- KFF Health News Original Stories 5
- Covid Funding Pries Open a Door to Improving Air Quality in Schools
- Trauma Surgeons Detail the Horror of Mass Shootings in the Wake of Uvalde and Call for Reforms
- States Fight Student Mental Health Crisis With Days Off
- Race Is Often Used as Medical Shorthand for How Bodies Work. Some Doctors Want to Change That.
- Journalists Delve Into Vaccine Mandates and Surprise Billing
- Political Cartoon: 'Repressed Memory?'
From KFF Health News - Latest Stories:
KFF Health News Original Stories
Covid Funding Pries Open a Door to Improving Air Quality in Schools
Researchers say the billions in pandemic funding available for ventilation upgrades in U.S. schools provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to combat covid-19, as well as making air more breathable for students living with allergies, asthma, and chronic wildfire smoke. (Liz Szabo, 6/13)
Trauma Surgeons Detail the Horror of Mass Shootings in the Wake of Uvalde and Call for Reforms
Trauma surgeons say that the weapons used in mass shootings are not new but that more of these especially deadly guns are on the street, causing injuries that are difficult to survive. (Andy Miller and Lauren Sausser, 6/10)
States Fight Student Mental Health Crisis With Days Off
In early 2022, Illinois joined a growing number of states where lawmakers and school leaders are trying to combat the ongoing student mental health crisis by granting days off for mental health needs. (Giles Bruce, 6/13)
Race Is Often Used as Medical Shorthand for How Bodies Work. Some Doctors Want to Change That.
Physicians have long believed it’s good medicine to consider race in health care. But recently, rather than perpetuate the myth that race governs how bodies function, a more nuanced approach has emerged: acknowledging that racial health disparities often reflect the effects of generations of systemic racism, such as lack of access to stable housing or nutritious food. (Rae Ellen Bichell and Cara Anthony, 6/13)
Journalists Delve Into Vaccine Mandates and Surprise Billing
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (6/11)
Political Cartoon: 'Repressed Memory?'
KFF Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Political Cartoon: 'Repressed Memory?'" by Darrin Bell.
Here's today's health policy haiku:
NO SHORTAGE OF WORRIES FOR PARENTS
Parents, be aware:
Mystery hepatitis;
children affected
- N.A.B.
If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Us and let us know if we can include your name. Haikus follow the format of 5-7-5 syllables. We give extra brownie points if you link back to an original story.
Opinions expressed in haikus and cartoons are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions of KFF Health News or KFF.
Summaries Of The News:
Senate Gun Deal Centers On Mental Health, School Safety
Senate negotiations have yielded a framework for limited gun legislation supported by enough Republicans to overcome a filibuster. President Joe Biden said the deal “does not do everything that I think is needed, but it reflects important steps in the right direction, and would be the most significant gun safety legislation to pass Congress in decades.”
AP:
Senate Negotiators Announce A Deal On Guns, Breaking Logjam
Senate bargainers on Sunday announced the framework of a bipartisan response to last month’s mass shootings, a noteworthy but limited breakthrough offering modest gun curbs and stepped-up efforts to improve school safety and mental health programs. The proposal falls far short of tougher steps long sought by President Joe Biden and many Democrats. Even so, the accord was embraced by Biden and enactment would signal a significant turnabout after years of gun massacres that have yielded little but stalemate in Congress. (Fram, 6/12)
The Texas Tribune:
Deal On Post-Uvalde Shooting Gun Legislation Reached In Senate
Sources involved with the negotiations caution there is not yet legislative text to the deal and its prospects remain fragile as the Senate heads into what is expected to be a frenetic week. That 10 Republican senators signed onto the plan adds confidence that a potential bill will overcome the 60-vote threshold needed to bypass a filibuster threat. The 10 Republican senators are John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Rob Portman of Ohio and Mitt Romney of Utah. (Livingston, 6/12)
The New York Times:
Gun Deal Is Less Than Democrats Wanted, But More Than They Expected
The bipartisan gun safety deal announced Sunday is far from what Democrats would have preferred in the aftermath of the racist gun massacre in Buffalo and the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, but it is considerably more than they hoped for initially. ... “We cannot let the congressional perfect be the enemy of the good,” said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, who said he would have preferred to bar military assault weapons. “Though this agreement falls short in this and other respects, it can and will make our nation safer.” (Hulse, 6/12)
Politico:
Senators Strike Bipartisan Gun Safety Agreement
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement welcoming the announcement as proof of “the value of dialogue and cooperation,” though he sidestepped a direct endorsement of the framework: “I continue to hope their discussions yield a bipartisan product that makes significant headway on key issues like mental health and school safety, respects the Second Amendment, earns broad support in the Senate, and makes a difference for our country.” (Everett and Levine, 6/12)
Roll Call:
Bipartisan Senate Group Strikes Gun Deal Focused On School Safety, Mental Health
The American Firearms Association condemned the agreement, saying Republican senators had betrayed gun owners. “Republican senators were elected to stand up for our Constitutional rights, not sell them out to gun-grabbing Marxists,” the organization said in a statement. “The solution to gun violence is not gun control. It’s protecting our right to defend ourselves when the police are unable or refuse to do so, as we saw in Uvalde.” (Lesniewski, 6/12)
Survivors of gun violence share their reactions —
The New York Times:
Gun Deal Stirs Hope But Also Frustration In Places Scarred By Shootings
Americans in communities where lives have been forever changed by gun violence reacted to the bipartisan deal that was reached by Senate negotiators on Sunday with a glint of hope but more than a tinge of frustration. Any agreement is better than no agreement, many indicated, yet so much more could be done. ... In Orlando on Sunday — the sixth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting — Ricardo Negron, 33, a voting rights activist and survivor of that attack, said that he was of two minds about the potential deal on gun safety measures. “It’s good to see them moving toward something,” he said. “But on the other hand, it’s just the bare minimum of the bare minimum.” (Ploeg, Sandoval, Rojas, Watkins and Southall, 6/12)
ABC News:
Advocates, Survivors Applaud 'New Beginning' With Senate's Gun Deal -- But Want More Done
