JUST FOR THE HEALTH OF IT: Public Health Radio Show on WAKT 106.1 FM Toledo

JUST FOR THE HEALTH OF IT: Public Health Radio Show on WAKT 106.1 FM Toledo

Just for the Health of It is my weekly one-hour public health show on WAKT, 106.1 FM Toledo. You can listen at 9:00 AM Tuesdays and Thursdays (after Democracy NOW) or 6:30 PM Tuesdays on-air or on-line ToledoRadio.org.  To listen anytime you want online, below are links to the latest shows (and all past shows).

You can follow the program and shows on facebook here.

Just for the Health of It brings you fresh perspectives on the science of health for all alongside local, state, national, and global health news. Just for the Health brings you the best of both social justice and personal health.

Just for the Health focuses on putting the JUST in Just for the Health of It. 

My aim is to equip you to live healthily in a healthy community on a just planet.

For you of those folks who are perhaps too busy to catch a whole show, or just want to sample my sense of humor, here are a few of my parody PSAs:

Parody PSA: The Dihydrogen Monoxide Conspiracy

Parody PSA: Pla-ce-bo Pharmaceuticals’ Elimin-all

Parody PSA: PR Medica and Merciless Health Systems

Parody PSA: Health Care for ALL

Parody PSA: Cory the Coronavirus

Parody PSA: TL20-squared VIRUS Pandemic

HERE ARE LINKS TO THE LATEST SHOWS:

Week of October 28, 2024, GREATEST HITS SHOW #2

GREATEST HITS SHOW #2, stories from June-August, 2019 [first aired 7/16/21], featuring: a public health case study that is the obesity epidemic, with a call to move beyond individual behavior and focus on social determinants driving obesity such as fat shaming and bias, and access to culturally-competent health services (2:00); why there is so much commercial corruption in nutrition (11:18); fiber and health, and fiber as a good marker for intake of whole foods (14:50); international drug development processes are irresponsible and must be reformed (18:51); the burgeoning benzo crisis (22:46); psychiatric diagnosis “scientifically meaningless” (28:52); keto diets and other diets that severely restrict carbohydrates, how there is little evidence for their effectiveness, especially considering their potential risks and sustainability issues both individually and ecologically, and how massive carbohydrate restriction hamstrings consumption of health-producing carbohydrates like beans, fruits, vegetables and unrefined grains (32:38); how to deal with anxiety about climate change (41:45); seeing greenery linked to less intense and frequent cravings (46:13); nations with strong women’s rights have better population health and faster economic growth (49:09).

Week of November 4, 2024 [episode #280]:

Featuring: Gun death rates in some U.S. states comparable to conflict zones (1:50); Hospitals, clinics among America’s most violent workplaces (4:04); U.S. to begin bulk milk testing for bird flu after push from industry (8:18); Tuberculosis infected 8 million people last year, the most WHO has ever tracked (11:09); Ultra-processed foods and plastic packaging make for the ultimate toxic pair (13:10); Low-level lead poisoning accounts for cognitive deficits in children, and risk factors for heart conditions (14:35); Governments subsidizing “unprecedented” health threats from fossil fuels (18:34); Fine particulate matter air pollution responsible for 30% of new asthma cases (23:51); “Converging” Evidence of Link Between Air Pollution and Breast Cancer (24:43); The Painful Truth about Hunger in America: Why We Must Unlearn Everything We Think We Know—and Start Again (26:17); Poverty substantially increases risk of mental illness (28:37); Poor Sleep Mediates Link Between Poverty and Pain (31:06).

BONUS articles to read online! (summarized at 33:30)

1. Limiting sugar in infancy is tied to less diabetes and hypertension in adulthood — U.K. rationing in World War II provides natural experiment on sugar consumption.
2. Upcoming updated U.S. dietary guidelines will leave the problem of ultra-processed foods largely unaddressed.
3. New weight loss drugs cause greater muscle loss than regular dieting or normal aging.
4. Stricter toxic chemical rules reduce Californians’ (and everybody’s) exposures
5. PFAS levels decreasing in blood of residents after water cleanup
6. E-waste from AI computers set to grow exponentially if unaddressed
7. Increasing use of wildfire suppressants, which contain toxic metals, raises health concerns
8. New tactic of chemical deforestation in Brazil avoids satellite detection and monitoring
9. Bayer’s new Roundup products more toxic than prior formulations
10. 38% of tree species worldwide face extinction threat, surpassing endangered animal species
11. Biodiversity in protected areas is shrinking faster than in unprotected regions
12. U.N. biodiversity talks gridlocked and conservation funding falls far short
13. Climate change is making it harder for people to get the child care and health care they need
14. Ukraine’s wartime environmental damage could lead to long-term ecological recovery by rewilding
15. Dengue spreads in Florida after hurricanes bring ideal mosquito conditions
16. First U.S. case of bird flu in a pig raises concerns over potential human threat
17. Tracking the U.S. bird flu outbreak has been hard. It’s about to get harder with the normal seasonal rise in flu.
18. A Bird Flu Vaccine Might Come Too Late to Save Us from H5N1
19. Expert Committee Backs Extra COVID Vax Dose for Seniors, and Pneumococcal Vax for Adults 50 and Up
20. An Idaho health department isn’t allowed to give COVID-19 vaccines anymore. Experts say it’s a first.
21. “Do no harm” is hurting millions of long Covid patients, as there is not a single FDA-approved treatment yet
22. COVID-19 sharply boosts risk for blood-fat disorders
23. McDonald’s E. coli crisis reveals why vegetable contamination is harder problem than beef itself, as cooking destroys many fecal contaminants
24. Drug overdose deaths down 9% in 2023, putting Ohio at 12th highest rate in U.S.
25. Overdose deaths are rising among Black and Native Americans
26. How to make sure opioid settlement money isn’t wasted
27. Online gambling rise poses significant public health threat
28. Medicare hidden information hurts people and policy
29. DACA “Dreamers” are able to sign up for Obamacare for the first time
30. Why a doctor had to figure out a way to prescribe electricity
31. Dentists Are Pulling “Healthy” and Treatable Teeth To Profit From Implants
32. Doctors: To get your patients to share, stop judging them when they do
33. “Not Medically Necessary”: Inside the Company Enabling America’s Biggest Health Insurers Deny Coverage for Care
34. Iconic Gun-Makers Gave Sensitive Customer Information, without their consent, to Partisan Political Operatives
35. Former FDA lawyers join tobacco industry in “epic” fight against the agency
36. Tobacco Companies May Have Found a Way to Make Vapes More Addictive to Kids by displaying animations with each puff.
37. Drinking is cheaper than it’s been in decades. Lobbyists are fighting to keep it that way.
38. A Look at the Supreme Court’s Upcoming Term — Public health is on the chopping block once again.
39. Black Americans Still Suffer Worse Health. Here’s Why There’s So Little Progress.
40. Will there be a future for newborns in Gaza?
41. Standing desks may be worse for your health than sitting — moving regularly is best option
42. Survey reveals half of U.S. teens stare at screens more than four hours per day
43. Is human contact in the digital age a scarce luxury good?
44. Most Americans say not enough being done to ensure affordable mental health care

Week of October 28, 2024, GREATEST HITS SHOW #3

GREATEST HITS SHOW #3, from August-November, 2019, featuring: moral injury and burnout in medicine requires collective action (2:00); sexual trauma as a global public health issue (6:09); Defense Department as single biggest polluter on planet (11:31); Man vs. mosquito – at the front lines of a public health war (18:43); role of racial stereotypes in assumptions that African-Americans are more violent (21:35); special series of articles in the American Journal of Public Health documenting role of slavery and racism in health inequalities that persist today (23:37); environmental and health harms are downshifting America’s obsession with the lawn (27:52); cultivating joy through mindfulness — an antidote to opioid misuse, the disease of despair (31:49); taking the cops out of mental health-related 911 rescues (38:33); children’s risk of dying before age 5 varies more than 40-fold (41:21); largest study finds greater reduction in cardiovascular disease and death from taking high blood pressure medication at bedtime rather than in morning (41:25); pharma money paid to doctors is the cancer growing in cancer medicine (46:58); to treat chronic ailments, fix diet first (51:00); study finds focusing on patient value and goals instead of problems yields better outcomes (54:07).

Week of October 21, 2024 [episode #279]:

Featuring: Countries that choose to do so can reduce premature death by half by 2050 (1:52); New U.S. report card on physical activity for children and youth reveals continued low levels of physical activity (7:30); Teen smoking and other tobacco use drop to lowest level in 25 years (9:30); U.S. air pollution monitoring network has gaps in coverage, most of which offers easy fix (11:04); Sleep experts advocate for permanent standard time ahead of fall time change to sync body clocks with nature and boost health (13:32); More bystanders are using naloxone to help people who overdose, but still only tiny fraction of what is needed (17:47); Survey finds 25% of adults suspect they have undiagnosed ADHD, yet half of them have not shared this with their doctor (19:55); Black adults are disproportionately affected as glaucoma reaches 4.22 million in the U.S. (21:54); Use of Prior Authorization Up in Medicare Advantage Plans, “forcing vulnerable patients into impossible choices” (23:00); Tech giants turn to “green” nuclear power to meet growing AI energy demands (25:27); Finland, as other northern temperate nations, faces an uncertain future as its forests struggle to absorb any net carbon (27:17); Countries fall behind on biodiversity goals despite upcoming UN conference (29:04); Cows dead from bird flu rot in California as heat bakes dairy farms (30:06).

BONUS stories to read online! (32:40)

1. More schools than ever are serving vegan meals in California. Credit environmentally conscious students — and a handful of state funding programs.
2. Should we be worried about vegan ultra-processed foods?
3. Preoperative nutrition program highly cost-effective in cutting surgery costs and complications
4. A healthy diet can help keep low grade prostate cancer from progressing to more dangerous states
5. Ultra-processed foods worsen blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes, compared to whole and minimally processed foods
6. Protesters demand Kellogg remove artificial colors from Froot Loops and other cereals
7. Hunger experts say the risk of famine in Gaza remains high
8. Cholera confirmed in Lebanon, WHO declares risk of spread “very high”
9. Blinken to Israel: Allow More Aid Into Gaza or Face the Consequences Later
10. Wipe out polio will take more time and money, global group says
11. Mpox: Neglect has led to a more dangerous virus now spreading across borders, harming and killing people. Leaders must take action to stop mpox now.
12. Is it time to freak out about bird flu? The answer is not as straightforward as one might like
13. New virus uncovered in China — is this a sign tick-borne diseases are on the rise?
14. Mosquitoes that transmit yellow fever and Zika found in southern California
15. WHO says it has certified Egypt as malaria free
16. New Nasal Vaccines Offer Better Protection from COVID and Flu, and No Needle is Needed
17. In children, Covid is tied to higher risk of type 2 diabetes
18. USDA watchdog opening investigation into agency handling of Boar’s Head deadly food poisoning outbreak, as “imminent threat” citations ignored
19. Flesh-eating bacteria cases rise in Florida after hurricanes Helene and Milton
20. Helene and CVS Land Double Whammy for 25,000 Patients Who Survive on IV Nutrition
21. As IV shortage continues after hurricane, U.S. invokes wartime power to speed recovery by prioritizing rebuilding
22. FEMA Told Victims of New Mexico’s Largest Wildfire It Can’t Pay for Emotional Harm. A Judge Will Likely Rule It Must. This Could Increase Equitability of Relief.
23. Climate change can make addiction recovery more difficult
24. Forests are burning at unprecedented levels, releasing massive amounts of carbon, globally, 60% more  than 2001
25. White House cements “clean” construction deals with some states and industry
26. The U.S. designates a new marine sanctuary led by Indigenous people, a first.
27. “Living under this constant threat” — Environmental defenders face a mounting mental health crisis
28. The Health Benefits of Spending Time in Nature
29. Halloween costumes may pose hidden chemical risks
30. What We Are Made of: Blood, Guts…and Plastics –moving toward natural alternatives to safeguard human health and the environment.
31. U.S. Supreme Court to hear case on disputed West Texas high-level nuclear waste storage plan at “interim” facility.
32. Health effects of chemical mixtures: Neurotoxic effects add up, new study shows
33. Study finds widespread exposure to hormone-disrupting chemical during pregnancy
34. Spike in emergency visits for life threatening pregnancy complication of hypertension
35. 11 experts on why gains in #1 killer, cardiovascular disease, are stalling, and what we can do about it.
36. “Failure to rescue” — Study suggests why women die more than men after cardiovascular surgery
37. High blood pressure reduces respiratory capacity due to hardening of bronchi
38. Are dental practices out of control in the United States?
39. Want Electronic Reimbursement? That Will Cost You a 5% Fee.  Predatory insurance fees underscore need for physician payment reform.
40. How chronic shortages of a childhood cancer drug  makes the unimaginable worse.
41. Doctors, Not AI, Should Authorize Treatments — A new California law shows the way.
42. 23andMe faces an uncertain future. Here’s how to delete your DNA data.
43. Few hospital websites post about LGBTQ+ services or policies
44. Crisis pregnancy center’s forms give rare insight into anti-abortion practices, promising to protect sensitive health data but aren’t bound by federal privacy law.
45. Some Docs Are Ignoring the Wishes of Breast Cancer Survivors who opt out of breast reconstruction.
46. With 20,000+ brain injured each year, the U.S. military tests how to partially protect troops from blasts.
47. Make America Healthy Again? RFK, Jr.’s plan sounds catchy, but won’t move the national needle.
48. The problem that’s even “bigger” than health care — declining trust in governments worldwide.
49. Norway early childhood education law decrees: Let childhood be childhood
50. People regularly experiencing brighter nights and darker days have higher mortality risk.

Week of October 14, 2024 [episode #278]:

Featuring: Don’t expect human life expectancy to grow much more, researcher says (1:51); Wildlife numbers fall by 73% in 50 years, pushing dangerous tipping points (4:37); Excess Death Rates Highest Among Minorities age 25-64 During COVID Pandemic (7:38); Experts Highlight Alarming Jump in HIV Infections Among Latinos (12:58); Screen time tied to depression and anxiety in 9- and 10-year-olds (17:46); More than 15 million U.S. adults have ADHD, and access to meds difficult (19:18); Far improved cancer survival for young adults after passage of Affordable Care Act (20:43); Medicare Advantage Plans’ “Extra Benefits” Panned by Advisory Commission (22:38); Federal government may be paying twice, $78 billion, for care of veterans enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans (25:32); Will AI tools revolutionize public health? Not if they continue following old patterns, researchers argue (27:46); Industry-funded alcohol-reduction apps contain misinformation, study warns (33:09).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Contamination from flooded industrial sites during major hurricanes is a growing concern
2. Hurricane Helene’s flooding raises concerns over private well water safety
3. FEMA spent nearly half its disaster budget in just 8 days
4. FDA declares IV fluid shortage in the wake of Helene
5. California bans toxic chemicals in IV bags as healthcare shifts away from harmful plastics
6. The Toxic Loophole Behind A Chemical Plant Disaster — a chemical industry lobbying success
7. Oil well blowout in West Texas highlights ongoing environmental risks
8. Texas reduced its air monitoring program’s effectiveness after fracking surged
9. Black women are leading the fight against polluters in Louisiana — and they’re winning. Philanthropic and government investments in environmental justice are helping nonprofits push back against polluting industrial development.
10. Hydrogen’s toxic secret worries a town in northern France — “green” hydrogen is central to Europe’s energy transition, but it relies on “forever chemicals.”
11. Fossil Fuel Interests Are Working to Kill Solar in One Ohio County. An Industry-owned “Hometown” Newspaper Is Delivering One-sided, Dubious Coverage
12. Many nations aren’t meeting their green health care commitments, study says
13. EU’s manure surplus is causing widespread environmental harm
14. Shipping containers lost at sea are causing significant environmental harm
15. Microplastic in “leave-on” cosmetic and personal care products is understudied, research “urgently required,” experts say
16. Why Trump and RFK Jr. won’t “make America healthy again”
17. Republicans Are Pouring Millions Into Anti-Trans Ads In Election’s Final Stretch
18. How Did Public Health Become a Public Enemy at the Supreme Court?  The conservative majority is “buying into” anti-science attitudes.
19. When Democracy is Healthy, People are Healthy
20. TikTok has known about how the app can harm teens and preteens, new documents show
21. Mindfulness found as effective as leading antidepressant in treating anxiety disorders
22. Industry Funding Biases Antidepressant Efficacy Findings, explaining almost half of the relative efficacy
23. Most high school students say they’ve had a traumatic experience as a kid
24. Protecting against the harms of adverse childhood experiences
25. Older Men’s Connections Often Wither When They’re on Their Own
26. Better use of vaccines could reduce antibiotic use by 22%, says WHO
27. When medicines don’t work: Eliminating neglected tropical diseases will reduce drug resistance — a win for all
28. Worst U.S. whooping cough outbreak in a decade has infected thousands
29. Mpox is killing again. It didn’t have to be this way.
30. Hospitals understaffed with infection prevention and control specialists have higher rates of infection
31. Almost 10 million pounds of meat recalled due to Listeria food poisoning danger
32. A Boy’s Bicycling Death Haunts a Black Neighborhood. 35 Years Later, There’s Still No Sidewalk.
33. Seven men won all the science Nobels this year. There’s an even bigger problem.
34. The evidence shows women make better doctors. So why do men still dominate medicine?
35. Listening to the voices of the medically silenced
36. AI does not necessarily lead to more efficiency in clinical practice, research shows
37. Industry payments common for physician peer reviewers of top journals
38. Hospitals sick of fighting for Medicare Advantage dollars
39. Survey reveals more than 40% of IBD patients made significant financial sacrifices to pay for their health care
40. Encampment sweeps threaten homeless people’s health
41. Extended-Stay Hotels, a Growing Option for Poor Families, Can Lead to Health Problems for Kids
42. Bombing in Gaza creates long-term health risks from asbestos exposure
43. Are hospitals collateral damage? Assessing geospatial proximity of 2000 lb bomb detonations to hospital facilities in the Gaza Strip
44. Americans Are Getting Shorter, a marker for poorer health.
45. Life expectancy study shows it’s never too late to benefit from stopping smoking
46. Personalized, as opposed to Public Health, Nutrition
47. An unbroken night’s sleep is a myth — sleep quality is key.

