for the first time in court for the punishment phase of a trial in the company’s hometown of New Brunswick. In October, a separate jury awarded $37.2 million in damages to four people. (Feeley, 1/27)

The Hill: Senators Ask FDA To Crack Down On Non-Dairy Milks, Cheeses
A bipartisan group of senators is calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to end the labeling of plant-based products as milk, cheese or yogurt. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, the coalition of dairy-land senators urged the agency to issue rules to “ensure that dairy terms may only be used to describe products that include dairy.” “Dairy farmers across our nation work hard to ensure their products are healthy, nutrient-dense, and in compliance with FDA regulations regarding the use of dairy terms," the senators wrote in a letter this week. (Lane, 1/24)

CNN: 'Magic Mushroom' Drug Reduces Anxiety And Depression In Cancer Patients For Five Years
A single dose of psilocybin, a compound found in "magic mushrooms," provides long-term relief of anxiety and depression in cancer patients, a new study finds. In fact, cancer patients who were given psilocybin reported reductions in anxiety, depression, hopelessness, demoralization, and death anxiety more than four years after receiving the dose in combination with psychotherapy. (Senthilingam, 1/28)

The Washington Post: Kellogg’s Pledges To Reduce Glyphosate, Active Ingredient In Roundup, In Its Supply Chain
Kellogg’s, the multinational food manufacturer based in Battle Creek, Mich., is taking a stand. But very quietly. At the end of 2019, the company made a commitment to phase out by 2025 wheat and oats on which farmers have used glyphosate as a drying agent, according to Kellogg’s chief sustainability officer Amy Senter. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the Bayer-Monsanto weedkiller that is the most heavily used herbicide in the United States. (Reiley, 1/27)

Reuters: Nestle Buys Allergan Business To Expand In Medical Nutrition
Swiss food giant Nestle on Monday bulked up its medical nutrition business by buying Allergan's Zenpep, a product for people whose pancreases do not provide enough enzymes to properly digest fats, proteins and sugars. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Zenpep had sales of $237 million in 2018. (1/27)