Former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, a mass shooting survivor, wrote on Twitter, "Eleven years ago, a bullet changed my life forever. Six of my constituents were killed, several more injured. And Congress has failed to get anything done since. But today, our country takes an important step forward with the announcement of a bipartisan framework on gun safety. This bipartisan agreement on gun safety could be the first time in 30 years that Congress takes major action on gun safety." ... Likewise, gun reform supporter Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter, Jaime, was killed at Parkland, also tweeted measured approval: "While much is not in this, the result is a 30 year breakthrough. This is gun safety legislation that will save lives and reduce the instances of gun violence." (Oppenheim and Bartash, 6/12)
In related news —
Reuters:
Tens Of Thousands Rally Against Gun Violence In Washington, Across U.S.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators descended on Washington and at hundreds of rallies across the United States on Saturday to demand that lawmakers pass legislation aimed at curbing gun violence following last month's massacre at a Texas elementary school. In the nation's capital, organizers with March for Our Lives (MFOL) estimated that 40,000 people assembled at the National Mall near the Washington Monument under occasional light rain. The gun safety group was founded by student survivors of the 2018 massacre at a Parkland, Florida, high school. (Hesson, 6/12)
ABC News:
Sandy Hook Survivors Speak Out For First Time -- And Share Heartache 'That It Keeps Happening'
Nicole was in the second grade when a gunman shot and killed 26 people at her school in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012. She and three other student survivors, as well as a school employee there that day, detailed their experience and the effects that day still has on them in an interview that aired Sunday with "This Week" co-anchor and Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz. ... Living through a mass shooting changed all four of the students. For Nicole, that means anxiety. For Jackie and Maggie, trouble with loud noises. And for Andrew, it meant nightmares in the immediate months after. "I couldn't get the sounds out of my head during the night," he told ABC News. "I couldn't close my eyes without reliving it." (Mistry and Raddatz, 6/12)
KHN:
Trauma Surgeons Detail The Horror Of Mass Shootings In The Wake Of Uvalde And Call For Reforms
When Dr. Roy Guerrero, a pediatrician in Uvalde, Texas, testified before a U.S. House committee Wednesday about gun violence, he told lawmakers about the horror of seeing the bodies of two of the 19 children killed in the Robb Elementary massacre. They were so pulverized, he said, that they could be identified only by their clothing. In recent years, the medical profession has developed techniques to help save more gunshot victims, such as evacuating patients rapidly. But trauma surgeons interviewed by KHN say that even those improvements can save only a fraction of patients when military-style rifles inflict the injury. Suffering gaping wounds, many victims die at the shooting scene and never make it to a hospital, they said. Those victims who do arrive at trauma centers appear to have more wounds than in years past, according to the surgeons. (Miller and Sausser, 6/10)
FDA: Pfizer's 3-Dose Covid Vaccine Is Safe And Effective For Youngest Kids
The Food and Drug Administration's review of Pfizer and BioNTech's covid shot regimen — as well as that of Moderna, which also yielded positive results — will be put to its panel of vaccine experts on Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal:
Three-Dose Pfizer Covid Vaccine Works Safely In Young Children, Review Says
Three doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE were effective at preventing symptomatic disease in children ages 6 months through 4 years in studies, according to U.S. health regulators. The FDA staff also said, in a review of study data posted online Sunday, that there were no new safety concerns using the vaccine in young children compared with older age groups. The assessment is the latest sign that authorities are moving closer to clearing inoculations for children under 5 years old, the last group ineligible for Covid-19 vaccination. (Loftus, 6/12)
AP:
US: Pfizer COVID-19 Shot Appears Effective For Kids Under 5
The FDA said children who received Pfizer’s shots during testing developed high levels of virus-fighting antibodies expected to protect them against coronavirus. That’s the basic threshold needed to win FDA authorization. But additional testing turned up key differences, with stronger results for Pfizer. Pfizer’s vaccine, given as a three-shot series, appeared 80% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, although that calculation was based on just 10 cases diagnosed among study participants. The figure could change as Pfizer’s study continues. Moderna’s two-dose series was only about 40% to 50% effective at preventing milder infections, though the two companies’ shots were tested at different times during the pandemic, when different variants were circulating. Moderna has begun testing a booster for tots. (Perrone and Stobbe, 6/13)
The New York Times:
Pfizer Vaccine Effective In Children Under 5, The F.D.A. Says
Some public health experts are expecting the F.D.A. to authorize both Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines, offering parents a choice between the two. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must also weigh in with its recommendations after the F.D.A. acts. Roughly 18 million children younger than 5 are the only Americans who are not yet eligible for shots. (LaFraniere, 6/12)
In related news —
The Hill:
White House Faces Uphill Challenge Getting Kids Under 5 Vaccinated
The Biden administration faces an uphill battle to convince parents to give COVID-19 shots to children under 5 years old. ... Officials have outlined a plan that includes partnering with the online What to Expect community, as well as a range of national organizations, including a “speaker’s bureau” of pediatricians and family physicians who will be able to answer questions about the shots at community events. Vaccines will be distributed across thousands of different sites, but the administration will focus on front-line providers including pediatricians and primary care doctors, as that is where they expect many families will want to go. (Weixel, 6/12)
ABC News:
Key Challenges To Vaccinating Kids Under 5 Against COVID-19 And What We Can Do: Analysis
As of June 8, more than 254 million doses (40%) of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered and reported by retail pharmacies. Under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act), pharmacists are authorized to order and administer childhood vaccines, including authorized COVID-19 vaccines, to children ages 3-18 years until Oct. 1, 2024. ... However, pharmacists do not receive extensive training in vaccinating young children, who are often unwilling to participate in the immunization process. Additionally, most 3-year-old children are vaccinated in the thigh, rather than in the arm, making the vaccination of this age group particularly challenging in a busy pharmacy that may not have the space to ensure privacy during vaccine administration. (Brownstein, Weintraub, Fiscus, Tewarson and Greene, 6/10)
Travelers No Longer Need To Test Negative For Covid To Fly Into US
As of Sunday, the Biden administration has lifted its requirements that international flyers test negative for covid a day before arriving in the U.S. Other pandemic news reports on masking, employer safety measures, air quality in schools, and more.