Week of October 7, 2024 [episode #277]:

Featuring: U.S. adults in worse health than British counterparts at midlife (1:57); Progress toward cutting racial mortality disparities stalling, reversing (4:17); Daytime sleepiness takes a toll on Americans, impacting daily life (5:53); Adding beans and pulses can lead to improved shortfall nutrient intakes and a higher diet quality in American adults  (8:30); Little kids, too little movement — Global study finds most children don’t meet guidelines (12:17); Hurricanes kill thousands long after they hit a community (14:17); Costs of fatal falls among U.S. older adults exceed those attributed to firearm deaths (17:28); From kitchenware to toys, household items linked to toxic flame retardants (20:12); Southern California study demonstrates extensive exposure to toxic airborne plasticizers (22:34); Racial disparities in cancer may come from pollutants (24:55); Chevron’s cancer-causing fuels force EPA to rethink approval (26:44); Biden to sign bill easing environmental reviews for chip production projects (28:06); Ship scrubbers meant to clean fuel are causing ocean pollution (29:53); Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns of illegal debt collection tactics in healthcare (31:14); U.S. health authorities need to play a larger role in cannabis policy, a new report says (33:28); 1 in 3 teens can’t get tampons or pads during their periods (36:20); 90% of babies hospitalized with COVID had moms who didn’t get vaccine during pregnancy (39:01).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Hurricane sends new shudders through health supply chain
2. Hospitals Still Feeling Impacts of Hurricane Helene
3. North Carolina was once a climate leader, but more than a decade of Republican and corporate obstruction left the state ill-prepared for the historic disaster.
4. WHO approves first mpox diagnostic test
5. Sex workers find themselves at the center of the mpox outbreak in the Congo
6. Next pandemic could start in the U.S., disease experts warn
7. California confirms first human cases of bird flu in the state
8. “Superbugs” could devastate livestock globally
9. After a rocky debut for new RSV tools, hopes are high as a new season approaches
10. U.S. school-entry vaccination rates fall as exemptions keep rising
11. COVID-19 Outpatient Antiviral Treatment Among Adults Aged 65+ is Lower with increasing age as risks increase
12. Remember the shortage of medical gowns during COVID? Feds spending $350 million for 90-day stockpile
13. As climate change helps mosquitoes spread disease, critics push for alternatives to pesticides
14. UK’s last coal plant could be repurposed into a giant battery
15. Bottled water has a huge and growing toll on human and planetary health
16. Experts call for more studies on health effects of microplastics in cosmetic and personal care products
17. PFAS exposure linked to sleep disruptions in young adults
18. Toxic Contamination in Our Oceans Can Reach Our Kitchen Tables — DDT Looms
19. Radon, even at levels below EPA guideline for mitigation, is linked to childhood leukemia, the most common childhood cancer
20. Condoms aren’t a fact of life for young Americans. They’re an afterthought.
21. Colorectal Cancer Screening Uptake Tripled in 45-49 Age Group, after updated recommendation.
22. Haunted by migrant deaths, Border Patrol agents face mental health toll
23. “Desperate” families see potential in S.F.’s new mental health court — but very few helped so far
24. Florida enacts tough law criminalizing homelessness, leaving cities and counties scrambling
25. Even Political Rivals Agree That Medical Debt Is an Urgent Issue
26. FDA’s Promised Guidance on Pulse Oximeters Unlikely To End Decades of Racial Bias
27. Setting the Record Straight on the FDA’s Authority Over Drug Ads
28. It’s time for a new medical specialty in asynchronous care, answering patient inbox questions
29. Expert panel calls for nutrition competencies in U.S. medical education
30. Benefits of adding fluoride to water may be waning, with the widespread use of fluoride in toothpaste
31. Kids No Longer Smoke Cigarettes. Why Aren’t We Celebrating?

Week of September 30, 2024 [episode #276]:

Featuring: Antimicrobial resistance can be fought with new agreement, says WHO director-general (1:49); With bird flu now in 34 California dairy herds, health experts watch closely (7:50); Kids Born During the Pandemic Got Fewer Routine Vaccinations (13:04); Most Americans won’t get new flu or COVID-19 vaccines (15:31); Free Covid-19 tests are available again at COVIDtests.gov (17:49); Infant RSV Protection at 56% (19:13); The Army National Guard’s lead contamination problem puts civilians and soldiers at risk (20:33); U.S. taxpayer-funded private network run by a PR firm attacked critics of pesticides, including environmentalists and scientists (21:57); Niagara Falls chemical plant emits carcinogens for years without state action (23:03); Lakes in minority communities go largely unmonitored for water quality, three times less likely than white communities (24:08); Private equity funds toxic lead chromate industry, raising alarms (25:30); Widespread soil and water pollution is an invisible threat to cardiovascular health (26:53); Growing divide — Rural men are living shorter, less healthy lives than their urban counterparts (30:05); U.S. suicides held steady in 2023 — at a very high level (31:41); Medicare Advantage overpayments highlighted in Inspector General reports (34:06); Clinical cancer research in the U.S. is increasingly dominated by pharmaceutical industry sponsors, degrading benefit to patients (35:57).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Night-time noise linked to restless nights for airport neighbors
2. Firearm laws restricting large-capacity magazines found to be effective in reducing child deaths in mass shootings
3. Safe storage and minimum age gun laws would curb violence, and Layering a variety of firearm policies would likely work best to prevent deaths
4. Parents open to firearms counseling from doctors, but ensuring secure storage remains a challenge
5. Women are increasingly using firearms in suicide deaths, as women increasingly own guns
6. Biden issues executive order to minimize trauma of active shooter drills and to restrict some machine gun devices
7. The Odds of Surviving a Shooting Are Getting Worse as guns become more lethal
8. Racial justice activism, advocacy found to reduce depression, anxiety in some teens
9. Study of former NFL players finds 1 in 3 believe they have CTE, and anxiety over CTE may mask getting help for other cognitive issues that are actually treatable
10. Plastic recycling claims face scrutiny as FTC plans tougher rules for manufacturers
11. California Sues ExxonMobil Over “Deceptively” Promoting Chemical Recycling as a Solution for the Plastics Crisis
12. EPA data make it hard to know the extent of the contamination from last year’s Ohio derailment
13. Signs warning of radioactive waste to be installed along Missouri’s Coldwater Creek winding for 14 miles between homes and parks
14. Michigan polluters save money with short-term fixes, leaving future generations to bear the cost
15. Democrats prioritize economy of fossil fuels over global climate goals
16. Why EPA chief backed down on environmental justice promises
17. Veterinary medicine is key to overcoming antimicrobial resistance through prudent and proper use of antibiotics in livestock
18. The U.S. weakens global effort to fight antibiotic resistance in livestock
19. U.S. farmers call for vaccine option to fight bird flu as wildfowl migration begins
20. Review finds serious gaps in steps to control bird flu in mammals
21. Why are we seeing more pandemics? Our impact on the planet has a lot to do with it
22. COVID-19 reinfection ups risk of long COVID, new data show
23. Research shows methadone, other substance use disorder treatments in jails reduces recidivism
24. Study reveals fewer than half of U.S. jails provide treatment for opioid use disorder
25. Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is at an all-time low with Taliban rule, but heroin flows unabated as stockpiles and world production far exceed demand
26. Negative body image among teens is a global issue, linked to social media use
27. WHO sees rapid rise in “problematic” social media use for European teens
28. Can We Safely Use Melamine Dishes & Polyamide Plastic Utensils? [short answer, no]
29. Is Stainless Steel or Cast Iron Cookware Best? Is Teflon Safe?
30. Diet-related diseases are the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S. – yet many doctors receive little to no nutrition education in medical school
31. I’m an OB-GYN in the South. Abortion bans make it impossible to “do no harm.”
32. More women are charged with pregnancy-related crimes since Roe’s end
33. Big Tech & Surveillance Would Be Key to Delivering Project 2025’s Anti-Abortion Plans
34. Will abortion swing the first post-Roe presidential election?
35. How America’s health care system fails women in pain
36. Pentagon to spend $500 million on women’s health research, and NIH $200 million
37. Israel Deliberately Blocked Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, Two Government Bodies Concluded. Antony Blinken Rejected Them to Avoid Having to Cut Off Arms Aid.
38. NIH Neuroscience Leader Committed Research Misconduct, Agency Says
39. New HHS rules can’t address the primary reason for research misconduct: Publish or perish must perish.
40. Severe obesity is on the rise in the U.S.
41. The Data Are Clear: Patients Regain Weight After Stopping GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs
42. Millions of Americans want to quit smoking. Critics say drugmakers and the FDA are failing them
43. Is comprehensive genetic testing worth it for patients with cancer? We don’t know and can’t say yes as profit motive versus best clinical care reigns in research.
44. The Medicare Advantage Influence Machine revealed through court filings
45. Nonprofit Hospitals Took in Over $37 Billion in Tax Benefits in 2021
46. Expiring ACA subsidies could affect 2 million chronically ill
47. 77% of IT healthcare employees want to leave job
48. Fluoride in drinking water poses enough risk to merit new EPA action, judge rules

Week of September 23, 2024 [episode #275]:

Featuring: Jordan becomes first country to receive WHO verification for eliminating leprosy (1:51); In Ohio, Black infants 2.4 times more likely to die compared to white infants (3:32); A dramatic rise in pregnant women dying in Texas after abortion ban (4:51); U.S. health care system ranks last among wealthy nations (6:23); Racial/ethnic minorities and poorer Americans are more likely to be incorrectly billed for preventive care (8:49); U.S. sees a sudden and unexpected 11% drop in fatal overdoses (12:20); More than three-quarters of U.S. states have enacted laws to guide use of opioid litigation proceeds (18:41); U.S. Will Let More People Take Methadone at Home, in first big update to methadone regulations in 20 years (22:11); Is massive expansion of plastic production the biggest climate threat? (28:38); 14,000 Chemicals in Food Packaging, 3,601 Enter Our Bodies (32:29); Environmental metal pollution can increase cardiovascular disease risk (34:17); The Inflation Reduction Act’s supposed green energy promise is putting Black communities at risk with no environmental benefit (37:10); EPA workers faced retaliation for exposing chemical safety risks (38:47); London’s low-emission zone got kids out of cars and onto their feet (40:01).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Wastewater monitoring can detect foodborne illness
2. Mpox is not under control in Africa, warns Africa CDC
3. Amid new mpox outbreak, study suggests waning protection of vaccine
4. Polio’s last stands: The global fight for eradication
5. Child flu deaths last season matched U.S. record high
6. The next pandemic virus could be built using AI
7. Critics Call Feds’ Response to Cyberattacks on Healthcare Feeble and Fractured
8. FTC Sues Top Pharmacy Benefit Managers Over Insulin Prices
9. Older Migraine Drugs More Effective Than Newer Ones
10. How I fought Big Pharma on insulin prices — and won (by avoiding the trap of taking money from our opponents)
11. How the food industry fights soda taxes
12. Exposure to microplastics contributes to liver disease and other metabolic disorders
13. Microplastic pollution is expected to double by 2040, even if production stops
14. North Carolina’s poultry industry surges, but at what cost to health and environment?
15. U.S. methane emissions continue to rise despite global reduction pledges
16. Judge halts methane regulation in five states over states’ rights dispute
17. Car travel now exceeds pre-pandemic levels in most U.S. cities
18. Steel and aluminum industries bring environmental and health concerns despite growing demand
19. Report outlines a path to prosperity for planet and people if Earth’s critical resources are better shared
20. Nation’s first carbon capture project faces early corrosion issues, raising long-term safety concerns
21. Ranchers secretly use chemical defoliants to clear Brazilian forests for beef production
22. Oil companies legally dump toxic waste into North Sea
23. A study uncovers dangerous hydrogen sulfide emissions in Central Texas oilfields
24. Air pollution from biomass combustion carries higher cancer potential
25. How wildfire smoke exposure is measured doesn’t capture long-term health effects and hides racial disparities
26. An industrial chemical is showing up in fentanyl in the U.S., troubling scientists
27. New Treatments Address Addiction alongside Trauma
28. Telehealth is a lifeline for opioid use disorder. Congress must renew its use.
29. “I Don’t Want to Die.” He needed mental health care. He found a ghost network.
30. Decades of national suicide prevention policies haven’t slowed the deaths
31. Last Holdout: Arkansas’ Governor Says Medicaid Extension for New Moms Isn’t Needed
32. Most maternal deaths can be prevented. Here’s how California aims to cut them in half
33. How Do Abortion Pills Work? Answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
34. Historic Numbers of Americans Live by Themselves as They Age
35. In Historic Step, Feds Make First Ever Multi-Vendor Awards to Modernize the Nation’s Organ Transplant System and End the Current Contract Monopoly
36. A failing health care system caused my husband’s death, with endemic “diagnostic error” killing or permanently disabling nearly 800,000 Americans each year
37. What docs say is driving them away: 4 strategies to retain physicians
38. Reducing smartphone use and/or increasing physical activity increases work satisfaction
39. New Consensus Report: Myopia Should Be Classified as a Disease, and kids should spend more time outdoors help prevent myopia from developing.
40. Too many people delay dealing with hearing loss because they think the devices make them look old.
41. Poison control centers report spike in calls about kids and energy drinks, which are not recommended for kids and teens at all.
42. No concussion? A blow to the head can still be dangerous

Week of September 16, 2024 [episode #274]:

Featuring: PFAS “Forever Chemicals” in Pesticides Could Pose a Greater Multigenerational Threat Than DDT Did (1:52); Using AI, researchers find e-cigarette brands are flouting the rules about health warning labels on Instagram (9:48); New series of reports call for public health model to address suicide, refocusing on social determinants (12:52); U.S. suicide rates rise faster in less affluent areas (15:47); “What Happens Three Months From Now?” Mental Health After Georgia High School Shooting (16:49); Why so many parents are “‘so stressed they cannot function” (20:47); MassMutual Survey — Many Americans are Opting for Childfree Lives over the Financial Strain of Parenthood (27:34); For many, incomplete answers on mental health care and pregnancy complicates matters (28:52); Guns remain leading cause of death for U.S. children and teens, with massive racial disparities (31:19); Chicago court finds Trump Tower liable for years of river pollution (34:50).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. National Academies Report — Wastewater surveillance could be even better for detecting pathogens
2. Studies deepen understanding of LGBTQ health disparities
3. Feds Rarely Punish Hospitals for Turning Away Pregnant Patients
4. Restricting Immigrant Access to Pregnancy-Related Insurance Has Public Health Consequences
5. USDA reports Boar’s Head plant posed “imminent threat” 2 years before deadly listeria outbreak
6. Around 560,000 children vaccinated in first round of polio campaign in Gaza
7. Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication Reversed in Pakistan
8. The U.S. is entering a riskier season for spread of H5N1 bird flu. Here’s why experts are worried
9. California faces “profound increased risk for valley fever,” which is caused by inhaling a soil fungus. Here’s how it’s connected to weather.
10. Militarily defending the U.S. is much more complicated in an era of climate change
11. How a California county got PFAS out of its drinking water
12. Hair and skin care products expose kids to hormone disrupting chemicals
13. Boys with higher levels of PFAS “forever chemicals” enter puberty later
14. A remote tribe is reeling from widespread illness and cancer due to a cascade of U.S. government failures in transparency and due diligence.
15. Over three environmental defenders killed per week on average in 2023
16. Global study confirms that the prevalence of firearms in U.S. drives the public health crisis of gun deaths
17. For Afghanistan veterans, “problematic anger”, not PTSD, is the main problem
18. Is Football Safe for Kids? At least seven kids have died while playing football already this year, as head injuries, heat, and heart conditions take their toll
19. Long-term exercisers have “healthier” belly fat tissue
20. Lifestyle intervention from childhood to adolescence affects metabolism even years later, study finds
21. Many U.S. adults with uncontrolled hypertension are unaware of hypertension status
22. Consumer Reports found high lead levels in a third of the cinnamon powders
23. An new injectable HIV-prevention drug is highly effective — but wildly expensive
24. DIY medicine draws frustrated patients to online forums to learn how to make pirated versions of abortion pills, GLP-1s and other prescription drugs and medical treatments.
25. Tossed Medicine, Delayed Housing: How Homeless Sweeps Are Thwarting Medicaid’s Goals
26. The normalization of gambling is fueling addiction.
27. Conscientiousness, not willpower, is a reliable predictor of success, highlighting importance of durable long-term planning over momentary willpower

Week of September 9, 2024 [episode #273]:

Featuring: Youth vaping continues its tumble from 2019 peak (1:51); The first 100,000 doses of mpox vaccine reach Congo — but it’s a small fraction of what is needed (4:31); Gaza polio vaccination drive must include measles shots, as measles is the most urgent and most dangerous of the vaccine-preventable diseases in emergency settings (6:44); Hunger in U.S. continued multi-year rise in 2023 (13:04); As Record Heat Sweeps the U.S., Some People Must Choose Between Food and Energy Bills (15:05); Farmers grapple with toxic sludge amid fears of “forever chemicals” contamination (18:11); EPA partially reinstates stricter air pollution rules for industrial facilities’ toxic emissions (19:17); “Outdated” and “static” regulatory approaches hinder public health (20:24); U.S. Abortion Restrictions Threaten Miscarriage Management for 400,000 Women Miscarrying Pregnancy (21:58); With TV Drug Ads, What You See Is Not Necessarily What You Get (22:41); U.S. will still pay at least twice as much after negotiating drug prices (28:22);  Nearly 2,000 Pharmaceutical Plants Are Overdue for FDA Checks After COVID Delays (30:11).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Latin American Nations Once Lagged on Abortion Rights: Now Some Present Role Models for the United States
2. States with strictest abortion laws offer the least support for women and families
3. New Mexico starts building an abortion clinic to serve neighboring states, train medical students
4. Judge blocks Ohio from enforcing laws restricting medication abortions
5. Upending a longstanding paradigm, cardiologists embrace ZIP codes, not race, to predict heart risk, sharpening focus of heart disease as a social determinant
6. Inside the bruising battle to purge race from a kidney disease calculator
7. Errors in Deloitte-Run Medicaid Systems Can Cost Millions and Take Years To Fix
8. When Facing Unaffordable and Problematic Medical Bills Self-Advocacy Often Pays Off But Leaves Disproportionate Burden of Broken System on Those Most Vulnerable
9. Farmers fear nursing homes because they could lose their family farms
10. Farmers are relying on plastic more than ever, but the environmental toll is growing
11. The world is pumping out 57 million tons of plastic pollution a year and much of the world doesn’t have solid waste systems to deal with it.
12. In Louisiana, Environmental Justice Advocates Ponder Next Steps After a Federal Judge Bars EPA Civil Rights Probes Into Environmental Racism
13. 3M, Corteva, Chemours hit with class action over “forever chemicals” in carpet
14. States push EPA to label more PFAS as toxic air pollutants
15. More FDNY responders have died from 9/11-related illnesses than the attack itself
16. New global guidance aims to curb antibiotic pollution from its manufacturing
17. Breast Cancer Rises Rapidly Among Asian American and Pacific Islander Women
18. Mobile phones are not linked to brain cancer, according to a major review of 28 years of research
19. High blood pressure a concern for adolescents and young adults in U.S.
20. Cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli and kale add lowering blood pressure to their powerful anti-cancer effects.
21. Community fridges are helping neighbors nourish one another
22. Doing lunges while brushing your teeth, and other ways to stack healthy habits with “habit pairing”
23. Oregon’s measles outbreak highlights state’s high vaccine exemption rate
24. Do kids need to get sick to build their immune systems? [not really]
25. Kids Are Headed Back to School. Many Aren’t Breathing Clean Air.
26. An even more contagious COVID strain is “just getting started”
27. Five burning questions about Missouri’s mysterious H5 bird flu case
28. Presidential debate moderators should ask these Q’s about mental health policy
29. Methadone could cut fentanyl deaths in half — or lead more into addiction
30. Assessing Tardive Dyskinesia Risk (uncontrolled movements) in patients taking any dopamine blocker
31. FDA ups required photo ID age to 30 for smokers buying tobacco products
32. Letting funding for the All of Us research program lapse will cost the U.S. far more than it saves.  Investing in preventive medicine and precision medicine now will save lives and billions of dollars
33. Boom, Now Bust: Budget Cuts and Layoffs Take Hold in Public Health
34. Clinicians Star in Off-Broadway Musical About Antimicrobial Resistance

Week of September 2, 2024 [episode #272]:

Featuring: U.S. surgeon general calls parents’ “overwhelming” stress an urgent public health issue (1:48); Fewer than 3 of 10 women cite diet when asked how to reduce chances of breast cancer (5:52); WHO says its deal with Israel will allow limited pauses in Gaza fighting for polio vaccinations (9:06); California, nation’s largest milk producer, confirms bird flu outbreaks in three dairy cow herds (13:32); More in U.S. accept COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, and willingness to vaccinate has declined (18:40); Long COVID Is Twice as Common Among People With Preexisting Disabilities (22:13); Study reveals high plutonium levels in Los Alamos recreational areas (23:23); EPA’s reliance on industry-funded science sparks concern over pesticide safety (24:27); EPA must increase transparency on chemical reviews, judge rules (25:47); 2025 Medicare drug cost cap will save seniors about $1,100 a year (26:50); Contrary to Perceptions, Eating Disorders Can Strike Anyone (28:23); New statistics reveal police violence (lethal and nonlethal) still common (33:31); How hope beats mindfulness when times are tough (36:50).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Is recycled plastic safe for food contact? If the company making it says so, according to the FDA
2. Number of microplastics in soda bottles found to increase the more times you open the caps to drink
3. EPA air office leader broke ethics rules by not disclosing relevant stock holdings
4. Biden administration faces mixed reviews on environmental justice efforts
5. Melting Alaskan permafrost releases dangerous mercury levels
6. Antidepressants in waterways harm fish, while altering behavior and reproduction
7. America Is Doubling Down on Sewer Surveillance — Like viruses, illicit and prescription drugs leave behind traces in the country’s wastewater systems.
8. Unhealthy commodities such as tobacco, alcohol, ultra-processed foods, social media, and fossil fuel climate change and air pollution are associated with depression, suicide, and self-harm.
9. Problem gambling among monthly gamblers in Massachusetts after sports betting legalization
10. What Mental Health Care Protections Exist in Your State?
11. Justice Department Finds Kentucky Unnecessarily Institutionalizes Louisville Residents with Serious Mental Illness in Psychiatric Hospitals Violating ADA
12. Evidence supports classroom cellphone bans
13. New campaign aims to tackle period stigma to keep girls and women playing sports
14. Differences in muscle cells may be driving greater exercise injuries in females
15. Urban maternity wards are closing, driven by low profitability
16. Experts Agree: Don’t Say “Heartbeat” to Describe Ultrasound Findings in Early Pregnancy
17. Abortion-rights ballot initiatives backed by at least half of Republicans in Arizona, Nevada
18. One in 12 women have pregnancy within 10 years after tubal sterilization
19. WHO laments declining rates of condom use among sexually active teens worldwide
20. Advancing, Prioritizing, and Uplifting Equitable Strategies to Improve Black Women’s Reproductive Health and Sexuality Wellness
21. With only gloves to protect them, farmworkers say they tend sick cows amid bird flu
22. New mpox strain is changing fast, and African scientists are “working blind” to respond
23. To stop mpox from becoming the next pandemic, we must address global vaccine inequities
24. “Sloth Fever” Virus Is Spreading By Mosquitoes — What You Need to Know
25. West Nile and EEE: What to Know About Mosquito-Borne Illness in the U.S.
26. An Unwelcome Souvenir From the Democratic National Convention: COVID
27. Two common respiratory pathogens to watch in the months ahead
28. Top 6 questions answered about fall vaccines
29. Adult Drowning Deaths Are Increasing. Most fatal drowning incidents in the U.S. involve adults, not children, and they often involve alcohol.
30. New study shows a further 50% decline in already low child mortality in Finland
31. Factors driving slow growth in health spending in Sub-Saharan Africa
32. Broader social determinant interventions (like increasing household income) are more effective at reducing chronic malnutrition than “targeted” interventions
33. Children in Gaza to get polio vaccines but thousands are already likely infected
34. U.S. caregivers face worsening of their own health
35. Half of cancer survivors face cancer-related financial hardship
36. Feds Killed 2014 Plan To Curb Medicare Advantage Overbilling After Industry Opposition — Now we are paying the price
37. Drug makers including Pfizer are starting to sell drugs directly to consumers, skipping regular doctors and pharmacists
38. Hepatitis C Reinfection Common Among Treated Injection Drug Users
39. Transform Your Relationship with Food to Become Your Healthiest Self
40. U.S. Heat-Related Deaths Jumped 117% Since 1999. and deaths have accelerated in the last 7 years
41. Study shows reduced inflammation in residents after adding trees to their neighborhoods

Week of August 26, 2024 [episode #271]:

Featuring: Microplastics are infiltrating brain tissue, studies show — “There’s nowhere left untouched” (1:48); Ohio landowners forced to accept fracking, new study finds (5:41); State laws strongly affect mental health of trans people (9:52); More than 4 billion people don’t have access to clean water at home (12:15); Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank drive global increase in water-related violence (14:34); Sudan health minister declares cholera epidemic amidst civil war and flooding (15:52); A uranium mine threatens the Havasupai Tribe’s sole water source (17:20); Nearly two-thirds of supermarket baby foods are unhealthy (18:33); Lifeless Soils Will Be the Death of Us (22:28); Private equity — health care’s vampire (26:44); Disabled people die at about double the rate of non-disabled people in the U.S. (34:29); Uptick in Americans feeling COVID risk (39:50); Feds announce more COVID-19 tests can be ordered through mail for no cost, through CovidTests.gov starting in late September (41:48).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. An Olympic-Sized Miss in Managing COVID-19
2. Gastroenteritis Rates Higher in Seine Events Than in Previous Olympics
3. Groups say they’re shut out of global treaty talks on plastics pollution in Bangkok
4. Camp Lejeune claims over contaminated water exceed 500,000
5. High levels of TFA, a concerning “forever chemical,” found in Detroit’s air and rain
6. Why the EPA is relying on unproven technology to stop cancer-causing emissions
7. What we’re learning from lung cancer patients who never smoked, as air pollution increases as driver of lung cancer cases.
8. Hospitals leverage affordable housing to reduce avoidable visits
9. Free Eye Care in Underserved Areas Improves Disease Detection
10. Adverse childhood experiences tied to later household firearm ownership
11. Homicide rates are a major factor in the gap between Black and white life expectancy
12. Temporarily removing firearms from people at risk of suicide saves lives
13. Fight over health noncompete pacts far from over, as affecting 1 in 5 U.S. workers
14. California weighs blocking private equity health deals
15. Revolving door: You are free to influence us “behind the scenes,” FDA tells staff leaving for industry jobs
16. Public health interventions to address digital determinants of children’s health and wellbeing
17. Facing a National Shortage of Baby Formula, Trade Officials Opposed a Plan to Boost Imports
18. Free meals at school boosts students’ nutrition and reduces obesity
19. School Lunches Higher Quality Than Lunches Brought from Home to School
20. Research shows huge drop in unhealthy food ads during kids’ TV shows since 2006 voluntary ban pledges by industry
21. Study links potato consumption to lower mortality
22. Eight States Have Added Abortion to November Ballots. What Would the Measures Do?
23. The Plan to Take Down the Hyde Amendment which prevents federal funding of abortion, including in Medicaid and federal employee health plans
24. Amid youth mental health crisis, Ohio school-based behavioral health services grow
25. Finding a therapist who takes your insurance can be nearly impossible. Here’s why
26. Concierge medicine comes to college campuses
27. Private Equity Owned Providers Leverage Surprise Billing Law For Higher Charges
28. Debate heating up over tracking temperatures of mail-order medications
29. State of the Science Concerning Fluoride Exposure and Neurodevelopment and Cognition: A Systematic Review
30. Why mpox vaccines are only just arriving in Africa after two years
31. A guide to fall 2024 vaccines

Week of August 19, 2024 [episode #270]:

Featuring: Toledo draft comprehensive 5-year plan on community violence prevention open for comment ((1:50); Cleanup workers sickened by Ohio derailment hidden in unreleased report (7:45); Cigarette Smoking Rate in U.S. Ties 80-Year Low (8:51); Study finds vaping is powerfully linked to smoking cigarettes, using marijuana and other drugs over time (12:07); More Americans see moderate drinking as unhealthy (13:52); Identifying “stealth” sources of saturated fat and added sugar in the diet (15:03); What to know about mpox global health emergency (17:10); Global cholera cases decline, but deaths on the rise (20:00); U.S. women have lowest life expectancy among high-income countries (21:27); Study finds over half of iron deficiency cases in large health system still unresolved at three years (23:03); Women across party lines oppose abortion laws being left to the states (27:07); Ohio sees spike in out-of-state abortions, but access to abortion care can be challenging (28:14); Phenols and parabens in makeup, sunscreen raise risk for dangerous pregnancy complications (34:30); Wildfires expose farmworkers to dangerous smoke as climate change intensifies (37:48); Employer health plan costs expected to rise 9% in 2025, driven by expensive weight-loss drugs and pricey gene and cell therapies (39:03); WHO to withdraw PFAS water guidelines after accusations of industry influence (40:09); U.S. shifts to support global plastic production cuts and creation of a list of harmful chemicals for phaseout (41:10).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Decrepit Pipes Put Jackson, Mississippi, on the Edge of Catastrophe. State Regulators Didn’t Act.
2. California cuts back on safety enforcement as farmworkers toil in extreme heat
3. When Is “Recyclable” Not Really Recyclable? When the Plastics Industry Gets to Define What the Word Means.
4. How a legal loophole allows unsafe or untested ingredients in U.S. foods
5. HHS says it is working to stop the climate crisis. But it’s really just climate washing, focusing on “mitigation” rather than emissions reductions
6. The FDA should withdraw approval of more than 400 medicines fraudulently tested
7. The FDA Calls Them “Recalls,” Yet the Targeted Medical Devices Often Remain in Use
8. Journal Conflict of Interest Disclosure Policies Are All Over the Map, and rely on the honor system
9. Newly transparent pricing data fuel employer lawsuits against Aetna
10. Six Ontario First Nations challenge mining law in court
11. Mining threatens Arizona’s scarce water supply
12. Without federal protections, to lower prescription drug costs, states head to the courthouse
13. FDA seeks fresh voluntary curbs on sodium levels in packaged, processed foods, after some success in earlier efforts
14. Inside Conservative Activist Leonard Leo’s Long Campaign To Gut Planned Parenthood
15. Medicare data estimate Lyme disease rate 7 times higher than surveillance shows
16. Deer Hunting Season Raises Firearm Violence in U.S. Rural Counties during first two weeks after opening
17. Kids Who Survived Super Bowl Shooting Are Scared, Suffering Panic Attacks and Sleep Problems
18. One in Four Brain Injury Patients Who Appear Unresponsive Respond Covertly
19. Sudden cardiac arrest often causes sudden death. Scientists search for weighs to better predict risk.
20. Getting fats from plants vs. animals boosts your life span
21. Bird flu cases now detected in domestic cats in Colorado
22. Inactive bird flu virus found in 17% of US dairy foods in study
23. Twenty-five Common Lab Tests Not Useful in Diagnosing Long COVID
24. The U.S. is experiencing its largest summer Covid wave in at least two years
25. First case of polio confirmed in a 10-month-old child in Gaza
26. Shingles tied to 20% higher risk of cognitive decline
27. Alzheimer’s risk rose up to 42% with untreated high blood pressure
28. National study shows varying ability across U.S. to get Alzheimer’s or other dementia diagnosis
29. Prior Authorization Denials on the Rise in Medicare Advantage
30. Intervention for cleaning shared health care equipment could significantly reduce health care-associated infections
31. Non-deceptive (open) placebos can reduce stress, anxiety and depression
32. Mass Incarceration and Health Inequities

Week of August 12, 2024 [episode #269]:

Featuring: Some e-cigarette chemicals mimic nicotine, possibly bypassing regulation (1:53); Lucas County rates poorly in county health rankings (3:48); Indirect gun violence exposure powerfully linked to decreased quality of life (5:37); Not just an urban problem — New study reports higher rate of shootings by police across suburbs and rural areas (8:43); State of Ohio to expand mobile response service for youth in crisis (11:25); Childhood vaccines have saved over 1 million U.S. lives since 1994 (13:23); Americans viewing childhood vaccines as “extremely” or “very” important has dropped from 94% to 69% since 2001 (16:38); WHO to send 1.2 million polio vaccines to Gaza after outbreak warning (19:22); Bird flu crisis spreads to hundreds of species worldwide offering existential threat to global biodiversity (22:00); The 30 pathogens that could spark the next pandemic (24:08); Long COVID review article — highlighting 400 million affected people globally at an annual economic cost of one Trillion dollars (27:11); Inside a medical practice under “shield laws” sending abortion pills to states where they’re banned (28:11); Schools face ongoing lead water crisis without national testing mandate (31:24); Despite ban, oil and gas companies spread fracking waste on Pennsylvania roads (32:33); Small changes in food “choice environments” in stores can make a healthy difference (33:54).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Mpox Is Becoming More Deadly. We Need Global Action Now to Prevent Another Pandemic.
2. WHO to convene panel to determine whether mpox outbreak is a public health emergency
3. Colorado’s new bulk-tank testing of milk identifies more avian flu in dairy herds
4. Researchers discover new Candida auris fungus type — a possible global public health threat
5. The continuing infectious disease doctor shortage will hit marginalized people the hardest
6. COVID Drops to Tenth Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.
7. U.S. COVID activity continues to pick up
8. How discharged patients can carry superbugs home
9. Research finds connection between prenatal exposure to plastic chemical BPA and autism in boys
10. How the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry became a shield for polluters, conducting weak science and sowing doubt about risks.
11. Court overturns approval for South Texas Liquid Natural Gas export plants
12. EPA issues rare emergency order banning pesticide harming farmworkers
13. Five year hypertension study provides further evidence of the benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption
14. Vegan diet better than Mediterranean at reducing harmful inflammatory dietary compounds
15. Study shows type 2 diabetes can be prevented by diet and exercise even in individuals with high genetic risk
16. Sugar-sweetened beverage intake increasing globally among children and teens
17. Policy replacing junk food in store checkouts achieves high compliance, reducing exposures to unhealthy impulse buys
18. Scientists are starting to uncover how neighborhood can affect the biology of cancer
19. Adding psychological health metric to Essential 8 heart health factors better predicts risk of death
20. A small decrease in U.S. teen girls are reporting “persistent sadness” hints at reversal of trend
21. Study finds bias in emergency department pain management against women
22. Menstrual cycle is a vital sign and important indicator of overall health. Two reproductive health experts explain.
23. More than 1 in 4 Americans over 50 are now caregivers
24. Study finds physical isolation of lockdowns did not increase overall loneliness
25. Number of uninsured Americans rose to 8.2% in 2024, driven by Medicaid “unwinding”
26. U.S. Athletes Are Taking Full Advantage of Free Healthcare in Olympic Village
27. More Rural Hospitals Are on the Verge of Closing as private insurers are paying less than the cost of care.
28. Large disparities found in survival benefits for Blacks and women receiving bystander CPR for cardiac arrest
29. Red cross issues blood shortage alert as heat waves cut donations
30. Electric scooter and bike accidents are soaring across the U.S.
31. Russian influence in eastern Europe is aggravating HIV epidemic, with propaganda against injection drug users, gay men, and sex workers
32. Parental rights law could thwart fight against HIV and sexually transmitted infections
33. Ohio has spent over $22 million on anti-abortion centers since Roe overturned
34. Texas Gov. orders hospitals to collect data on patients’ immigration status
35. Co-pays found in most prisons block inmates from accessing health care
36. Restrictive state firearm policies can cut firearm mortality by 20%
37. What’s in a drink? U.S. regulators consider new alcohol label, but health advocates want even more
38. Walz oversaw a PFAS crackdown. What would that mean for a Harris admin?
39. Overview of VP Pick Walz’s Health Policies
40. Medicine needs fiction to communicate realities, especially now

