Indiana Weighs Hospital Monopoly as Officials Elsewhere Scrutinize Similar Deals

If Indiana officials approve a proposed hospital merger in western Indiana in the coming months, the state will have its first hospital monopoly created by a “Certificate of Public Advantage.” Other such deals have resulted in government reports documenting diminished care in Tennessee and North Carolina.

Funding Instability Plagues Program That Brings Docs to Underserved Areas

A medical residency program designed to train future primary care physicians in outpatient rather than hospital settings has proved an effective means to bring doctors to rural and underserved areas. But it hinges on unpredictable congressional funding.

Heat Rules for California Workers Would Also Help Keep Schoolchildren Cool

Proposed state standards to protect indoor workers from extreme heat would extend to schools. The rules come as climate change is bringing more frequent and intense heat waves, causing schools nationwide to cancel instruction.

Thousands of Children Got Tested for Lead With Faulty Devices: What Parents Should Know

Faulty lead test kits made by Magellan Diagnostics may have been used as late as 2021 to test children for exposure to the toxic metal. The company agreed to pay $42 million to settle criminal charges that it concealed malfunctions.

‘So Much Death’: Lawmakers Weigh Stricter Speed Limits, Safer Roads for Pedestrians

New York and Michigan recently passed laws allowing local jurisdictions to lower speed limits, and Los Angeles voters backed safer road designs, but enforcement often meets political resistance. The number of pedestrians killed or injured on the road remains high.

The Chicken and Egg Problem of Fighting Another Flu Pandemic

The spread of an avian flu virus in cattle has again brought public health attention to the potential for a global pandemic. Fighting it would depend, for now, on 1940s technology that makes vaccines from hens’ eggs.

El problema del huevo y la gallina en la lucha contra otra pandemia de gripe

La propagación de un nuevo virus entre múltiples especies en un área geográfica amplia eleva la amenaza de que más mutaciones puedan producir un virus que se propague de humano a humano a través de la transmisión aérea.

Farmworkers Face High-Risk Exposures to Bird Flu, but Testing Isn’t Reaching Them

Federal officials are offering $75 to dairy workers who agree to be tested for bird flu. Advocates say the payments aren’t enough to protect workers from lost wages and health care costs if they test positive.