AP:
US Lifts COVID-19 Test Requirement For International Travel
The Biden administration is lifting its requirement that international travelers test negative for COVID-19 within a day before boarding a flight to the United States, ending one of the last remaining government mandates designed to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that the requirement will end early Sunday morning. The health agency said it will continue to monitor state of the pandemic and will reassess the need for a testing requirement if the situation changes. (Miller and Koenig, 6/1)
The Wall Street Journal:
What The Covid Testing Changes Mean For Air Travelers To The U.S.
The testing requirement ended June 12 at 12:01 a.m. Those crossing into the U.S. by land or by seaport already face no testing requirements. ... The CDC still recommends that travelers boarding a flight to the U.S. get tested as close to the time of departure as possible, meaning no more than three days before leaving. The agency says those who are sick shouldn’t travel. Isolation rules vary by country and can be very strict and closely enforced. (Pohle, 6/12)
And more on the spread of covid —
AP:
Las Vegas Area Health Agency Urges Mask-Wearing Indoors
With COVID-19 cases rising again, the public health agency for metro Las Vegas is advising a return to wearing masks in public, indoor settings. The Southern Nevada Health District said in a news release Friday that Clark County is at a “high community level” of the virus. (6/11)
North Carolina Health News:
Study Asks Black & Latino People About COVID Infection
From higher infection and hospitalization rates to disproportionate death rates, the COVID-19 pandemic hit people of color hard. Many academic studies and journalistic accounts have documented and analyzed why this might’ve been, but fewer pieces of academic research have looked at the subjective experiences of people from these marginalized communities who got sick with the SARS CoV2 virus. A new study from Duke University aims to start filling that gap. The researcher-clinicians who did the study interviewed Black and Latino North Carolinians who fell ill with COVID-19 during the first year of the pandemic. They asked a range of questions: what did the patients know about the virus before their infection? What were their experiences getting tested and seeking medical care while they were sick? What lasting impact has the virus had on their well-being? (Donnelly-DeRoven, 6/13)
The Boston Globe:
Employers Piece Together A Hodgepodge Of COVID-19 Safety Policies To Stay Open And Healthy
One company devised color-coded bracelets so employees could signal their comfort level with being around unmasked colleagues. Others have upgraded ventilation systems. Some employers continue to test workers for COVID-19. Vaccination requirements, meanwhile, vary widely. Amid the ever-changing COVID landscape, businesses have adopted a panoply of approaches to help keep workers healthy and the doors open. (Lazar, 6/12)
KHN:
Covid Funding Pries Open A Door To Improving Air Quality In Schools
Many U.S. schools were in dire need of upgrades — burdened by leaking pipes, mold, and antiquated heating systems — long before the covid-19 pandemic drew attention to the importance of indoor ventilation in reducing the spread of infectious disease. The average U.S. school building is 50 years old, and many schools date back more than a century. (Szabo, 6/13)
In updates on covid treatments and the vaccine rollout —
The New York Times:
Ivermectin Has Little Effect On Recovery Time From Covid, Study Finds
The antiparasite drug ivermectin does not meaningfully reduce the time needed to recover from Covid, according to a large study posted online Sunday. It is the largest of several clinical trials to show that the drug, popular since the early pandemic as an alternative treatment, is not effective against the virus. The new trial, conducted by researchers at Duke University and Vanderbilt University, tested more than 1,500 people with Covid, about half getting the drug and the others a placebo. The study has not yet been published in a scientific journal. (Zimmer, 6/12)
CIDRAP:
Study: Health Workers Not Countering COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Well
Healthcare workers are a trusted source of COVID-19 vaccine information, but many aren't using that advantage on social media to encourage vaccination, a research team based at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health reported this week in the Journal of Community Health. The researchers based their findings on a survey of health workers conducted from April through June of 2021. They also examined a random sample of nearly 2,300 tweets about COVID-19 vaccination, of which 1,863 were written by individuals. The healthcare workers were from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Western Psychiatric Hospital, one of the nation's largest free-standing psychiatric hospitals. (6/10)
Bloomberg:
Should I Wait For Omicron-Specific Boosters?
The booster-timing game has become a familiar part of this stage of the pandemic. In much of the world, we’re back to business as (pretty much) usual. But while there’s little chance of severe illness if you’re vaccinated, Covid still threatens to upend all those fun things we’re planning. If you time your shot well, you’ll worry less about FOMO. (Brown, 6/12)
KHN:
Journalists Delve Into Vaccine Mandates And Surprise Billing
California Healthline correspondent Rachel Bluth discussed California’s doomed covid-19 vaccine mandates on iHeartPodcasts “The Daily Dive” on June 7. ... KHN contributing writer Michelle Andrews discussed her recent “Bill of the Month” feature about a surprise bill for a colonoscopy on KMOX on June 3. (6/11)
Myths about vaccines are still swirling on the internet —
AP:
NOT REAL NEWS: A Look At What Didn't Happen This Week
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. (6/10)
Inspections Missed In 2020 At Majority Of Infant Formula Plants
The Associated Press reports that Food and Drug Administration officials did not perform annual safety inspections at 20 of 23 plants that make infant formula in 2020, due to the covid pandemic. Meanwhile, more supplies arrive in the U.S. from abroad.
AP:
Many Baby Formula Plants Weren't Inspected Because Of COVID
U.S. regulators have historically inspected baby formula plants at least once a year, but they did not inspect any of the three biggest manufacturers in 2020, according to federal records reviewed by The Associated Press. When they finally did get inside an Abbott Nutrition formula plant in Michigan after a two-year gap, they found standing water and lax sanitation procedures. But inspectors offered only voluntary suggestions for fixing the problems, and issued no formal warning. (Perrone, 6/13)
The Washington Post:
New Documents Show More Claims Of Baby Formula Illness And Death
The Food and Drug Administration investigated reports that as many as nine children have died since early 2021 after consuming baby formula produced at an Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan — seven more than previously acknowledged by the FDA, according to newly released documents. ... In all nine fatalities, the agency was unable to identify the source of the infection. In some cases, there was not enough leftover formula to test. Of the babies who died of infections from cronobacter, genomic sequencing turned up different strains than what was discovered at the Sturgis plant during an inspection this spring. (Reilly, 6/10)
More formula shipments arrive —
ABC News:
190,000 Pounds Of Baby Formula From Australia Lands In US
Around 95,000 tins of baby formula arrived in the U.S. from Australia on Sunday, potentially offering relief to many families who have struggled to obtain infant formula in recent weeks. Bubs Australia struck a deal with American grocery chains Kroger Co. and Albertsons Companies to import the formula under the fourth flight of Operation Fly Formula, the company announced. (Grant, 6/12)
CNN:
How Far Will Operation Fly Formula Shipments Really Go To Fill America's Store Shelves?