Week of August 5, 2024 [episode #268]:

Featuring: Gen X, millennials face higher risk of cancer than previous generations (1:53); Scientists Confirm Bird Flu Is Now Spreading Between Mammals (8:34); Target These 14 Factors to Cut Dementia Incidence by Nearly Half (10:07); Vision loss and high cholesterol identified as risk factors for dementia (11:56); Replacing processed red meat with beans and nuts cuts dementia risk by 20%, study says (14:28); Adolescent girls worldwide face alarming rates of intimate partner violence (15:52); Since Fall of “Roe,” Self-Managed Abortions Have Increased, including ineffective, unsafe methods (19:56); States have increased anti-abortion center funding by nearly $500 million since Roe was overturned (22;26); As many as 65 million Americans now own firearms primarily for protection (26:21); Unintentional gun death rates vary 10-fold among states (30:43); Study finds large gaps in mental health care for people with chronic pain (32:51); Common medical billing errors and unwarranted coverage denials keep many Americans from care (36:00); High Trust in Doctors Crashed During the COVID Pandemic — And Remains Lower (38:27); How the vulture decline in India led to a human health crisis of 500,000 excess deaths (40:38).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Vaping and smoking together increases lung cancer risk fourfold
2. The Indomitable Covid Virus — How to respond without denialism or complacency
3. U.S. measles cases are already triple those of last year
4. Hospital-acquired infections and antibiotic-resistant infections are rising
5. WHO warns of increase in hypervirulent, multidrug-resistant Klebsiella strains
6. CDC urges livestock workers get seasonal flu vaccine to cut pandemic risk by dual infection with bird flu that allows exchange of genetic material
7. Experts consider H5N1 bird flu unknowns as state fairs loom
8. Mpox cases have surged by 160% in Africa so far this year, but few treatments and vaccines available
9. Behind the malaria vaccines: A 40-year quest against one of humanity’s biggest killers
10. Patients may be exposed to microplastics through medical procedures
11. Some condom and lubricant brands contain alarming levels of PFAS
12. Plastics industry’s support for waste pickers is often superficial
13. Oil companies sold the public on a fake climate solution — and swindled taxpayers out of billions. The fossil fuel industry’s carbon capture bamboozle, explained.
14. Navajo Nation challenges uranium transport laws on tribal land
15. Kansas hospital sued for refusing emergency abortion
16. New poll shows Florida abortion amendment winning with bipartisan support
17. States break out new tactics to thwart abortion ballot measures in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Montana and South Dakota.
18. Menopause increases your risk of STIs due to how aging changes your body
19. ACL tears in women: Too many injuries and too little research
20. FDA warns of danger from at-home chemical peels
21. A healthy diet with less sugar linked to younger biological age
22. 42% of online pharmacies selling weight loss drugs are operating illegally
23. Private Equity Strips and Devalues Successful Hospitals
24. Study finds low availability of psychiatric appointments for Medicaid patients
25. Cost counseling and stewardship need to be part of medical school curricula
26. Deaths from falls have increased 65% in 20 years
27. Consumer Product Safety Commission puts onus on Amazon for sale of hazardous third-party products
28. There’s more data for trans people with HIV than any other disease — but it’s still flawed
29. San Francisco will offer homeless people bus tickets out of town before shelter or housing
30. Politics is holding back the best tool for treating meth addiction — financial incentives
31. To Win “Medicare for All,” First Reclaim Medicare From Profiteers
32. How Kamala Harris Ditched Medicare for All
33. Harris’ California Health Care Battles Signal Anti-Trust Fights Ahead for Hospitals if She Wins
34. Make caregiving a defining issue of the 2024 election

Week of July 29, 2024 [episode #267]:

Featuring: 2024 American Fitness Index ranks Toledo 87th of America’s 100 largest cities (1:51); Landmark comprehensive assessment of pesticide use patterns and increased cancer risk shows substantial risks in agricultural counties [background/context paper](3:00); Adult Smoking Cessation Update (8:21); Big declines in teen births (9:41);  Big drop in U.S. kids, teens misusing prescription meds (11:07); Moms and caregivers facing family food insecurity need help with more than just food as it takes a toll on mental health (13:37); U.S. infant deaths rise for first time in decades (16:28); More Money Can Result in Fewer Emergency Department Visits — “We can trust the poor with money,” says study author (20:08); 16% of health systems dropping Medicare Advantage plans (21:58); Geriatrics training plummets as number of seniors skyrockets (23:30); The years after COVID have turned into a post-flu vaccine era, particularly for the most vulnerable (31:56); WHO sees “high risk” of polio virus spreading across Gaza and beyond (35:06); Most new HIV infections occurred outside sub-Saharan Africa for first time (36:37).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Rate of under-vaccinated Ohio kindergarteners increases from 10.1% pre-pandemic to 13.8%
2. Raccoon rabies vaccinations will drop from the sky in Pennsylvania county to push back westward move of rabies
3. COVID activity continues at brisk pace across much of U.S.
4. Triathlon cancels Olympic swim training for the second day over poor water quality
5. Toxic “forever chemicals” found in pesticides that are used on food, in homes and on pets, often present in “inert” ingredients and/or proprietary (secret) formulas
6. Supposedly “eco-friendly” tires still contain toxic chemicals
7. A large number of heat-related deaths in Phoenix are linked to substance abuse, primarily meth, which masks heat warning signs
8. We bought everything needed to make $3 million worth of fentanyl. All it took was $3,600 and a web browser
9. Alcohol Industry Panics as Healthier Habits Cut Sales
10. Regulatory Framework for Cannabis: A Position Paper From the American College of Physicians
11. The bird flu doom loop of industrial animal production
12. With the U.S. bird flu outbreak uncontained, scientists see growing risks
13. Study Raises Questions About Key Features of Bird Flu Infection in Cows — It may kill them, plus asymptomatic animals can harbor virus
14. Are Doctors Missing Cases of H5N1 Bird Flu in People Who Drink Raw Milk?
15. Colorado requiring dairies to test milk for bird flu
16. Could cow vaccines help halt the spread of bird flu in U.S. herds? Experts are divided
17. Corporate Influence of Lobbyists, Disinformation, and Hyper-palatable Products Drive Our Epidemic of Obesity
18. Should We Take Any “Personal” Responsibility for the Obesity Epidemic?
19. Healthy Vegan Diet Yields Anti-Aging Effects Whereas Healthy Omnivorous Diet Does Not
20. Pet obesity parallels human obesity rates
21. Surgeon General Warns that Americans Have Accepted Fear of Gun Violence as “Normal”
22. Maryland Is on Track to Process a Nearly 50-Year-Old Backlog of Rape Kits
23. Social vulnerability linked with mental health and substance use disorders
24. Sonya Massey’s death: How to prevent more killings of defenseless Black women through Crisis Intervention Training, which only 1 in 6 police agencies have
25. Trauma Patients Without Insurance Taken Off Life Support Sooner
26. If You Build It, They Will Come: Emergency Departments Are Victims of Induced Demand — more is not always more
27. Preventive care is under threat: PrEP now or pay later
28. Why Many Nonprofit (Wink, Wink) Hospitals Are Rolling in Money
29. Higher CEO pay in large health care systems linked to hospital consolidations, and not linked to profitability or community benefit
30. A Judge Ruled a Louisiana Prison’s Health Care System Has Failed Inmates for Decades. A Federal Law to Limit Lawsuits (Liability) Could Block Reforms.
31. Too many pills? How to talk to your doctor about reviewing what’s needed
32. Study shows people place little trust in medical advice if they suspect AI involvement
33. A Call to Action From 9 Former U.S. Cabinet Secretaries: We Need a National Effort to Protect Patients Against Health Care Cyberattacks
34. Defying global trends: Study finds high happiness, low depression among oldest generation of Americans
35. Ripe for Disaster Declarations: Heat, Wildfire Smoke…and Death Data
36. People Are Still Being Swallowed by Storm Drains. One U.S. Agency Is Pushing for Safety Measures.
37. A gigantic, weather-defining current system could be headed to collapse within decades — shaking the scientific world struggling with uncertainties
38. Where Kamala Harris stands on health care issues
39. Kamala Harris offered a “blueprint” for environmental justice. Can she grow it?

Week of July 22, 2024 [episode #266]:

Featuring: 2024 State Scorecard on Women’s Health and Reproductive Care Documents Perilous Status (1:56); Global Women’s Health Index 2024 Documents Crisis Status (7:08); Mammograms have pros and cons, and women can handle the nuance, study argues (8:47); FDA allows marketing of Vuse tobacco-flavored vapes (12:50); Heat can increase air pollution inside cars by up to 40,000 times (16:03); New study shows fashion industry’s plastic waste problem (17:50); Pentagon seeks delay in replacing toxic firefighting foam (18:55); In the 10 states that didn’t expand Medicaid, 1.6 million can’t afford health insurance, and 60% are people of color (20:22); New study reveals more Americans struggling to afford health care (24:18); Medical debt fuels mental health treatment gap (26:37); 988 suicide hotline awareness lags, two years in (27:48); Attention parents — Your teens aren’t coping nearly as well as you think they are (29:12); State Minimum Age Firearm Purchase Laws, by Themselves, Don’t Prevent Youth Suicide (32:13).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Health advocates target Philip Morris’ U.S. launch of heated tobacco
2. Digital games on vaping devices could lure more youth to nicotine addiction
3. Study examines profound impact of incarceration on youth health
4. School-Based Health Centers Are a Critical Component of Health Care for Underserved Children
5. A California Medical Group Treats Only Homeless Patients — And Has Found Diverse Funding to Survive
6. No Asymptomatic Bird Flu Infections Found in 35 Dairy Farmworkers Exposed
7. Study suggests earlier U.S.-licensed bird flu vaccines prompt antibodies to current strain
8. Heat wave fans spread of bird flu on dairy and poultry farms
9. Chicken culling and disposal raise concern as bird flu spreads
10. USDA maintains bird flu can be eliminated from dairy cows, even as doubts mount among experts
11. Long COVID Risk Has Fallen, Mostly Attributable to Vaccination
12. How Food Ads Are Contributing to Obesity Epidemic
13. Marketing Takes Off and Obesity Soars
14. The chaos of choice: How do people pick their food products?
15. Weight loss linked to improved mood and reduced risk-taking in obese individuals
16. Total dietary quality score improved for U.S. children during 2005 to 2020
17. Tracking Tire Plastics—and Chemicals—From Road to Plate
18. Paris Olympics 2024-branded metal bottles recalled for health reasons (BPA)
19. Activists demand halt to uranium mining near Grand Canyon
20. The risks of eyelash extensions aren’t pretty, from cornea erosion to cancer-causing glue
21. Thinking about getting a tattoo? You may have to deal with bacterial contaminated inks
22. As California Regulators Refuse to Enforce New Orphan Well Rules, Lawmakers and Environmental Groups Cry Foul
23. Exposed: Latino farmworkers risk their health working under threat of pesticide exposure
24. DOJ says largest housing provider for migrant kids engaged in pervasive sexual abuse
25. The prevalence of gambling and problematic gambling worldwide, 1.4% overall and 16% for online casino or slots gambling
26. The 988 mental health crisis hotline is working. So why doesn’t it get the funding it needs?
27. The Nation’s 911 System Is on the Brink of Its Own Emergency
28. To overcome the overdose crisis, addiction treatment must be integrated into the health care system
29. Online addiction and mental health treatment companies shown to violate people’s privacy
30. Institutional Review Boards fail in requirement to assess clinical trials’ scientific merit, putting participants at risk, and enabling low-quality research
31. As GLP-1 sales surge, insulin users fear pharma corporations will move on without them for greater profits
32. The real reason drug costs are so high in America: Pharmacy Benefit Managers
33. Nurse Survey Signals Some Improvements, Though Retention Still a Big Problem
34. Feds Tighten Insurance Broker Access to Healthcare.gov To Thwart Rogue Sign-Ups
35. U.S. Maternal Mortality Solutions Must Include Addressing Intimate Partner Violence
36. The U.S. Presidential Election of 2024 Is a Public Health Emergency
37. At Trump’s GOP Convention, There Was Little To Be Heard on Health Care
38. Vance quietly tried to shape public health agenda in Congress
39. Is there a wrong way to talk about climate change? Beware of conversations defined by the fossil fuel industry’s terms and agenda.

Week of July 15, 2024 [episode #265]:

Featuring: Overdose death falls to 9-year low in Ohio as fentanyl’s presence in drugs ebbs due to Cartel getting out of fentanyl business (1:52); We’re Not Asking the Right Question to Solve the Overdose Crisis — We need to focus on conditions of social despair (10:20); Half of cancer deaths in U.S. linked to “modifiable” risk factors (14:02); The strained U.S. primary-care system can’t withstand the next pandemic, some believe (16:17); The Cass Report, Evidence, and Ethical Thinking on Pediatric Gender-Affirming Care – Appropriate care for this population requires access, not restriction (19:38); Most common gender-affirming surgery in the U.S. is breast reduction for cisgender males (21:29); World population is projected to grow from 8.2 billion to a peak of 10.3 billion in 2080s (23:22); Wall Street profits from asbestos liabilities at victims’ expense (27:35); Medicaid is paying millions for salty, fat-laden “medically tailored” cheeseburgers and sandwiches (29:13); International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems has a new report, Food From Somewhere: Building food security and resilience through territorial markets (40:18); Another hot COVID summer (40:18).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Alcohol is driving a half-dozen types of cancer in the U.S.
2. The dark side of Zyn: How tobacco-free nicotine pouches may harm your health
3. Should kids be able to buy nonalcoholic beer, wine and mocktails?
4. Stimulant users caught up in fatal “fourth wave” of opioid epidemic
5. Everyone deserves addiction treatment that works — including those in jail
6. California to finally have indoor heat standards for workplaces—with a cruel exception for prisoners
7. Abandoned mines cover the West with a legacy of destruction and pollution of lands and water
8. Pollution knows no borders as a long-sought agreement will address Canadian mine waste flowing downriver into U.S.
9. The Problematic Chemicals Fueling America’s EV Revolution. Ramped-up production of toxins used in the batteries has communities worried.
10. Bioplastics are inadequately defined, poorly regulated, and potentially toxic
11. Curb “stupid plastics” and stop industry BS: urgent actions to prevent a plastic crisis. The worst of microplastics is yet to come as plastics degrade over decades.
12. How Concerned Should We Be About Metals in Tampons?
13. Beryl storm power outages crowd hospitals, delay new admissions
14. How to prepare for power outages if your health depends on home medical devices
15. Racial disparities in dementia determined by social factors rather than genetic ancestry
16. Living in poverty due to mental health problems or developing mental health problems because of poverty? It’s both
17. Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential
18. Navy Has Record High Suicides So Far This Year Amid Reports of High Stress, Quality-of-Life Issues
19. New research supports “social good” as a cognitive approach to dealing with highly stressful events
20. Survey shows loneliness haunts over 1 in 5 people worldwide
21. American diets got briefly healthier, more diverse during COVID-19 pandemic
22. Study finds daily sugar intake fell by 5 g in kids, 11 g in adults after UK “sugar tax”
23. Blood fat profiles confirm health benefits of replacing butter with high-quality plant oils
24. Do Taxpayer Subsidies Play a Role in the Obesity Epidemic? [Yes]
25. New White House strategy backs food rescue efforts but more is needed to fight hunger and food waste
26. Transforming food environments: a global lens on challenges and opportunities for achieving healthy and sustainable diets for all
27. Preparing schools for the H5N1 bird flu they’re likely to face
28. Finland Is Offering Farmworkers Bird Flu Shots. Some Experts Say the US Should, Too.
29. Health officials pitch anonymous bird flu testing
30. If bird flu sparks a human pandemic, your past immunity could help, particularly older folks
31. Bird flu strain in U.S. cows shows “minimal” air spread in ferret study
32. Bird flu update: As the number of infected dairy herds mount, so too does pessimism about driving H5N1 out of cows
33. Long Covid Research Roundup
34. Why an “AI health coach” won’t solve the world’s chronic disease problems
35. Free medical school tuition unlikely to have a major impact on the U.S. health care system
36. Safety of generic Viagra and other drugs called into doubt after false data found by FDA
37. First year of Georgia’s Medicaid expansion with work requirements enrolls less than 1% of those who would be eligible under standard Medicaid expansion
38. More than 6 in 10 U.S. adults support protecting access to IVF
39. Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) Is a Menstrual Disorder Much More Severe than PMS, and it can cause despair and suicide
40. The Supreme Court’s Contempt for Facts Is a Betrayal of Justice, undermining the role of evidence, expertise and honesty in American democracy.