The 960,000 pounds coming in through the Operation Fly Formula shipments accounts for about two days' worth of typical formula sales or about 6% of the powdered formula sold in an average month in 2020 and 2021, according to a CNN analysis. CNN looked back at those years because they represent more typical consumption in a very stable market, before a nationwide formula recall worsened supply chain problems and led to an acute shortage in early 2022. ... A White House spokesperson said that CNN's analysis is "in the ballpark" but that the missions announced so far are "only a small portion" of the commitments made. More flights are "on the way and more to be announced," which would bring in 10 times more formula -- enough to make a total of 127.5 million bottles. (Goodman and McPhillips, 6/10)
In related news —
CBS News:
Rhode Island Hospital Launches First Human Pasteurized Milk Donor Program In The State
A Rhode Island hospital is the first in the state to launch a human pasteurized milk donor program in an effort to combat the nationwide baby formula shortage. Kent Hospital's Women's Care Center, located in Warwick, launched the program in May. According to the hospital, the program "supports breastfeeding families by allowing them the option of providing their infant with pasteurized donor human milk, if supplementation is needed, as a bridge until a mother's own milk is available." (Cannella, 6/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
Baby-Formula Shortage Has Spurred Competition, But Tough Road Remains To Unseat Similac, Enfamil
Baby-formula makers have their best shot in decades to shake up a U.S. market long dominated by two players. Long-established companies and startups are angling to emerge from a nationwide formula shortage in a stronger market position as they work to hold on to new customers who are more willing to switch brands while shelves remain thinly stocked. This window of opportunity may be short-lived, industry analysts and executives say, as formula manufacturers still face significant barriers, ranging from federal product-safety rules to state contracts with major brands. (Terlep and Gasparro, 6/12)
Time To Rename 'Stigmatizing' Monkeypox Viruses, Scientists Say
A group of scientists proposes abandoning the geographic reference in favor of numbers, as less discriminatory. Other news related to the monkeypox outbreak reports on more cases, educational efforts, diagnosis difficulties, and more.
Stat:
‘Discriminatory And Stigmatizing’: Scientists Push To Rename Monkeypox Viruses
A group of scientists from Africa and elsewhere are urging the scientific community and world health leaders to drop the stigmatizing language used to differentiate monkeypox viruses, and are even advocating renaming the virus itself. In a position paper published online on Friday, the group proposed abandoning the existing names for monkeypox virus clades — West Africa and Congo Basin — and replacing them with numbers, saying the current names are discriminatory. (Branswell, 6/11)
The Washington Post:
Monkeypox Dilemma: How To Warn Gay Men About Risk Without Fueling Hate
Monkeypox had arrived in Salt Lake County, with two men testing positive after returning from Europe, the epicenter of a global outbreak concentrated in gay and bisexual men. Officials there faced a dilemma. They wanted to warn men who have sex with men that they were at higher risk for exposure to the virus. But they feared unintended consequences: heterosexual people assuming they’re not susceptible, closeted men in a heavily Mormon community avoiding care so they’re not seen as gay, and critics exploiting the infections to sow bigotry. (Nirappil, 6/12)
And more on the spread of monkeypox —
The Boston Globe:
Two More Massachusetts Men Test Positive For Monkeypox Virus
Two more Massachusetts men have tested positive for the monkeypox virus, nearly a month after the state’s first case of the virus was reported amid an international outbreak, the Department of Public Health said Sunday. The tests came back positive on Saturday. The two men had contact with each other, but not with the initial case, and are isolating, the department said in a statement. The Boston Public Health Commission will lead contact tracing efforts. (Thompson, 6/12)
AP:
3rd Illinois Monkeypox Case Identified In DuPage County
Public health officials have identified a third case of monkeypox a week after the first two cases appeared in Illinois. WLS-TV reports that a man in DuPage County tested positive for monkeypox after traveling internationally. The adult male was in a country that has reported an outbreak, according to the DuPage County Health Department. (6/11)
CIDRAP:
CDC Director: Monkeypox May Be Tricky To Diagnose
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, said clinicians should not rule out a monkeypox diagnosis if a patient presents with a sexually transmitted infection (STI). ... Walensky said some of the 45 confirmed patients in the United States were also diagnosed as having herpes, gonorrhea, or chlamydia at the same time as the monkeypox diagnosis. The CDC also said that, among those 45, at least 75% had traveled internationally before contracting the disease. (Soucheray, 6/10)
CNN:
The Ah-Ha Moment When Doctors Realized First US Patient In Global Outbreak Had Monkeypox
When Dr. Nesli Basgoz met her patient for the first time in May, he had been admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital with symptoms that were quite common for many infectious diseases -- fever, rash, fatigue, sweats. Basgoz and her colleagues at the hospital tested the patient for chickenpox. He was negative. They tested him for syphilis. He was negative. The doctors still treated him with antibiotics and antivirals that are used for common infections while they waited for his various test results -- but his condition did not improve in response to those treatments. (Howard, 6/10)
Modern Healthcare:
Providers Prepare For Monkeypox, Discuss Infection Control Practices
Infectious disease experts and health systems across the country are ensuring facilities are well-equipped and prepared to deal with potential monkeypox cases and prevent further outbreaks. There have been 45 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the U.S. this year and more than 1,300 cases worldwide, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. government is waiting on the delivery of 300,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine Jynneos, and has ordered another 500,000 doses to be delivered later this year, the Associated Press reported Friday. (Devereaux, 6/10)
In global updates —
AP:
British Scientists Say It's Unclear If Monkeypox Has Peaked
British health officials said they cannot tell if the spread of monkeypox has peaked in the country as they announced another 45 cases Friday, bringing the total in the disease’s biggest-ever outbreak beyond Africa to 366 cases. Britain’s Health Security Agency said 99% of the total cases were in men and that nearly all of the 152 men who provided detailed information identified as gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men. About 80% of cases were in London, and the median age of the people infected was 38, the agency said. (Cheng, 6/10)
A Court Decision Upending Roe Could Complicate IVF Treatments
Abortion opponents are pushing to have some states recognize that embryos are persons and that could change how these embryos are used and disposed. Also, doctors talk about their concerns over ambiguous language in some states' laws restricting abortion and how that could make treating women suffering a miscarriage difficult. If the Supreme Court overturns its 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade decision, many questions about how states go forward will fall to state supreme courts.