Week of July 8, 2024 [episode #264]:

Featuring: Toledo-Lucas County Health Department and City of Toledo Announce Healthy Corner Store Initiative to bring healthy foods to underserved areas (1:52); WHO releases first-ever clinical treatment guideline for tobacco cessation in adults (3:37); Advocates Sue EPA to Enforce Noise Pollution Law (5:17); Railroad industry opposes faster removal of unsafe tank cars that are easily punctured (8:06); Coffee, eggs and white rice linked to higher levels of PFAS in human body (9:46); True scale of carbon impact from long-distance travel revealed, accounting for majority of transportation emissions (14:16); U.S. pedestrian deaths decline for first time since pandemic (17:10); Rates of distress and  depression have doubled among transgender Americans since 2014 (19:03); A 988 crisis lifeline for LGBTQ+ youths launched a year ago — it’s been swamped (20:22); Lack of Affordability Dominates Older Americans’ List of Healthcare Worries (24:17); Physician burnout rate drops below 50% for first time in 4 years (28:44); The U.S. is losing control of hypertension, and China’s “village doctors” (community health workers) have lessons (31:32); Bedtime battles — 1 in 4 parents say their child can’t go to sleep because they’re worried or anxious (39:07).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. The health impacts of escalating megafires are everyone’s problem
2. Athletes face significant health risks from air pollution
3. Tobacco industry fights UK generational smoking ban
4. Study finds price is main factor in cigarette choice among Canadian smokers
5. BPA exposure may impact diabetes risk, even at “safe” doses
6. Microplastics continue to be found throughout human reproductive system, including the uterus
7. Activists urge Louisiana to reject 2,400-acre plastics plant permits in “Cancer Alley”
8. British Columbia’s Toxic Coal Dust Invades Alberta Across Rocky Mountains
9. High levels of bacteria in water lead to multiple beach closures across the U.S.
10. Mosquitos kill more people than any other creature, the CDC warns
11. Mosquito season is here early than usual — more than a third of states have detected West Nile virus
12. As bird flu spreads among U.S. cattle, veterinarians find themselves in a familiar position: the frontlines
13. Bird flu concern prompts U.S. to award Moderna $176 million for vaccine development not reliant on eggs
14. In just a few years, half of all states passed bans on trans health care for kids
15. In new Alzheimer’s criteria, some see progress while others fear profit-driven “diagnostic creep”
16. The Failure to Track Data on Stillbirths Undermines Efforts to Prevent Them, and the problem is only getting worse.
17. About 20,000 Fewer Kids Would Be Dead Each Year If U.S. Was on Par With Europe
18. Ultraprocessed Foods Could Increase Lupus Risk for Women
19. Accounting for large changes in gut bacteria throughout the day may fix the replicability crisis in microbiome research
20. The U.S. should prioritize compensating nuclear survivors over nuclear arsenal spending which as at 500 times greater levels
21. Brazil’s new pro-agribusiness pesticide law threatens Amazon biodiversity
22. The historical evidence is mounting: Humans were responsible for the extinction of large mammals much more so than climate change
23. Permaculture found to be a sustainable alternative to conventional agriculture, offering environmental protection and high yields.
24. Exercise may be the single most potent medical intervention ever known

Week of July 1, 2024 [episode #263]:

Featuring: Opioid deaths rose 50 percent during the pandemic, while Toledo and other communities in a federal pilot project achieved decreases — can these successes keep going? (1:52); U.S. Surgeon General Declares Gun Violence “a Public Health Crisis” (7:43); Supreme Court undercuts regulators’ authority across government, curtailing public health efforts (12:25); Upending Purdue Pharma’s settlement does little to help today’s opioid crisis, advocates say (21:46); National Academies proposes reimagining health care to fix “fundamental flaws” that underlie inequity (28:19); Infant Deaths Increased After Texas Ban on Abortion in Early Pregnancy (36:33); Oral and Emergency Contraceptive Use Fell in States With Abortion Bans (38:46); Rate of Young Women Getting Sterilized Doubled After Roe Was Overturned (39:54); Health insurers cover fewer drugs and make them harder to get (41:27); Advisory Committee Makes Changes to Adult RSV Vaccine Recommendations (43:15); CDC advises updated COVID vaccine for everyone over 6 months of age (44:35).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Supreme Court OKs Local Crackdowns on Homelessness, as Advocates Warn of Chaos
2. U.S. Supreme Court Purdue Pharma ruling makes mass litigation tougher to discharge in bankruptcy
3. Train derailment in Ohio led to unnecessary chemical burn, says NTSB
4. Garbage dumps may be “burping” toxic “forever chemicals”
5. Cleaning sponges release vast amounts of microplastics monthly
6. Forever chemicals can penetrate skin from personal care products
7. Alarming study unveils how forever chemicals transfer from mothers to newborns
8. PFAS contaminated sludge endangers farmers’ health — a new federal program would empower them to address this pollution crisis
9. Clothes, cookware, floss: Colorado law to ban everyday products with PFAS
10. Lead water pipes created a health disaster in Flint, but cheaper plastic pipes carry hidden costs
11. Most kids get unneeded antibiotics for pink eye
12. Did Cold Medications Affect Biden’s Debate Performance?
13. Smallest businesses feel crush of health care costs
14. In a First, Cooling Costs for Public Housing Residents Will Be A Covered Utility
15. Telehealth for Medication Abortion Worked as Well as In-Person Visit With Ultrasound
16. Over half of U.S. women on probation or parole need permission to travel for abortion
17. Voters in 25 U.S. states can’t back abortion in citizen-led ballot measures
18. By the numbers: America’s alcohol-related health problems are rising fast
19. Yes, gun violence is a public health issue
20. New Yorkers Were Choked, Beaten and Tased by NYPD Officers. The Commissioner Buried Their Cases.
21. Three months into bird flu outbreak in U.S. dairy cows, experts see deep-rooted problems in response
22. CDC issues dengue fever alert in the U.S.
23. Moderna says its RSV shot is 50% effective across a second season
24. A Multivitamin a Day Does Not Increase Longevity
25. Your gut microbes may influence how you handle stress
26. Despite risks, aspirin use remains high among older adults
27. Sedentariness continues to rise globally

Week of June 24, 2024 [episode #262]:

Featuring: Pollution from Ohio train derailment spread to 16 states (1:52); State of Global Air 2024, air pollution as second largest risk factor for death (3:00); “Striking” Disparities in Specialty Care for Kids With Asthma on Public Insurance (5:20); America’s diet quality moved from an F to a D. Here’s how to turn yours into an A (6:36); America’s kids are going hungry over the summer (13:36); Prevention task force recommends intensive counseling for kids with obesity (14:44); Replacing registered nurses in high stakes hospital care is dangerous to patients (17:39); Poll finds most Americans believe pandemic policies were good idea (19:09); “We’re Flying Blind” — CDC Has 1 Million Bird Flu Tests Ready, only 45 tested so far, and Experts See Repeat of Covid Missteps (20:26); Farmers use banned antibiotics to fatten pigs despite regulations (29:07); Substance use experts are sounding the alarm on another addiction: gambling (30:19); Study shows many Americans feel pressured to work while sick (34:24); Majority of Bisexual and Transgender People Feel Lonely (35:36); Survey shows 12% of Americans have been diagnosed with chronic insomnia (37:10).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. This Isn’t Your Grandparents’ Summer Heat. The face of summer is transforming, as people today face more frequent, longer-lasting and hotter heat waves than they did several decades ago.
2. The health science of extreme heat waves
3. New rules will protect 1.4 million California workers from dangerous heat indoors
4. Portable air filters in daycares can reduce indoor pollution by 85%
5. FDA Authorizes First Menthol E-Cigarettes — Meanwhile, HHS still has not issued a final rule banning menthol-flavored tobacco cigarettes
6. Seaweed is choking the Caribbean’s white sand beaches, fueling an economic and public health crisis
7. New Research Finds Most of the World’s Largest Marine Protected Areas Have Inadequate Protections
8. Antibiotics and resistant bacteria found concentrated on ocean surface
9. The potential of micro- and nanoplastics to exacerbate the health impacts and global burden of chronic diseases
10. The Delusion of Advanced Plastic Recycling Using Pyrolysis (chemical breakdown)
11. Vaccine group Gavi seeks $9 billion over 10 years to immunize world’s poorest children
12. COVID summer wave grows, especially in West, with new variant LB.1 on the rise
13. Young Gay Latinos See Rising Share of New HIV Cases
14. FDA Chief: Tech Promises in Diabetes Go Unfulfilled
15. Large-Scale Intensive Blood Pressure Intervention Proves Sustainable for Heart Disease Prevention
16. Abortion is becoming more common in primary care clinics as doctors challenge stigma
17. Poor metabolic health linked to worse brain health
18. As they enter their 60s, Gen Xers projected to see higher cancer rates than Boomers
19. U.K. austerity spending cuts cost average person nearly half year in life expectancy
20. It’s been 60 years since Freedom Summer, yet the fight for affordable, compassionate, and equitable health care is still going on
21. Study finds mothers pay more out of pocket when pregnancy crosses two calendar years
22. How a Network of Nonprofits Enriches Fundraisers While Spending Almost Nothing on Its Stated Causes
23. A Tale of Two States: Arizona and Florida Diverge on How To Expand Kids’ Health Insurance — Health Outcomes Versus Conservative Ideology
24. Why the FDA will have a hard time properly regulating cannabis
25. Supreme Court outlawed segregation of disabled people 25 years ago. But change has come slowly.
26. Journals that published unabashed racist’s “research” articles should retract them
27. Antibiotic resistance: An extremely concerning situation in sub-Saharan African children
28. Tobacco-like warning label for social media sought by U.S. surgeon general who asks Congress to act
29. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signs bill targeting addictive social media platforms: “Our kids are in distress”
30. U.S. Hospitals Prone to Cyberattacks Like One That Hurt Patient Care at Ascension
31. Making art is a uniquely human act, and one that provides a wellspring of health benefits

Week of June 17, 2024 [episode #261]:

Featuring: Involuntary commitment and the mental health crisis care gap in Ohio (1:50); Pentagon data reveals U.S. soldiers more likely to die by suicide than in combat (11:20); In dribs and drabs, USDA reports suggest containing bird flu outbreak in dairy cows will be challenging (12:57); Global health leader critiques “ineptitude” of U.S. response to bird flu outbreak among cows (15:49); U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening for osteoporosis for women aged 65 years and older (18:17); Black, Hispanic adults at double the risk of losing Medicaid after COVID emergency ended (20:27); Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Advances Plan To Remove Medical Debt From Credit Scores (23:02); Study finds just 18% of people up-to-date on recommended lung cancer screenings (25:37); World Trade Center responders exposed to more dust saw higher risk of early dementia (26:42); Toxic gas in Louisiana air far exceeds safe levels and EPA estimates (30:53); Ethanol industry has billed itself as a green alternative to oil and gas, but refineries are releasing toxic chemicals, and industry produces as much or more carbon footprint as oil use (33:42); Degrowth movement challenges traditional views on economic growth (37:26); Corporate misuse of recycling symbols has misled consumers about environmental impact (39:07); U.S. industry groups sue to block landmark “forever chemical” drinking-water rule (41:22).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. FDA: Do your job and stop letting companies sell illicit vapes to kids
2. AI Answers Up the Cost to the Environment, because generative AI requires vastly more energy than traditional keyword searches
3. Nursing Homes Left in the Dark as More Utilities Cut Power to Prevent Wildfires, forcing stronger preparedness efforts
4. To make public housing healthier, electric stoves and ovens should be the standard
5. More COVID-19 patients died in understaffed hospitals
6. Pentagon ran secret anti-vax propaganda campaign to undermine China during pandemic
7. Empathy should guide responses to reported vaccine injuries
8. The Dairy Industry Must Act Faster to Keep H5N1 from Starting a Human Epidemic
9. Some Pasteurization Methods May Not Clear H5N1 in Heavily Infected Milk
10. What Happens if a Nuke Goes Off in Space?
11. Study links chronic pain to quality of family relationships
12. Confronting trauma alleviates chronic pain among older veterans
13. More than 4,000 additional robotic pets to be given to seniors in New York to combat loneliness
14. Millions fewer people may need statins, a new study suggests. But guidelines have yet to change
15. Half of U.S. military bases in the country are in “health care deserts” alongside Pentagon admitting that privatizing and downsizing have gone too far
16. How a major public hospital is shielding doctors by silencing the patients who accuse them, through nondisclosure agreements as part of settlements of wrongdoing
17. Abortion pill ruling: What to know and what comes next
18. Record Share of U.S. Electorate Is Pro-Choice and Voting on It
19. Mothers of Invention: Black Women Using Tech in Maternal Health, Setting Up a Maternity Care “Green Book”
20. A new model of drug discovery could change the game on superbugs. Where markets fail, collaboration might just succeed.

Week of June 10, 2024 [episode #260]:

Featuring: Americans see climate change as health threat heading into summer (1:50); Smoke exposure from California’s wildfires linked to 5,000 early deaths annually, costing Californians $1,000 per resident per year (4:01); Food and water insecurity is increasing for U.S. children (5:48); 1 in 4 young children in low- and middle-income countries suffer extreme food poverty (10:16); Status of girls in Ohio (14:47); Many U.S. women unhappy with maternal health care, yet unaware of U.S.’s poor standing among wealthy nations (18:34); “Concern is real” about long Covid’s impact on Americans, and the difficulty of making disability claims (21:17); When medical debt relief is not enough — A study showing what doesn’t work may help point to better solutions upstream (25:34); Excluding partisanship questions from health surveys could lead to ineffective policy (32:45); Only half of individuals disclose or believe they should reveal having a sexually transmitted infection prior to sexual intercourse (36;37); Midwest health departments warn of new deadly animal tranquilizer’s emergence in overdoses (37:45); FDA Backs Off Juul Vaping Products’ Marketing Denials Pending Further Review (38:40); Cows infected with bird flu have died in five U.S. states (38:40).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. How Tobacco Companies Use Chemistry to Get around Menthol Bans. Regulating chemicals one-by-one has allowed the tobacco industry to skirt menthol bans by creating new additives with similar effects but unclear safety profiles.
2. Ban fossil fuel ads to save climate, says UN chief
3. Lawsuits Targeting Plastic Pollution Pile Up as Frustrated Citizens and States Seek Accountability over greenwashing and misleading claims about recycling.
4. Your Plastic-Free Kitchen –First steps in getting PFAS “forever chemicals” out of your diet
5. Drugs, microplastics and forever chemicals: new unregulated contaminants emerge in the Great Lakes that traditional water treatment can’t deal with
6. A Bottled Water Company in Michigan Is Still Extracting Millions of Gallons of Water for Free
7. As nuclear power flails in the U.S., White House bets big on a revival
8. Program to pay nuclear fallout victims expires due to U.S. House’s inaction
9. Battling Bureaucracy After Burn Pits: Why Are Civilian Contractors Left Behind?
10. Properly fitting face masks can help block particulate pollution
11. A new discovery that carbon dioxide increases air-borne virus survival ups the ante for improved ventilation (and global CO2 levels)
12. Bird Flu Isn’t a Human Pandemic—Yet. American Contrariness Could Turn It into One
13. “Out of control”: The discovery of H5N1 bird flu in mice is so alarming because it “brings the virus closer to human homes”
14. These are the bird flu questions that influenza and animal scientists desperately want answered
15. Following Florida’s lead, New York wants a taste of Canada’s medicine, by creating a program to import drugs in bulk from Canada.
16. FDA Panel Votes Against the Psychedelic MDMA for PTSD
17. Health Worker for a Nonprofit? The New Ban on Noncompete Contracts May Not Apply to You
18. Study indicates fewer than 1 in 4 patients receive dietary counseling after a heart attack
19. Should Blood Pressure Guidelines Be Different for Women and Men?
20. Associated Press Stylebook Embraces Respectful Language on Obesity
21. Human culture is changing too fast for evolution to catch up — here’s how it may affect you

Week of June 3, 2024 [episode #259]:

Featuring: WHO emergencies team faces funding crunch as health crises multiply (1:57);Daily marijuana use now outpaces daily drinking in the U.S. (3:28); Unregulated nicotine-like chemicals in U.S. vapes may be more potent than nicotine, FDA says (5;36); Close Medicare’s dangerous gaps in coverage for addiction treatment (8:41); PTSD, anxiety is rising among college students (12:46); Placebos can ease certain mental disorders (14:21); Improved nutrition, sanitation linked to beneficial changes in child stress and epigenetic programming (17:06); The new menstruation — Girls are getting their periods earlier and less regularly (21:00); New findings show risk of death from COVID-19 lessens, but infection still can cause issues three years later (25:10); What nurses really want — sufficient staffing for patient care (30:38); Cancer drug pollution threatens aquatic life and drinking water (37:55); Hidden pollution in European rivers from a “forever chemical” (39:09); Canada oil tar sands air pollution 20-64 times worse than industry says (40:41); Farm Bill lobbying gargantuan (42:58).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Study finds even low lead levels in U.S. water are linked to lead poisoning among susceptible people
2. More Evidence “‘Forever Chemicals” and Other Endocrine-Disruptors Increase Child Obesity Risk
3. “Forever chemicals” are found in the Great Lakes through air and rain
4. How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe
5. A plastic recipe for societal suicide — We must determine which uses of plastic remain essential; eliminate those that aren’t; and design new materials to replace still essential plastics.
6. Louisiana chemical plant threatens to shut down if EPA emissions deadline isn’t relaxed
7. Farmworkers Face High-Risk Exposures to Bird Flu, but Testing Isn’t Reaching Them
8. Are pet dogs and cats the weak link in bird flu surveillance?
9. CDC asks states and cities to keep flu surveillance at peak levels because of bird flu threat
10. Move over, wastewater. Store-bought milk could be another way to track the bird flu outbreak in cows
11. The Chicken and Egg Problem of Fighting Another Flu Pandemic
12. Clues From Bird Flu’s Ground Zero on Dairy Farms in the Texas Panhandle — Why did it take so long to recognize the virus on high-tech farms in the world’s richest country?
13. What is pasteurization? A dairy expert explains how it protects against foodborne illness, including avian flu
14. Racial Disparities in Cognitive Outcomes Tied to Early Life Experiences — Education, segregation associated with cognitive disparities
15. Widespread disrespect, abuse in maternity care leave mothers with lasting trauma
16. Stroke rates are rising, driven by the young
17. New data show the HPV vaccine prevents cancer in men, too. Why don’t more people get it?
18. Your earbuds and you: What all that listening is doing to us
19. Pedestrians may be twice as likely to be hit by electric/hybrid cars as gas ones
20. “Deny, denounce, delay” — The battle over the risk of ultra-processed foods. Big Food is trying to dampen fears about the effects of industrially formulated substances.
21. We Must Face Down the Expanding Anti-Reality Industry — Exposing the anti-science playbook reveals the anti-regulatory motives of its deep-pocketed bankrollers
22. Study shows most doctors endorsing drugs on X are paid to do so
23. Cancer victims sue Johnson & Johnson over “fraudulent” bankruptcies
24. Imagine if the government offered dental care. New federal rule could give states that option for its ACA plans.
25. Addressing health care workers’ trauma can help fight burnout
26. Amid mental health crisis, new compact allows social workers to practice across state lines for 14 states, including Ohio
27. More Evidence Backs Active Surveillance for Low-Risk Prostate Cancer
28. “They bungled it” — NIH documents reveal how $1.6 billion Long Covid initiative has failed so far to meet its goals
29. Poetry for rewilding the medical and health humanities

Week of May 27, 2024, GREATEST HITS SHOW #10, stories from April to July, 2022

GREATEST HITS SHOW #10, stories from April to July 2022, featuring: New article outlines the characteristics of a “longevity diet” (2:00); New expert consensus statement published on achieving remission of type 2 diabetes using diet as a primary intervention (3:26); Vegan diet eases rheumatoid arthritis pain (5:14); The U.S. is soon to become a net food importer (6:48); World’s vulnerable are being polluted in their own homes as they cook (8:04); Men – especially from rich countries – still dominate the boards of global health groups (9:44); High cost of cancer care in the U.S. doesn’t reduce mortality rates (12:09); Heart attack mortality rate higher in the U.S. compared to other high-income countries (14:22); Locking People Up Is No Way to Treat Mental Illness (16:48); PTSD costs in U.S. civilian, military populations combine for more than $230 billion, surpassing costs for conditions such as anxiety and depression (20:34); Study finds disparities in improper antibiotic prescribing, which is commonplace (24:44); What are the Radiation Risks from CT Scans? and CT Scans Cause About 40,000 Cancers Deaths Per Year, Similar to Breast and Prostate Cancers (26:54); Up to 540,000 lives could be saved worldwide by targeting speed and other proven traffic crash prevention interventions (34:08); United States had highest motor vehicle crash mortality rate among comparable countries (36:12); Cutting air pollution from fossil fuels would save 50,000 lives a year in U.S. (37:48); Toledo ranks as 10th most stressed city in U.S. (38:08); Reasons Why Most Young Adults Sweep Depression Under the Rug (40:52); A new study shows benefits to dispatching mental health specialists in nonviolent 911 emergencies (42:05); Global abortion facts and health care standards (44:23); “Set them up for failure” – Sex education not required in many states where abortion is or will be banned (49:28); One-Week Social Media Break Reduces Anxiety, Depression (54:11).

Week of May 20, 2024 [episode #258]:

Featuring: Wildfires in Canada worsen air quality across the U.S. Midwest (1:52); As Ohio clamps down on clean energy, recent changes make it easier to force landowners to allow oil and gas drilling (3:32); FDA Publishes Landmark Final Rule to Enhance the Safety of Agricultural Water (10:01); Superbugs pose a greater threat than Covid, warns health expert (12:23); Environmental damage from wars must be addressed in peace accords (13:51); Obesity and high blood sugar play ever growing role in ill-health globally (14:49); Eating a plant-based diet, particularly more vegetables, fruits and whole grains – along with fewer animal products – is associated with a nearly 50% reduction in the risk of prostate cancer progression (16:29); Most states receive D’s, F’s in maternal mental health report card (17:49); Feds releases maternal mental health plan (19:35); Survey finds telehealth is driving increase in abortions, despite state bans (22:30); Almost 7 million Black women of reproductive age have little, no abortion access (25:16); Nurses Don’t Trust Employers to Safely Implement AI Tools (27:17); When it Comes to Preventive Health, Play the Long Game — Proposed budget scoring legislation can boost disease prevention and drive cost savings over decades (29:42); World-first regulations to combat sedentary behavior among children in China show global promise (32:14); Bird flu doesn’t have to be a repeat of Covid-19’s “public health versus the economy” (34:29).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Link between e-cigarette use and early age of asthma onset discovered
2. Social Media Use Tied to Higher Odds of Smoking, Vaping in Youth
3. What we know about extreme heat’s health impacts after the hottest summer on record
4. How the Drug War and Energy Transition Are Changing Ecuadorians’ Fight For The Rights of Nature
5. HHS’s proposed rule pays lip service to addressing the climate crisis, the greatest threat to human health
6. Activists meet with Canadian Consular to “avoid disaster” with Line 5 pipeline under Mackinaw Strait
7. Climate change is likely to aggravate brain conditions
8. U.S. shifts to domestic uranium production amid geopolitical tensions
9. Cancer-causing benzene levels were cut in half at U.S. refineries in 2023
10. Only 32% of cancer drugs initially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration showed an overall survival benefits upon full study
11. Prescription drug ads should start looking noticeably different within 6 months
12. HPV vaccine program tied to big drop in cervical cancers across all socioeconomic strata
13. Despite its “nothingburger” reputation, COVID-19 remains deadlier than the flu
14. U.S. drowning deaths rising again after years of decline, remaining the the leading cause of death for toddlers ages 1 to 4
15. Missed care, fewer patients: Rural families and clinics feel Medicaid disenrollments
16. Medicaid “Unwinding” Decried as Biased Against Disabled People
17. Medicaid Unwinding Deals Blow to Tenuous System of Care for Native Americans
18. Social Determinants of Health Explain Most of the Disparity in Treatment‐Resistant Hypertension Among White and Black U.S. Adults
19. How power and status shapes behavior: Evidence of bias from physicians
20. Removing race adjustment from lung test would mean higher disability payments for many Black vets, adding over a billion dollars per year
21. The Lure of Specialty Medicine Pulls Nurse Practitioners From Primary Care
22. The only tribal medical school in the U.S. graduates its first Native American doctors
23. Why One New York Health System Stopped Suing Its Patients
24. Study highlights inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in U.S. emergency departments
25. Treating chronic pain requires much more than medications
26. Patients Fare Better When They Get Palliative Care Sooner, Not Later
27. There’s Bird Flu in U.S. Dairy Cows. Raw Milk Drinkers Increase Despite Risks
28. North Carolina bill to curb mask-wearing in protests could make it illegal for medical reasons too
29. Attack Jets’ Noise Pollution May Be Harming 74,000 People’s Health in Washington
30. U.S. Doctors Trapped in Gaza Hospital by Israeli Assault — 35 doctors wait for escape and for replacements

Week of May 13, 2024 [episode #257]:

Featuring: Study shows rising child mortality in the US has the most impact on Black and Native American youth (1:53); Bird Flu Update — U.S. Announces More Than $175 Million to Track, Contain H5N1 (4:11); A dose of reality on adult vaccinations, returning 5-19 times their cost in societal benefits (8:02); Nations Struggle to Draft “Pandemic Treaty” to Avoid Mistakes Made During COVID (11:26); Mental health in bad shape for Americans –Depression and isolation are why (16:06); 83% of Adults With Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms Are Undiagnosed (20:01); Parents are drugging their kids to get them to sleep (25:25); One in 8 U.S. adults have now used meds like Ozempic (28:50); U.S. health care is increasingly like a casino (31:58); Agricultural plastic linked to build up of harmful chemicals in wheat (34:57); “Nothing is untouched” — DDT found in deep-sea fish raises troubling concerns for food web (36:31); Unilever downgrades its environmental goals amid cost concerns (41:52); More poultry associations join international effort to cut antimicrobial use in poultry (41:59).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Half of Gaza water sites damaged or destroyed, BBC satellite data reveals
2. Patients in Gaza with chronic conditions need urgent interventions
3. Medical Residents Are Increasingly Avoiding States With Abortion Restrictions
4. 62 percent of young adults would not want to live in state with abortion ban
5. Gov. Mike DeWine says 24-hour waiting period for abortion should remain in Ohio law
6. Sexual Harassment Rampant in Ob/Gyn Field, Despite Majority Female Workforce — power dynamics may be more critical than gender
7. About 56 percent of pregnant smokers quit during pregnancy
8. Privately insured new moms face about $3,000 in additional out-of-pocket spending
9. Drugmakers in Medicare negotiations spent more on shareholder payments and marketing than R&D last year
10. Amgen Drugmaker Plows Ahead With Costly, Highly Toxic Cancer Dosing Despite FDA Challenge
11. Pre-Approval Plan Proposed for Medicare Advantage Insurers — “No prior authorization without prior authorization,” Senate Budget Committee chair says
12. Workers legal battles over health costs could change workplace benefits
13. Caring for young caregivers, a hidden population of 14 million under age 24
14. Colorectal cancer cases more than tripled among teens over two decades
15. Study raises concern over exposure to flame retardant chemicals used in some automobile seats
16. Plastic, Plastic Everywhere — Even at the UN’s “Plastic Free” Conference industry insiders were given access to vital negotiations
17. After decades fighting Big Tobacco, Cliff Douglas now leads a foundation funded by his former adversaries
18. Study finds discrimination accelerates aging at molecular level
19. FDA considers updating blood donation guidelines to keep nation’s supply safe from malaria
20. Bird flu keeps rewriting the textbooks. It’s why scientists are unsettled by the U.S. dairy cattle outbreak.
21. Cows have human flu receptors, study shows, raising stakes on bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle
22. As livestock move around the country, so does H5N1. The U.S. needs real-time tracking of livestock movements
23. H5N1 communication has been strictly for the birds. Didn’t the federal government learn anything from Covid?
24. Farmers resist push for workers to wear protective gear against bird flu virus
25. Officials pledge reimbursements for dairy farms impacted by avian flu
26. Track local air quality at AirNow.gov as fire season begins
27. We know late-night screens are bad for sleep. How do you stop doomscrolling in bed?
28. How Much Do Our Thoughts Shape Our Health? Mind-Body connections are powerful

Week of May 6, 2024 [episode #256]:

Featuring: Study shows the dramatic impact of extreme poverty on mortality in a racially diverse low-income population (1:50); The public’s health is heavily influenced by corporations selling tobacco, forever chemicals, fossil fuels and ultra-processed foods (5:49); As federal menthol ban languishes, Black smokers are left to the mercy of marketers (13:47); Statehouses are a hotbed of tobacco lobbying and legislation (16:09); Health sector working to ramp up voting, civic engagement (19:08); EPA introduces new rules for legacy coal ash pond cleanup (21:45); People with gas and propane stoves breathe more unhealthy nitrogen dioxide (23:15); American adults polled express increasing anxiousness — stress, sleep key factors impacting mental health (28:12);3 in 4 Americans feel that mental health takes a back seat to physical health, and 60% give a poor or failing grade to how mental health is treated (31:02); 12% of LGBTQ youth attempted suicide last year, 39% seriously considered, nationwide survey says (32:59); New Medicaid rule expected to lower wait times for home-based care, raise caregiver wages (35:19); 4 years after COVID, we are still lacking an international prevention plan (38:17); Maternal deaths have fallen to pre-pandemic levels, new U.S. data says (43:18).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Headed Toward the Finish Line, Plastics Treaty Delegates “Work is Far From Over,” as some see U.S. as obstacle to a robust treaty
2. 6 million health care workers call for stricter limits on global plastics
3. Should Synthetic Bioplastics Be Allowed in Organic Compost?
4. EPA Bans Consumer Use of Toxic Chemical Methylene Chloride Known to Cause Liver, Lung Cancers
5. EPA Proposes Ban on Neurotoxic Pesticide Acephate Widely Used on Fruits and Vegetables (after ProPublica investigation)
6. Potential exposure of adults and children to particulates from resuspended nano-enabled consumer sprays
7. America’s growing preference for larger vehicles exacerbates safety risks for pedestrians and increases carbon emissions
8. Better Inhalers Can Help Patients and the Planet
9. A new form of mpox that may spread more easily found in Congo’s biggest outbreak
10. WHO Overturns Dogma on Airborne Disease Spread. The CDC Might Not Act on It.
11. Too big to care: It is time for a Glass-Steagall Act for health care, to break up huge conglomerates
12. Some 100,000 “dreamers” expected to sign up for Obamacare under new rule
13. U.S. panel, cancer groups differ on new breast cancer screening guidelines
14. It May Be Safe to Extend Time Between Colonoscopy Screenings, Large Study Says
15. What’s keeping the U.S. from allowing better sunscreens already available elsewhere?
16. A healthy lifestyle can mitigate genetic risk for early death by 62%
17. Inherited traits can be overstated
18. Smokers, former smokers may gain lung function from switch to plant-based diet
19. Global study reveals stark differences between females and males in disease burden causes
20. Johnson & Johnson to pay $6.5 billion to resolve nearly all talc ovarian cancer lawsuits in U.S.
21. New research finds resident-to-resident aggression common in assisted living
22. Potatoes will remain classified as a vegetable, not a grain
23. U.S. intelligence chief warns Congress of rise in cyberattacks, especially in health care
24. More States Are Allowing Child Support Payments to Reach Children
25. Bird Flu Is Bad for Poultry and Dairy Cows. It’s Not a Dire Threat for Most of Us — Yet.
26. Texas dairy farm worker’s case may be first where bird flu virus spread from mammal to human, scientists say
27. Tracking bird flu virus changes in cows is stymied by missing data
28. Spikes of flu virus in wastewater raise questions about spread of bird flu
29. One in four U.S. women will have a clinical abortion in their lifetime
30. Partisan gap on abortion “larger than ever,” survey shows
31. After Roe, the network of people who help others get abortions see themselves as “the underground”

Week of April 29, 2024 [episode #255]:

Featuring: Premature mortality higher among bisexual and lesbian women (1:52); The decline in American life expectancy harms more than our health; it sickens our economy (5:26); How many lives have vaccines saved? New WHO study comes out with breathtaking estimate of 154 million in last 50 years (12:47); Survey finds loneliness epidemic runs deep among parents (16:46); New school lunch rules target added sugars, salt (18:26); Trust in health institutions declines as more rely on own judgment (21:44); CVS pharmacy workers move to unionize (26:69); Turning point — COVID-era hospital reporting on respiratory infections ending (28:21); A new platform, FencelineData.org, enables easy access to information on companies emitting harmful chemicals (31:02).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Biden administration punts menthol cigarette rule indefinitely
2. Minneapolis City Council passes tobacco ordinance that sets $15 minimum price for cigarettes
3. Tire Toxicity Faces Fresh Scrutiny After Salmon Die-Offs
4. Big Oil and Gas Industry’s Dangerous Secret of Radioactive Waste
5. 10 Times as Much of This Neurotoxic Pesticide Could End Up on Your Tomatoes and Celery Under a New EPA Proposal Which Ignores Official Recommendation
6. USDA tells producers to reduce salmonella in certain frozen chicken products
7. U.S. air pollution worst in 25 years as new environmental regulations finalized
8. Researchers identify connection between air pollutants and allergic diseases
9. Bioplastics as harmful as traditional plastics
10. Bioplastics create a composting conundrum
11. What you eat could alter your unborn children and grandchildren’s genes and health outcomes
12. “Forever chemicals” are known for lingering in the body. Menstruation helps expel them
13. Detoxifying masculinity: How men’s groups reshape attitudes
14. Women caregivers are stressed; transportation infrastructure could help
15. How treatment of miscarriages is upending the abortion debate
16. EMTALA, a vital health law you’ve never heard of, is in danger
17. The grim reality of relocating to get access to gender-affirming care
18. Soldiers Charged With Violent Crimes Will Now Face More Scrutiny Before They Can Simply Leave the Army
19. Lawsuit Alleges Obamacare Plan-Switching Scheme Targeted Low-Income Consumers
20. You’ve covered your copayment; now brace yourself for the “facility fee”
21. 25-year decline in heart failure deaths has been undone, led by people under 45
22. Quiet! Our Loud World Is Making Us Sick
23. Study argues traffic noise is a novel risk factor for cardiovascular diseases
24. Rise and grind? Working late, volatile hours may lead to depression, illness
25. Study highlights heavy global burden of infectious diseases [28% overall, 44% for kids under 5]
26. Global measles cases nearly doubled in one year
27. 1 in 5 samples of pasteurized milk had bird flu virus fragments, FDA says
28. Are We Testing Enough for H5N1 (bird flu)?
29. There’s never a good time to drink raw milk. But now’s a really bad time as bird flu infects cows
30. Sluggish uptake of new antibiotics threatens future development and supply for highly resistant infections
31. Understaffed nursing homes more likely to overuse antipsychotics as “chemical restraints”
32. Antipsychotics Pose New Risks for People With Dementia
33. Dozens of deaths reveal risks of injecting sedatives into people restrained by police
34. States botched more executions of Black prisoners.
35. Drug, alcohol abuse goes untreated in many ex-prisoners
36. Difficult lives explain depression better than broken brains
37. How hot is too hot? New weather forecasting tool can help figure that out
38. Opioids Came for Country Music. It’s Fighting Back

Week of April 22, 2024: GREATEST HITS SHOW #9, stories from January to April, 2022 [episode #224]

GREATEST HITS SHOW #9, stories from January to April 2022, featuring: A Healthy Diet Is Too Costly for Three Billion People (1:53); Financial incentives for smoking cessation proves highly cost effective for society but not for individual businesses (3:23); Resolved to quit smoking this year? Experts offer tips (6:42); In helping smokers quit, combining treatments is key (9:18); Health-Care Disparities: A Way of Life for Black Ohioans? (12:39); Incarceration increases long-term mortality rates among blacks but not whites (14:55); For the uninsured, crowdfunding provides little help in paying for health care and deepens inequities (17:02); Eat your legumes — How a healthier diet can add 10 or more years to your life (18:44); Why are alcohol- and drug-related deaths rising in the U.S. and not elsewhere? (21:02); Pressure to feel good associated with poorer individual wellbeing in happier countries (24:02); Why the pursuit of happiness can be bad for you, and what you should pursue instead (25:45); Overlooked and underfunded — experts call for united action to reduce the global burden of depression (30:00);  More spice could help seniors avoid salt (35:23); One in ten Americans say they don’t eat meat, a growing share of the population (36:56); Some of the world’s lowest rates of dementia found in Amazonian indigenous groups (37:41); High blood pressure, obesity, and physical inactivity have the biggest impact on dementia cases (41:09); Diet quality decreased for U.S. seniors from 2001 to 2018, dropping to 61% with poor quality (41:56); “Stand your ground” laws linked to 700 additional firearm homicides each year in U.S. (45:36); Amid war and disease, World Happiness Report shows bright spot of increased benevolence (47:56);  Cities are making us fat and unhealthy: A “healthy location index” can help us plan better (51:04); Subsidy would improve fruit and veg intake by as much as 15%, say economists (53:23); Sci-Hub Offers the Quickest, Easiest, and Greatest Access to Science — all for free, though illegally (55:16).