Stateline:
Abortion Bans May Add To Uncertainty Over Embryo Donation
Abigail and Rachelle Henderson, 15-year-old twins from Buffalo, New York, were conceived in vitro and carried to term by their mom, Rebecca. Trevor and Aubrey Gassman, now 9 and 8 years old, who live in Oregon, were born of embryos created during the infertility treatment of Rebecca Henderson and her husband, Chris. The couple donated the embryos through a Christian agency to Dan and Kelli Gassman, and Kelli carried them to term. (Povich, 6/10)
ABC News:
Why Doctors Say The 'Save The Mother's Life' Exception Of Abortion Bans Is Medically Risky
But doctors told ABC News the language of these laws is vague and makes it unclear what qualifies as a mother's life being in danger, what the risk of death is, and how imminent death must be before a provider can act. "We've taken the Hippocratic oath to do no harm, and these types of laws and this type of language actually do harm," Dr. Melissa Simon, vice chair for research in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, told ABC News. "I do not -- nor do my patients want me to -- stop what I'm doing and think about what the judge would do: 'Will the judge sentence me to jail if I were to perform an abortion?'" (Kekatos, 6/13)
The Boston Globe:
Overturning Roe V. Wade Would Set Women Back Decades, Damage Economy, Experts Say
The Supreme Court decided nearly 50 years ago that women had a right to an abortion, with the justices in the majority — some of them conservative, all of them male — specifically highlighting how a lack of reproductive freedom could hamper women’s lives and careers. “The detriment that the State would impose upon the pregnant woman by denying this choice altogether is apparent,” the justices wrote. “Maternity, or additional offspring, may force upon the woman a distressful life and future.” In the five decades since then, a body of research has proven those words prescient. (Puzzanghera, 6/12)
Politico:
State Supreme Courts: Bottom Of The Ballot But Top Concern If Roe Falls
The right to abortion in some states could come down to a handful of people running for positions most voters pay little attention to: state supreme court justices. State courts are likely to be flooded with litigation that could require them to rule on access to abortion — or even contraception and fertility treatments — should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade in the coming weeks. (Messerly, 6/13)
On maternity care —
AP:
Amid Abortion Debate, Clinic Asks: Who's Caring For Moms?
Miracle Allen used her last tank of gas to drive an hour and 15 minutes to the closest clinic that would care for her and her unborn baby. Allen, 29, was four months pregnant when Hurricane Ida ripped through her Houma, Louisiana, community. She spent three nights in the remnants of a house with a torn roof and no electricity. Her car was all she had left. So Allen — along with her 6-year-old daughter, her mother and a niece — fled in it to the rural Mississippi town of Kosciusko, where family lives. Her first priority was finding a doctor to check on her baby boy. But the lone local obstetrician splits her work between two rural counties and wasn’t taking new patients. Allen couldn’t find another doctor even within an hour’s drive — certainly not one who’d take a patient without insurance or an ID, which was destroyed in her home by Ida. (Willingham, 6/12)
Houston Bureau Chief:
The Antiabortion Movement Fuels A Growth Industry: Pregnancy Centers
Rayenieshia Cole did not want another child. She couldn’t afford it. A single mother who made her living dancing at a strip club, she had few relatives in Texas to help raise her three boys. When Cole learned she was pregnant last fall, she visited an abortion clinic, where she passed an ultrasound screening — Texas had just enacted a law prohibiting abortion after about six weeks — and made an appointment to return the next day to end her pregnancy. (Hennessey-Fiske, 6/12)
How strict abortion bans in Poland and El Salvador have devastated families —
The New York Times:
Poland Shows The Risks For Women When Abortion Is Banned
It was shortly before 11 p.m. when Izabela Sajbor realized the doctors were prepared to let her die. Her doctor had already told her that her fetus had severe abnormalities and would almost certainly die in the womb. If it made it to term, life expectancy was a year, at most. At 22 weeks pregnant, Ms. Sajbor had been admitted to a hospital after her water broke prematurely. She knew that there was a short window to induce birth or surgically remove the fetus to avert infection and potentially fatal sepsis. But even as she developed a fever, vomited and convulsed on the floor, it seemed to be the baby’s heartbeat that the doctors were most concerned about. (Bennhold and Pronczuk, 6/12)
AP:
Salvadoran Women Jailed For Abortion Warn US Of Total Ban
Teodora del Carmen Vásquez was nine months pregnant and working at a school cafeteria when she felt extreme pain in her back, like the crack of a hammer. She called 911 seven times before fainting in a bathroom in a pool of blood. The nightmare that followed is common in El Salvador, a heavily Catholic country where abortion is banned under all circumstances and even women who suffer miscarriages and stillbirths are sometimes accused of killing their babies and sentenced to years or even decades in prison. (Henao and Wardarski, 6/11)
AP:
In Their Words: Salvadoran Women Jailed Under Abortion Ban
Since the late 1990s, El Salvador has had a complete ban on abortion including in cases of rape, incest, fetal malformation or danger to a pregnant woman’s life. Not only planned abortions but also miscarriages, stillbirths and other pregnancy complications can sometimes result in prosecution and lengthy prison terms. Often women who end up being targeted by authorities are poor and live in rural areas. The Associated Press spoke with several women who served time in such cases. (Henao and Wardarski, 6/10)
Bariatric Surgery Linked To Lower Cancer Death Rate, Study Finds
Patients who had the surgery were 48% less likely to die of cancer than their counterparts who did not have surgery, The Washington Post reported. Also in public health news: "Forever chemicals" and their ties to high blood pressure; 3D-printed organs; Ramsay Hunt syndrome; and more.
The Washington Post:
Weight-Loss Surgery Linked To Lower Cancer Death Rate In Large Study
Body weight is considered a risk factor for cancer — but can losing it reverse that risk? A study suggests the answer is an emphatic yes, at least for those who lose significant weight through bariatric surgery. Patients who had the surgery were 32 percent less likely to develop cancer and 48 percent less likely to die of cancer than their counterparts who did not have surgery, according to research published in JAMA. (Blakemore, 6/12)
In other health research —
The Hill:
‘Forever Chemicals’ Linked To High Blood Pressure In Middle-Aged Women: Study
Middle-aged women who have greater blood concentrations of toxic “forever chemicals” may be at greater risk of developing high blood pressure, a new study has found. These women were more likely to become hypertensive than those who had lower levels of the compounds, also called per- and polyfluroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to a study published on Monday in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension. (Udasin, 6/13)
CNN:
How Psilocybin, The Psychedelic In Mushrooms, May Rewire The Brain To Ease Depression, Anxiety And More
Shrooms, Alice, tweezes, mushies, hongos, pizza toppings, magic mushrooms -- everyday lingo for psychedelic mushrooms seems to grow with each generation. Yet leading mycologist Paul Stamets believes it's time for fans of psilocybin mushrooms to leave such childish slang behind. "Let's be adults about this. These are no longer 'shrooms.' These are no longer party drugs for young people," Stamets told CNN. "Psilocybin mushrooms are nonaddictive, life-changing substances." Small clinical trials that have shown that one or two doses of psilocybin, given in a therapeutic setting, can make dramatic and long-lasting changes in people suffering from treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, which typically does not respond to traditional antidepressants. (LaMotte, 6/11)
CNN:
When We'll Be Able To 3D-Print Organs And Who Will Be Able To Afford Them
What if doctors could just print a kidney, using cells from the patient, instead of having to find a donor match and hope the patient's body doesn't reject the transplanted kidney? The soonest that could happen is in a decade, thanks to 3D organ bioprinting, said Jennifer Lewis, a professor at Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Organ bioprinting is the use of 3D-printing technologies to assemble multiple cell types, growth factors and biomaterials in a layer-by-layer fashion to produce bioartificial organs that ideally imitate their natural counterparts, according to a 2019 study. (Rogers, 6/10)
KHN:
Race Is Often Used As Medical Shorthand For How Bodies Work. Some Doctors Want To Change That.
Several months ago, a lab technologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital mixed the blood components of two people: Alphonso Harried, who needed a kidney, and Pat Holterman-Hommes, who hoped to give him one. The goal was to see whether Harried’s body would instantly see Holterman-Hommes’ organ as a major threat and attack it before surgeons could finish a transplant. To do that, the technologist mixed in fluorescent tags that would glow if Harried’s immune defense forces would latch onto the donor’s cells in preparation for an attack. If, after a few hours, the machine found lots of glowing, it meant the kidney transplant would be doomed. It stayed dark: They were a match. (Bichell and Anthony, 6/13)
In celebrity news —
The Washington Post:
Justin Bieber Is One Of Many Celebrities Sharing Personal Health Struggles
Last week, Justin Bieber posted a video to Instagram not only sharing his diagnosis of Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which has left half of his face paralyzed, but also showing it. “As you can see, this eye is not blinking. I can’t smile on this side of my face. This nostril will not move,” the worn-out-looking Canadian singer, dressed in a beanie and flannel, said in the video. (Ables, 6/12)
The New York Times:
What Is Ramsay Hunt Syndrome? Justin Bieber’s Diagnosis, Explained
Ramsay Hunt syndrome is a neurological condition caused by varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox in children and shingles in adults. The virus can linger in your body for your entire life, even long after you have recovered from chickenpox, and reawaken to irritate and inflame the nerves in your face. (Blum, 6/10)
AP:
Country Star Toby Keith Discloses Stomach Cancer Diagnosis
Country music star Toby Keith announced Sunday that he has been undergoing treatment for stomach cancer since last fall. The multi-platinum-selling singer said on Twitter that he underwent surgery and received chemotherapy and radiation in the past six months. (6/12)
New York Organization Apologizes For Its Role In Tuskegee Syphilis Study
The Milbank Memorial Fund covered funeral expenses — $100 at most — for black men who died in the U.S. government research project. To get the money, AP reports, widows had to consent to letting doctors perform autopsies on the men. “It was wrong. We are ashamed of our role. We are deeply sorry,” Christopher F. Koller, president of the fund, publicly acknowledged Saturday.
AP:
New York Fund Apologizes For Role In Tuskegee Syphilis Study
For almost 40 years starting in the 1930s, as government researchers purposely let hundreds of Black men die of syphilis in Alabama so they could study the disease, a foundation in New York covered funeral expenses for the deceased. The payments were vital to survivors of the victims in a time and place ravaged by poverty and racism. Altruistic as they might sound, the checks — $100 at most — were no simple act of charity: They were part of an almost unimaginable scheme. To get the money, widows or other loved ones had to consent to letting doctors slice open the bodies of the dead men for autopsies that would detail the ravages of a disease the victims were told was “bad blood.” (Reeves, 6/11)
In environmental news —
The New York Times:
Heat Wave Persists In Southwest As High Temperatures Set Records
Heat advisories and excessive heat warnings were in effect for more than 75 million people in the southern and central United States on Sunday, a continuation of a scorching heat wave that resulted in record high temperatures on Saturday in 16 cities from the Southwest to the Southern Plains, according to the National Weather Service. On Saturday, the temperature reached 114 degrees at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, tying a record set more than a century ago. (Chung, 6/12)
CIDRAP:
Backyard Poultry-Linked Salmonella Outbreaks Sicken 219 In 38 States
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday said it and health officials in multiple state are investigating Salmonella outbreaks tied to backyard poultry that have sickened 219 people, 1 fatally, in 38 states. ... Interviews with sick patients about possible exposures revealed that 70% had contact with backyard poultry before they got sick. Others ate eggs from backyard poultry, and two ate meat from backyard poultry. The states with the most cases include Minnesota (15), Wisconsin (13), Pennsylvania (12), Illinois (11), Texas (11), and Iowa (10). (6/10)
In other health news from across the U.S. —
The CT Mirror:
Demand For Nurses Is Urgent. CT’s Colleges And Universities Can’t Keep Up.
This year’s nursing school graduates matriculated before the pandemic took hold, and over the course of their studies, they’ve seen the profession go through an upheaval. Waves of COVID-19 delayed students’ clinical rotations at patient care facilities. When they were allowed back into hospitals, clinics and long-term care facilities, the work was more intense than many had expected. (Phillips, 6/12)
AP:
Troubled Iowa Center For Disabled Fined For Resident's Death
A troubled Iowa center for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities failed to monitor the fluid intake of a 30-year-old resident who died in February due to dehydration, state inspectors said in a report. The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals has fined the Glenwood Resource Center $10,000 after inspectors found that center staff failed to ensure that the man received at least 101 ounces (3,000 milliliters) of fluids every day, as ordered by his doctor. (Beck, 6/10)
AP:
Judge: NC Health Plan Must Cover Transgender Treatments
The North Carolina state employee health plan unlawfully discriminates by excluding treatments for transgender people by refusing to pay for hormone therapy and surgeries, as it once did briefly, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs sided with several transgender people or their parents in declaring the refusal of coverage for treatments linked to gender confirmation violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act on the basis of sex. (6/10)
AP:
Judge: Georgia County Can't Deny Gender Surgery To Deputy
A federal judge has found that a Georgia sheriff’s office was illegally discriminating when it denied gender reassignment surgery to a deputy. U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell ruled June 2 that Houston County cannot exclude surgery for the transgender woman from its health insurance plan, citing a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision finding that a Michigan funeral home couldn’t fire an employee for being transgender. (Amy, 6/11)
KHN:
States Fight Student Mental Health Crisis With Days Off
Linnea Sorensen falls into a funk whenever her girlfriend of four years leaves for her six-month stints with the Marines, and the high school junior has trouble concentrating on her class work. “I’m somebody who struggles with my mental health quite a bit,” said the 17-year-old, who attends school in this suburb of about 77,000 people northwest of Chicago. “When you’re in school and not fully mentally there, it’s like you’re not really grasping anything anyway.” Now Illinois is giving Sorensen and students like her a new option for dealing with mental health lows. The state allows K-12 students in public schools to have five excused absences per school year for mental health reasons, another example of the growing acknowledgment among lawmakers that emotional and physical health are intertwined. (Bruce, 6/13)
'Poison In Every Puff': Canada Will Require Warnings On Every Cigarette
Canada would become the first nation to stamp a warning on each stick, decades after it became the first to include graphic, picture-based warnings on packages.
The New York Times:
Single Cigarettes In Canada Will Be Inscribed With Warning
Every individual cigarette sold in Canada will carry a warning message under the terms of a new federal regulation intended to curb smoking, especially among young people, the country’s minister of mental health and addictions announced on Friday. The individual warning label, said to be the first in the world, will supplement the warning messages already printed on cigarette boxes in Canada, a country where smoking rates have fallen sharply over the past few decades. ... Health Canada, the nation’s health agency, is proposing that the warning “Poison in every puff” be printed on the cigarette paper around the filter. (Isai, 6/10)
In global covid news —
Stat:
Disputes Persist As Covid Patent Waiver Talks Come Down To The Wire
On Sunday, the World Trade Organization will hold a long-delayed ministerial conference to craft a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the issue likely to generate the most debate is a highly controversial proposal to temporarily waive intellectual property rights for vaccines. A version was first introduced in October 2020 by South Africa and India, but appeared to face the proverbial uphill battle until several months later, when the Biden administration unexpectedly backed the effort. But despite various attempts at a compromise, the initiative repeatedly stalled amid objections by the pharmaceutical industry and some wealthy nations where the largest drug companies are based. Now a furious last-minute bid is underway to pass the latest version of the proposal, but the latest version seems to satisfy no one. What is at stake? How will this affect access to medicines and pharmaceutical industry assets? (Silverman, 6/12)
AP:
WTO Holds Big Meeting To Tackle Vaccines, Food Shortages
The head of the World Trade Organization predicted a “bumpy and rocky” road as it opened its highest-level meeting in 4-1/2 years on Sunday, with issues like pandemic preparedness, food insecurity and overfishing of the world’s seas on the agenda. At a time when some question WTO’s relevance, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala hopes the meeting involving more than 120 ministers from the group’s 164 member countries yields progress toward reducing inequality and ensuring fair and free trade. (Keaten, 6/12)
AP:
China Calls COVID 'Lab Leak' Theory A Lie After WHO Report
China on Friday attacked the theory that the coronavirus pandemic may have originated as a leak from a Chinese laboratory as a politically motivated lie, after the World Health Organization recommended in its strongest terms yet that a deeper probe is needed into whether a lab accident may be to blame. (6/10)
Bloomberg:
China Is Walking Back Covid Loosening Just Weeks After Reopening
China is starting to re-impose Covid-19 restrictions just weeks after major easing in key cities, raising concern the country may once again employ strict lockdowns to control its outbreak. Beijing reported 45 new local cases on Monday afternoon, after having single digit cases on most days last week. City officials said an outbreak linked to a popular bar is proving more difficult to control than previous clusters, in a weekend that saw mass testing and rising infections both in the capital and in Shanghai. (6/11)
Different Takes: The Future of Covid Vaccines Is Bright; Is Anyone Worried About Covid Anymore?
Opinion writers examine these covid and abortion issues.
The New York Times:
Science Can Make Covid Immunity Even Stronger
The Covid-19 pandemic has been a protracted battle between a generation-defining virus and scientists working at a breakneck pace to fight it. Following the development of the remarkably effective first-generation Covid-19 vaccines, the virus made its response: More infectious variants have emerged, capable of infecting people who have been vaccinated or were previously infected. This is by no means a failure of the vaccines, which continue to keep millions of people protected from the most devastating consequences of the virus. But science should be ready to make its next move. (Deepta Bhattacharya, 6/13)
Bloomberg:
Covid-19 Public Health Guidance Is Now Anyone's Guess
We’re now in a very weird pandemic phase. On Twitter, doctors such as Eric Topol sound five-alarm warnings about the latest subvariants of omicron. Offline, even in blue states, people are back to parties, bars and restaurants — and will soon be flying around the world with no testing requirements to return to the US. Things feel as if they’ve lost any coherence. There’s no discernible strategy or guidance on what Covid precautions we should still be taking. (Faye Flam, 6/11)
USA Today:
Pediatrician Says Kids Under 5 Should Get COVID Vaccine. Here's Why.
News that parents have been eagerly waiting for is finally here: They may be able to have kids under 5 vaccinated for COVID-19 as early as June 21. As a pediatrician, I'm thrilled because nothing matters more to me than keeping children healthy. (Dr.Daniel Summers, 6/11)
Los Angeles Times:
Why We Need A National Day Of Remembrance For COVID Victims
In New York City, a woman opens her laptop to a bar graph showing the number of COVID-19 deaths nationwide each month in 2021 and fixes her gaze on April. She tells a researcher: “My mother is one of them.” The graph helps her see that her mother is “part of something bigger happening to the country,” she says. In the nation’s capital, a man kneels on a patch of grass near the Washington Monument to place a white flag in honor of his brother. He gestures to the field of 700,000 flags around him — each representing someone who, like his brother, died of COVID — and asks: “How can people not see that this is a national tragedy?” (Sarah E. Wagner, Roy R. Grinker and Joel C. Kuipers. 6/10)
Also —
Bloomberg:
Supreme Court Abortion Ruling Would Lead To State-Law Confusion
Suppose Roe v. Wade is overturned. A recent fanfare of concern worries that a state would then be able to punish its citizens for traveling to other states to seek medical assistance in ending their pregnancies. Missouri is considering a statute that would do exactly that, and Texas activists are pushing a similar proposal. Other states may follow. (Stephen L. Carter, 6/12)
The Atlantic:
The Most Important Study In The Abortion Debate
Foster, the director of the Bixby Population Sciences Research Unit at UC San Francisco, was at a meeting of abortion providers, seeking their help recruiting people for a new study. And she was racing against time. She wanted to look, she told me, “at the last person served in, say, Nebraska, compared to the first person turned away in Nebraska.” Nearly two dozen red and purple states are expected to enact stringent limits or even bans on abortion as soon as the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade, as it is poised to do. Foster intends to study women with unwanted pregnancies just before and just after the right to an abortion vanishes. (Annie Lowrey, 6/11)
Los Angeles Times:
I Am The Product Of Rape. Here's Why I Support Abortion Rights
“I wish you had never been born. I should have had an abortion.” I can’t remember the first time my mother told me that. But I do remember the first time I responded differently, other than freezing in place or bursting into tears. I was living with my grandmother in Mason, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, and my mother was visiting. We moved constantly and were never in the same place for too long, so I called our house by the name of the street where it was located, to give myself roots. There’s the Jefferson Avenue house, the Mason-Montgomery house. The Cowan Drive apartment. Sometimes we were evicted; other times, I’m not quite sure why we moved. (Victoria Reyes, 6/12)
Viewpoints: Low Rate Of Flu Shots Is Concerning; US Kids Need Help With Mental Health Care
Editorial writers delve into these public health topics.
Bloomberg:
Australia’s Early Flu Season Shows Americans Need Their Shots
After a two-year hiatus, the flu is back. An early uptick in cases in Australia has public health authorities there alarmed — and should prompt the US to put the familiar virus back on the public’s radar. (Lisa Jarvis, 6/11)
The Boston Globe:
The Mental Health Crisis Afflicting American Youth Demands Health Care Reforms
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a stark warning in December: America’s youth are in the midst of a “devastating” mental health crisis, suffering from skyrocketing rates of depression and anxiety. Our health care system, which for too long has slighted mental health care, is woefully unprepared for the heartbreaking surge in troubled kids arriving in emergency rooms and psychiatric facilities: Lower insurance reimbursement rates for mental health care providers and hospitals has translated into fewer providers and less access. And as weak as the mental health care system is for adults, for children and adolescents it’s even worse. (6/12)
The Star Tribune:
We Physicians Call For The Following Gun Legislation Without Delay
As doctors, our work is to care for people. We hug and kiss our own children, then step into the fray to preserve life when it is slipping away, when someone has tried to take it. When a gun is fired and a bullet tears into a person, we stop the bleeding. We remove the bullets, reconstruct shattered bones and mend as our skill and training allow, to keep a gun from taking you, too. (Dr. Mary Tschida, 6/10)
Chicago Tribune:
My Dad's Hospice Experience Showed Benefits Of Altered States
My father died this year of cancer. In the end, he was brought home from the hospital to die with his family around him, and I’m grateful for that. He was resigned to his inevitable end, and we were able to say goodbye. Under the careful ministrations of hospice nurses, my father experienced his final day on a morphine-fueled trip that would have made psychedelic pioneer Timothy Leary jealous. As far as I know, it was his first and last extended psychedelic experience. None of the health care providers ever mentioned to us (or to him) that he’d be visiting the origin of the universe, seeing God and reliving his emotional childhood. But that’s what seemed to be happening as we sat around his bed. (Stephen Asma, 6/10)
Los Angeles Times:
The FDA Is Right To Ban Menthol Cigarettes
Take a deep breath, America. We’ve made serious progress against cigarette smoking. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 23% of adults were smokers in 2000. By 2020, the rate had fallen to 12.5%. Teen use of traditional cigarettes has plummeted from 22.5% in 2002 to 6% in 2019, according to the American Lung Assn. (6/13)
Los Angeles Times:
Don't Deny Trans Youth Gender-Affirming Care
This year has seen an array of anti-transgender legislation. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is pursuing policies to restrict transition-related care for transgender minors and to block Medicaid coverage of this care for anyone. In 2022, legislation in 20 states so far has been introduced purporting to “protect” trans youth — by criminalizing care that has been used safely worldwide for decades. (Christy Olezeski, Meredithe McNamara and Anne Alstott, 6/13)