Week of April 15, 2024 [episode #254]:

Featuring: Ohio health report card ranking continues poor showing, ranked 43rd in population health (1:47); New WIC rules include more money for fruits and veggies, and expands food choices (9:14); Justice Department Issues Final Rule to End the “Gun Show Loophole” (12:44); Abortion bans and divorce restrictions can aggravate domestic violence for pregnant people (15:30); Fall of Roe drives spike in permanent contraception among young adults, particularly women (17:26); Almost 1 in 4 people disenrolled from Medicaid are now uninsured (19:23); High physician empathy could offer patients with lower back pain lasting benefits (22:10); A majority of Americans say they would feel better if they slept more (26:22); “Deaths of despair” among Black Americans surpassed those of white Americans in 2022 (30:11); Toxic “forever” chemicals found in excessive levels in global groundwater (32:27); Biden administration green-lights massive oil terminal, sparking backlash (33:53); Hepatitis viruses kill 3,500 people a day, the second-biggest infectious killer, narrowly trailing tuberculosis (35:54); H5N1 bird flu in U.S. cattle — A wake-up call to action (36:59); Artificial intelligence can help people feel heard, unless they know a message is from AI (43:01).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Ohio State of the State address focused on child health
2. State Medicaid Coverage for Tobacco Cessation Treatments improves but in most states access barriers are common
3. PFAS exposure from seafood may be underestimated
4. Chemicals stored in home garages linked to ALS risk
5. Lunchables shouldn’t be on school menus due to lead, sodium, cadmium, Consumer Reports tells USDA
6. Lead in Lunchables: Why lead keeps showing up where it’s not supposed to
7. Dietary fiber critical in managing hypertension
8. Suicides among college athletes have doubled over the past 20 years, growing faster than other young adults
9. Young people are getting unhappier: Lack of childhood freedom and independence may be partly to blame
10. As a rule, rape exceptions for abortion don’t work
11. When Rogue Brokers Switch People’s ACA Policies, Surprising Tax Problems Can Follow
12. Hospitals that make profits should pay taxes
13. Record number of drugs, hundreds, are in short supply around the U.S.
14. Surgery More Cost-Effective Than Wegovy in Adults With a BMI 35+
15. Congress Likely to Kick the Can on Continuing Covid-Era Telehealth Policies
16. Some hospitals are adopting a more nonjudgmental response when babies are born exposed to drugs
17. Shifts in hair relaxer use to Africa highlight health concerns about equitable regulation of toxic consumer products
18. Draining the World of Fresh Water — Our thirst for technology and resource consumption drives extractive industries overwhelming fresh water supplies
19. Texans turn to Europe to thwart methane gas terminals, organizing globally
20. Is there a place in Congress for the most trusted profession in America? [nurses]

Week of April 8, 2024 [episode #253]:

Featuring: Since 1990, life expectancy globally increased over 6 years as world addressed major killers including diarrhea, lower respiratory infections, and stroke (1:47); Consensus statement calls for urgent action to address chronic kidney disease on the global public health agenda (6:50); Low-income U.S. adults left behind while rest of U.S. experienced large declines in heart attack, stroke risk over 30 years (8:57); More than 25% of cancer survivors report significant levels of disability after cancer diagnosis (11:32); Start of a New Trend? Hepatitis C Cases Drop in the U.S. (14:42); Urgent action needed to combat antimicrobial resistance (18:13); How climate change is driving a global epidemic of immune health problems, and how to stop it (22:08); LGBTQ Americans twice as likely to experience discrimination in health care (29:31); Few Hospitals Follow Recommended Practices for Evidence-Based Suicide Care (32:30); Key findings from AP’s investigation into police force that isn’t supposed to be lethal (36:02); WHO announces giant rollout of cholera tests as cases surge (41:34).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Bracing for a Surge in Prostate Cancer Diagnoses — Demographic changes will lead to a doubling of cases, 85% increase in mortality by 2040
2. Global cancer statistics 2022: estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries
3. What to Know About the Debate Over U.S. Maternal Mortality Rates
4. Whooping cough is resurging worldwide due to superbugs and lower vaccination rates
5. Why a leading bird flu expert isn’t convinced that the risk H5N1 poses to people has declined
6. FDA approves first prescription digital therapy to aid major depression treatment
7. AI tools offer promise for public health — when used ethically
8. 1 in 7 women of reproductive age have a personal connection to abortion restrictions., and 1 in 5 in states with bans
9. Florida’s stricter ban on abortions could put more pressure on clinics elsewhere
10. Florida’s abortion fight is headed to voters after court allows for a 6-week ban
11. Ohio law banning nearly all abortions now invalid after referendum, attorney general says
12. Ten Doctors on FDA Panel Reviewing Abbott Heart Device Had Financial Ties With Company
13. Rogue Insurance Agents Are Switching ACA Plans Without Enrollees’ OK
14. As obesity rises, Big Food and dietitians push “anti-diet” advice — General Mills warns of “food shaming”; dietitian influencers promote junk foods and discourage weight loss efforts
15. Average person with heart disease consumes twice the recommended sodium level
16. A nation with too few pediatricians could see health care costs soar and health fall
17. Gambling addiction hotlines say volume is up and callers are younger as online sports betting booms –Smartphone apps and pervasive ads have taken sports gambling mainstream.
18. Does addiction make you un-American? Weaponizing Substance Use and Addiction Against Immigrants
19. 20 percent of Americans say violence may be needed to get U.S. back on track
20. Drone strikes on Ukraine’s nuclear plant prompt major safety concerns
21. Hope is not the same as optimism, a psychologist explains—just look at MLK’s example
22. Anti-smoking groups sue FDA again over menthol ban delays

Week of April 1, 2024 [episode #252]:

Featuring: Gaza is now in famine (2:03); U.S. life expectancy rate increased as COVID deaths wane and drug overdoses persist (3:12); Social, environmental factors raise risk of developing heart disease and stroke (5:54); Secondhand e-cigarette vapor may pose risk to children (9:03); U.S. Tuberculosis Cases Reach Highest Level in a Decade (12:01); Sen. Sanders calls for Novo Nordisk to slash Ozempic, Wegovy prices, as they cost less than $5 per month to make (15:43); Why Isn’t Dental Health Considered Primary Medical Care? (17:26); How to help your child get enough healthy, brain-boosting sleep (21:42); CDC releases ventilation guidance for curbing indoor respiratory virus spread (30:51); EPA reviews formaldehyde risks, signaling potential restrictions (32:43); “Plastic People” — A documentary that changed my view on plastics (34:09); Number of Black women who say they are scared of having children rises (35:36); Global fertility forecasts in 204 countries and territories bodes large societal changes (36:38).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Hazmat containers breached during bridge collapse
2. EU’s green laws on shaky ground as countries pull back
3. U.S. appeals court curtails EPA’s ability to regulate PFAS under toxic substances law
4. Chemical exposure may reduce the success of weight loss surgery
5. EPA unprecedented “data alignment” could make it easier for industry to meet soot standard
6. Exploring the link between household chemicals and neurological disorders
7. Parental avoidance of toxic exposures could help reduce risk of autism, ADHD in children
8. Chick-fil-A is putting antibiotics back in its chicken
9. Common livestock feed additive for growth poses risks to human health, lawsuit says
10. New report sparks questions and controversy over possible causes for Iowa “cancer crisis” — binge drinking versus environmental toxins
11. Dairy cattle in multiple states test positive for bird flu
12. New book, “Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry”
13. Wood burning in villages poses health risks
14. Housing and health — Ohio policy fact sheet
15. Heavy-smoking West Virginia becomes the 12th state to ban lighting up in cars with kids present
16. “I could kill someone” — Most U.S. troops aren’t getting enough sleep, report warns
17. Calls for “smartphone free” childhood grow in UK
18. The U.S. needs a bipartisan industrial policy for the life sciences and health security
19. Can AI Replace Human Research Participants? These Scientists See Risks
20. Does Long-Term Benadryl Use [and related drugs] Increase Dementia Risk?
21. Our Brains Are Getting Bigger, MRIs Show — Does this explain why dementia incidence is falling?
22. Biden rolls back Trump expansion of short-term “junk” insurance plans
23. Industry Payments to Physicians Topped $12 Billion Over Nearly a Decade — More than half of eligible physicians received payments, most related to a marketed product
24. Hospitals Cash In on a Private Equity-Backed Trend: Concierge Physician Care
25. The Burden of Getting Medical Care Can Exhaust Older Patients
26. A biased test kept thousands of Black people from getting a kidney transplant. It’s finally changing
27. Study finds poverty is the main reason people sell a kidney
28. “Everyone Will Die in Prison”: How Louisiana’s Plan to Lock People Up Longer Imperils Its Sickest Inmates
29. Inside the Historic Suit That the Gun Industry and Republicans Are on the Verge of Killing
30. Why the mpox outbreak in the Congo is worrying infectious disease doctors
31. Mpox cases in the US are on the rise as vaccination rates lag and new threats loom
32. People more often are origin of infectious diseases in animals than vice versa
33. Global AIDS program survives, but backers “not satisfied” with single year renewal
34. Women with obesity do not need to gain weight during pregnancy, new study suggests
35. Eliminate the waiting period for sterilization covered by Medicaid
36. Revitalizing the right to health is essential to securing better health for all
37. Criminalized Care: How Louisiana’s Abortion Bans Endanger Patients and Clinicians
38. Controversial Travel Policy for Military Reproductive Care Rarely Used
39. Exclusive poll: Americans strongly back abortion pill access, FDA drug powers
40. America’s Climate Boomtowns Near The Great Lakes Are Waiting
41. The Invisible Shield, a four-part PBS documentary series, reveals a little-known truth: that public health saved your life today and you probably don’t even know it.
42. Understanding the psychology of what lies behind irrational opinions
43. Public Health Programs Unwilling to Address Capitalism as a Fundamental Cause of Health Inequities

Week of March 25, 2024 ,GREATEST HITS SHOW #8  [episode #222]:

GREATEST HITS SHOW #8, stories from September to December 2021, featuring: High-quality diet tied to lower migraine frequency, severity (1:56); Higher sodium intake may be tied to worse migraine outcomes (2:32); Consuming fruit and vegetables and exercising can make you happier (3:06); Top tips if your child is a fussy eater (4:15)  A Little Radiation Is Not Good For You (6:12); Science Alone Can’t Heal a Sick Society (7:25);  Corporate versus public control of science and technology: Forging a framework for the 21st Century (13:41); How placebos work is not fully understood, but alternative theory of consciousness holds some clues (20:57); Researchers trace the outlines of two cultures within science, one of which promotes greater equity and inclusivity (25:30); Investing $1 per person per year in hand hygiene could save hundreds of thousands of lives (30:42); Only about half of U.S. adolescents get sex education that meets minimum federal standards (34:03); New look at nutrition research identifies 10 features of a heart-healthy eating pattern (36:59); What Makes Some Countries Happier Than Others? (44:22); Seven questions to assess how wise you are (47:42); Protective effect of education against midlife mental health struggle waning for Americans (49:41); Junk food portion sizes need to be reigned in (51:18); Our meat habit is causing pollution issues — by way of our poops (54:20).

Week of March 18, 2024 [episode #251]:

Featuring: Early childhood deaths at record low, but progress “precarious” (1:52); Imminent famine in northern Gaza is “entirely manmade disaster” (4:38); Large Increases in Food Insecurity in Recent Decades Seen in U.S. Families With Older Adults (8:20); Few Physicians Participate in Both Medicaid and Marketplace Plans, forcing many to change provider networks  (9:40); How Your In-Network Health Coverage Can Vanish Mid-Year Before You Know It (11:55); U.S. drug approvals align with U.S., but miss global health needs (15:41); Delta 8 THC use reported by 11% of high school seniors (17:18); Despite rising deaths from bacterial infection, meat industry under little pressure to wean itself off antibiotics (20:48); Plastic chemicals are more numerable and less regulated than previously thought (28:25); Gulf Coast sees petrochemical surge, raising environmental and economic concerns (30:21); New study quantifies health impacts from oil and gas flaring in U.S. — limiting could save operators money and communities’ health (32:20); New EPA Rule to Slash Cancer-Causing Emissions From Sterilization Facilities (33:32); Metro Phoenix has confirmed record-smashing 645 heat-associated deaths last year (38:28); Lead exposure may have played role in Maine shootings (40:30).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of all types of cancer
2. Salty foods are making people sick − in part by poisoning their microbiomes
3. Too much of a food thing: A century of change in how we eat
4. Wildfire smoke warnings need to be issued sooner, with focus on how to prepare
5. How low humidity could be a boon for viruses: Study finds excess ventilation may counteract public health interventions
6. U.S. measles milestone: 60 cases so far in 2024 — more than all of 2023
7. Gangsters, Money and Murder: How Chinese Organized Crime Is Dominating America’s Illegal Marijuana Market
8. Permitless open carry laws may lead to more firearm-related suicides
9. HIV is no longer a death sentence. But states still have laws targeting people who live with it, becoming another tool to criminalize Black people, LGBTQ+ people and sex workers.
10. “Last mile” solutions shown to increase vaccination coverage in poor countries
11. Study finds most restaurants and bars still serving alcohol to intoxicated patrons
12. Pentagon tries to dodge PFAS lawsuits by claiming immunity over a product it helped invent
13. Forget “Oppenheimer” — nuclear power is having its moment in Washington
14. The Obscene Energy Demands of A.I. — How can the world reach net zero if it keeps inventing new ways to consume energy?
15. Using X (formerly Twitter) has a negative impact on well-being — “We couldn’t find any positive effects on well-being.”
16. Two or more hours of daily screen time tied to lower well-being in preschoolers
17. “Boys are disappearing” from mental health care as signs of depression go undetected, as boys’ depressive symptoms often irritability or anger/aggression
18. Menstrual health literacy is alarmingly low—what you don’t know can harm you
19. When Copay Assistance Backfires on Patients
20. Concerns Grow Over Quality of Care as Investor Groups Buy Not-for-Profit Nursing Homes
21. Lawmakers want to help California be happy, with its newest select committee
22. Paying Attention to Sensations Can Help Reset the Mind and Improve Mental Health

Week of March 11, 2024 [episode #250]:

Featuring: Ohio foundation begins process to distribute millions in opioid settlement money (2:20); Sudan war threatens “world’s largest hunger crisis” (4:37); Girls are starting puberty earlier than ever — for some, that comes with major mental health risks (7:07); Globally, 230 million females have undergone genital mutilation, 30 million more than in 2016 (15:50); Domestic violence often leads to traumatic brain injury (18:54); Firearm access and gun violence exposure found to be common in Black and native communities (21:06); California May Face More Than $40M in Fines for Lapses in Prison Suicide Prevention (23:25); Despite their prevalence and health burden, arthritis, neck and back pain receive few research dollars (26:25); New study links microplastics to a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and death (29:35); Communities of color across the U.S. suffer a growing disproportionate burden from polluted air (31:14); Air pollution linked to more than 700 health conditions (33:04); Cancer-causing PCB chemicals found in high levels despite decades-old ban (34:48); More evidence of harmful health effects posed by gas stoves (36:35); Environmental activists’ prosecutions underline a democratic crisis (39:03).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Policy considerations for cannabis regulation in Ohio
2. Operating in the Red: Half of Rural Hospitals Lose Money, as Many Cut Services
3. Liberty University Hit With Record $14 million in Fines for Failing to Handle Complaints of Sexual Assault, Other Crimes
4. Fluoride in public water has slashed tooth decay, but some states may end mandates
5. West Virginia lawmakers OK bill drawing back one of the country’s strictest child vaccination laws
6. Tennessee vaccine law pits parental rights against public health
7. How states giving rights to fetuses could set up a national case on abortion
8. 1 in 8 voters cite abortion as most important issue
9. Syphilis Is Killing Babies, and the only drug that treats syphilis during pregnancy is in short supply.
10. For new moms who rent, housing hardship and mental health are linked
11. Cuts in social spending in European nations are tied to increases in “extreme worry”
12. A leading public health expert describes how reparations can close the life expectancy gap for Black people in America.
13. Free tuition won’t fix medicine’s diversity problem without admissions reform
14. Why Public Health is Playing Catch-up to Deepen Insights Into Stopping Gun Violence in America
15. Firearm ownership is correlated with elevated lead levels in children, more so than lead paint
16. More than half of American Indian youth may have abnormal or high cholesterol
17. There’s Plastic in My Plaque!
18. Plastic food packaging contains thousands of hormone-mimicking chemicals
19. Bioplastics: sustainable solution or distraction from the plastic waste crisis?
20. Big brands commit to disclosing and cutting down on plastic usage under investor pressure
21. Ground cinnamon sold at discount stores is tainted with lead, FDA warns
22. Effectiveness and policy implications of health taxes on foods high in fat, salt, and sugar
23. CDC updates isolation guidance, and their scientific rationale
24. The U.S. Health System’s Single Point of Failure — cybercriminals see the nation’s vulnerabilities far more clearly than regulators do.
25. Health care cyberattack spawns threat of patient lawsuits
26. A nuclear strike is more likely now that at any point since the Cold War
27. Tensions rise at Europe’s largest nuclear facility amid occupation
28. What a Major Solar Storm Could Do to Our Planet — and emergency preparedness
29. VIP Health System for Top U.S. Officials Risked Jeopardizing Care for Needy Soldiers
30. Ageism in health care is more common than you might think, and it can harm people
31. The Ethos of Emergency Medicine — any patient, any time, any problem — Hangs in the Balance of a Supreme Court ruling on pregnant patients’ emergency care
32. It’s time to stop treating menopause like a disease, researchers argue in series of Lancet articles
33. Kindness a Key Component of Treating Pregnant Patients With Substance Use Disorders — “They’re expecting us to not treat them nicely”
34. With a million cases of dengue so far this year, Brazil is in a state of emergency

Week of March 4, 2024 [episode #249]:

Featuring: More than 1 billion people worldwide have obesity, including 159 million young people (1:51); FDA to develop new “healthy” logo this year – and only about 3% of manufactured foods could qualify (4:30); How the fall of Roe has degraded contraceptive access and use (7:28); Abortions via telehealth medication have been on the rise, now accounting for 1 in 6 of reported abortions (9:56); School Shootings in U.S. Reach Highest Recorded Levels, and fatality rate of school mass shootings also has increased (10:37); Excessive alcohol drinking drove about 488 deaths per day during the pandemic (14:53); EPA delays natural gas plant emission regulations, opting for more comprehensive approach (19:12); Air pollution linked to increased hospital admission for major heart and lung diseases, with no safe pollution threshold (20:43); PFAS “forever chemicals” no longer sold in U.S. to package greasy food (24:26); Prevalence of arthritis in U.S. adults is 19%, with greater prevalence for women, poor, and rural Americans (26:41); Medicare Advantage patients get less home health care (29:15); Cyberattack on UnitedHealth still impacting prescription access — “These are threats to life” (31:17); Prices for new U.S. drugs rose 35% in 2023, more than the previous year (32:32); Blood shortage imperils US ability to treat patients who require blood on any given day (34:40).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. New Zealand’s new government set to scrap world-first tobacco ban
2. Closing the women’s health gap would yield a $1 trillion annual dividend in improved lives and economies
3. Menopause is getting worse with each generation. What do we know?
4. Anti-abortion chaos is creating preventable health care crises
5. How fertility coverage mandates could clash with IVF restrictions
6. Why Discarding Embryos Is Inherent to the IVF Process
7. Transgender mental health status continues to worsen
8. Health care quality took a big hit during COVID, Medicare report finds
9. High cost cancer drugs without proof of added benefit are burdening health systems
10. New study links hospital privatization to worse patient care
11. Medicare Advantage is bad for patients and bad for investors
12. Money proves to be poor motivator for high-quality medical care
13. A Litany of Market Failures: Diagnosing and Solving the Economic Drivers of Antibiotic Resistance
14. CVS to pay Ohio $1.5 million in penalties over understaffing and other safety issues at pharmacies
15. America Worries About Health Costs — And Voters Want to Hear From Candidates
16. 2023 to 2024 seasonal influenza vaccine effective for reducing risk
17. Why Are We Still Flu-ifying COVID? The diseases are nowhere near the same.
18. CDC Shortens COVID Isolation Recs
19. CDC advisory panel says people 65 and older should get a Covid spring booster shot
20. Mounting research shows that COVID-19 leaves its mark on the brain, including significant drops in IQ scores
21. For thousands of common chemicals, there is “no safe level,” says report by Endocrine Society
22. EU fruit and veggies increasingly tainted by “forever-chemicals”
23. Scientists confirm first cases of bird flu on mainland Antarctica
24. Israel’s campaign in Gaza is fueling demands to make “ecocide” an international crime
25. “Quite radical”: the feeling of exhaustion is key to tackling climate change, says author
26. Ultra-processed foods linked to 32 health problems: What to know
27. How Americans View Weight-Loss, Weight-Loss Drugs, and Obesity in the U.S.
28. The Pros of Early Time-Restricted Eating
29. High-intensity exercise can reverse neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s, study suggests
30. Health is political, Americans are divided. How new CDC head aims to fix that.

Week of February 26, 2024 [episode #248]:

Featuring: Statewide dashboard of data to help Ohioans select nursing homes goes live (1:47); Wake-up call for us all to establish regular healthy sleeping patterns (3:40); A quarter of smokers quit within a year or two of menthol bans (6:01); Poll shows strong support among Black voters for menthols ban (9:48); America’s drug overdose crisis has profound ripple effects (16:02); Tuna’s mercury levels remain unchanged despite environmental efforts (18:00); Banned toxic chemicals found in recycled flooring materials (19:22); Common personal care products may reduce the success of IVF treatments (20:33); Widespread global barriers to curative hep C treatment access (23:17); Almost All Docs Are Feeling Burned Out, Survey Finds (25:57); Climate change events linked to rise in mental distress among teens (30:15); Antidepressant Dispensing to U.S. Adolescents and Young Adults rose rapidly from 2016 to 2022 — but only for females not males — accelerating even more after COVID (32:42); U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization calls for food systems-based dietary guidelines, taking into account sustainability (34:53).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. The Rising Cost of the Oil Industry’s Slow Death, as unplugged oil and gas wells accelerate climate change, threaten public health and risk hitting taxpayers’ pocketbooks.
2. America is replacing its pipes, and ductile iron pipe a good alternative for plastic
3. Some experts worry California wildlife could be vulnerable to an avian flu “apocalypse”
4. More than half the world faces high measles risk, WHO says
5. Deadly synthetic opioid detected in wastewater for the first time
6. Research finds collective downturn in Europe’s psychological well-being following the outbreak of war in Ukraine
7. War zone or not, Ukraine seeks to reclaim its role as a hub for clinical trials
8. What the Science Says About Time-Restricted Eating
9. New research reinforces importance of boosting potassium for blood pressure control
10. Women may realize health benefits of regular exercise more than men
11. Maternal mental conditions drive their climbing death rate in U.S.
12. Child tax credits provided significant relief to families experiencing economic shocks during COVID
13. Those getting eviction notices during COVID pandemic at greater risk for death
14. Towards Solving the Long Covid Puzzle — Latest Advances
15. Inside the plan to diagnose Alzheimer’s in people with no memory problems — and who stands to benefit
16. In California, Faceoff Between Major Insurer and Health System Shows Hazards of Consolidation
17. The Powerful Constraints on Medical Care in Catholic Hospitals Across America
18. If You’re Poor, Fertility Treatment Can Be Out of Reach
19. Protecting Immigrant Children: A Public Health of Consequence
20. Why Doctors Avoid Talking With Patients About Gun Safety
21. Artificial intelligence is making critical health care decisions. The sheriff is MIA.
22. Health care data breaches hit 1 in 3 Americans last year: Is your data vulnerable?
23. Crisis in Gaza: Scenario-based Health Impact Projections — 75,000 lives in balance in next 6 months
24. As catastrophe grips Sudan, heroic midwives help women deliver babies in a warzone

Week of February 19, 2024 [episode #247]:

Featuring: Quitting smoking at any age brings big health benefits, fast (1:52); Smoking impairs immune response, even after quitting (3:42); Prevalence of Immunosuppression Among U.S. Adults is 6.6 % (8:12); A pandemic legacy — Majority of mental health appointments stay remote (10:57); Maternal syphilis rates tripled between 2016 and 2022 (14:14); Why is this largely unknown pesticide (chlormequat) showing up in our bodies? (16:03); DDT exposure linked to changes in sperm that could be passed to future generations (18:55); EPA reapproves controversial herbicide (paraquat) despite Parkinson’s disease link (21:09); Farmers get green light to use dicamba weedkillers despite court ruling (22:55); Plastics Reckoning — PVC Is Ubiquitous, But Maybe Not for Long (24:18); Contamination incidents in Michigan incentivize a push for stronger polluter pays” laws (38:14); Bayer fights string of Roundup trial losses including new $2.25 Billion verdict (39:43).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. “They lied” — plastics producers deceived public about recycling, report reveals
2. Petrochemical conglomerates take to the classroom in a concerted effort to focus responsibility for plastic waste on the consumer while absolving industry.
3. Juul’s internal playbook opens a rare window into influence in Washington
4. In Fight Over Medicare Payments, the Hospital Lobby Shows Its Strength in maintaining status quo of much higher payments for identical services delivered in hospital versus outpatient.
5. A top official fears Biden might let politics interfere with public health in long delayed ban on menthol flavored cigarettes.
6. Medicare beneficiaries see first savings from out-of-pocket spending cap on brand-name drugs, at about $3,500 for 2024, and dropping to a cap for all drugs of $2,000 next year.
7. Gun shops that sell the most guns used in crime revealed in new list
8. Judge orders Houston to temporarily stop ticketing for feeding the homeless in Food Not Bombs case, affirming publicly feeding of homeless as a right of protest.
9. Opportunities for Increasing Access to Person-Centered Abortion Care Through Telehealth
10. Abortion pills that patients got via telehealth and the mail are safe, study finds
11. 52% of health care workers say that racism against patients is a major problem.  [Full Report here]
12. Three ways AI is improving public health
13. I’ve reported on the health of every president since Reagan. Here’s what I think about Trump and Biden
14. CDC plans to drop five-day Covid isolation guidelines.
15. Just 39% of eligible children have at least one dose of HPV vaccine, including only 57% of oldest children.
16. Global cholera vaccine stocks “empty” as cases surge.
17. Ebola vaccine cuts fatality even in people who were infected before the jab.
18. Afghan population increasingly vulnerable to malnutrition, illness, Human Rights Watch reports.
19. The “Madness” of Inpatient Psychiatry
20. Finding joy in the little things really can benefit your wellbeing – a scientist explains.

Week of February 12, 2024 [episode #246]:

Featuring: Ohio suicide rates have been climbing in Ohio, faster for women, Blacks, and Hispanics (3:24); CDC report finds teens use drugs — often alone — to ease stress and anxiety (8:03); Physical activity can’t overcome cardiovascular risk associated with sugar-sweetened beverage consumption (12:05); Pregnant women especially should avoid ultraprocessed, fast foods (15:37); Prenatal phthalate exposure causes 57,000 preterm births and $3.8 Billion in associated costs annually (17:38); Pregnant women living in states with limited access to abortion found to face higher levels of intimate partner homicide (18:10); Black women six times more likely to be murdered than white women (21:51); Vulnerabilized: Revisiting the Language of the Vulnerable in Public Health (23:23); The Resignation on Race as describing racialized populations (27:53); The effect of police violence on racialized Black Americans’ health is documented in 2 new studies on Taser use and on disturbed sleep (30:47); Over 80% of Nurses Face Workplace Violence (34:06); Cheap and easy oral rehydration salts could save half a million children with diarrhea each year, and why it’s underprescribed (36:33).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Ohio abandons plans to restrict trans care for adults
2. FirstEnergy scraps 2030 climate goal in rare embrace of coal
3. Ohio still trying to tweak new adult-use marijuana law, and most revenue likely to go to law enforcement rather than prevention or treatment
4. Disease sweeping through Gaza’s refugee camps
5. As Israel Floods Gaza’s Tunnels with Seawater, Scientists Worry about Aquifer Contamination
6. Famed climate scientist wins million-dollar verdict against right-wing bloggers
7. EPA Reports “Widespread Noncompliance” With the Nation’s First Regulations on Toxic Coal Ash
8. For a second time, U.S. court bans dicamba weed killers, finds EPA violated law in Trump ban reversal
9. Progress in clean air in U.S. reversed in 2016 and is set to wipe out 20+ years of progress
10. Consumption of teas, takeout, hot dogs could come with a side of “forever chemicals” driven by contact with plastics
11. The Power of Poetry: Rethinking How We Use Language in Global Health Research
12. “We’re Here, We’re Queer, Get Used to It”: Advancing LGBTQ+-Inclusive Language in Public Health
13. The Census Bureau is dropping a controversial proposal to change disability statistics
14. A death sentence: Native Americans have least access to liver transplant system while having greatest need
15. Moving from crisis response to crisis prevention in U.S. mental health systems
16. Cities Know That the Way Police Respond to Mental Crisis Calls Must Change. But How?
17. Contact sports cause CTE. So why are Americans watching more football than ever?
18. A neuropsychologist clarifies science on aging and memory in wake of Biden special counsel report
19. To Fix Drug Shortages, Bring Manufacturing Home
20. New report highlights weak FDA oversight of foreign firms making medications for U.S. market
21. Gun Violence Exposure Associated With Suicidal Behavior Among Black Americans
22. Guns Are Not Just a Public Health Problem
23. A school shooter’s mom is found guilty. Will it prevent other tragedies?
24. Think Twice Before Drug Testing Your Black Patients — It’s time for a bias check
25. Federal Records Show Increasing Use of Solitary Confinement for Immigrants, with average duration longer than torture definition.
26. Half of trans people in U.S. have considered moving out of state because of anti-LGBTQ laws, 5% already have.
27. Childbirth experiences greatly affected by “dehumanizing” treatment
28. Halfway Through “Unwinding,” Medicaid Enrollment Is Down About 10 Million
29. Medicaid enrollment cuts led to more evictions, study finds
30. GoFundMe Is a Health-Care Utility Now
31. U.S. Social Policy Is in Crisis. Academic Medicine Should Address It.
32. India’s “warrior” moms are taking on toxic air, now a norm. But can they cut through a fog of apathy?
33. The “Unthinkable” New Reality About Bedbugs, with growing pesticide resistance plus the march of a stronger species
34. Outpatient Visits Among Veterans Increased After COVID, reflecting persistent health effects of infection
35. Do We Simply Not Care About Old People?
36. Are married people happier than those who are not? A new poll has some answers
37. Anger, sadness, boredom, anxiety – emotions that feel bad can be useful
38. Even With Alzheimer’s Pathology, Healthy Lifestyles May Preserve Cognition
39. High Blood Pressure is the world’s leading killer. Let’s make “the silent killer” the focus of the next breakthrough.
40. A 103-Year-Old Doctor on the Secret to Happiness and Whole-hearted Living

Week of February 5, 2024 [episode #245]:

Featuring: Ohio reverses local flavored tobacco bans, infuriating doctors (1:53); The U.S. hasn’t seen syphilis numbers this high since 1950 (5:33); 1965 U.S. Voting Rights Act Impact on Black and Black Versus White Infant Death Rates in Jim Crow States, 1959–1970 (8:33); Growing cancer burden masks inequity among rich and poor nations (9:37); Wasting in a World of Plenty (12:06); Possibility of Wildlife-to-Human Crossover Heightens Concern About Chronic Wasting Disease (17:12); Access to Abortion Drug is a National Security Issue (22:00); U.S. permanently eases some opioid treatment restrictions (24:11); U.S. prescription drug prices are 2.8 times those in other wealthy nations (25:41); Health insurance premiums are eating into workers’ wages (27:12); Majority of debtors to U.S. hospitals now people with health insurance (29:48); A study of how Americans die may improve their end of life (35:57); Loneliness is plaguing Americans in 2024 (38:32); Why attention spans seem to be shrinking and what we can do about it (40:51).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Disinformation Is the Real Threat to Democracy and Public Health, whether vaccine denial, climate denial, election denial or war-crime denial.
2. For profit journals are corrupting scientific advancements, a new model is needed.
3. Ohio, Pennsylvania mark the one year anniversary of East Palestine train crash
4. Vinyl Chloride Industry Keeps Expanding Despite East Palestine Disaster
5. An OxyContin advertiser will pay $350 million in the first-ever opioid marketing settlement
6. The FTC Is Attacking Drugmakers’ “Patent Thickets”
7. Medicare Advantage lobbying fends off major reform in an election year
8. As investors pile into psychedelics, idealism gives way to pharma economics
9. Juul spent big to court Black leaders to promote its e-cigarettes, new documents show
10. Racial Bias in Arrests for Mental Health Symptoms
11. Why L.A.’s battle against a deadly disease relies on unpaid volunteers
12. “The politics have changed”: South warms to expanded health benefits
13. Silicon Valley county becomes first in U.S. to declare loneliness a public health emergency
14. Deer Are Beta-Testing a Nightmare Disease. Prion diseases are poorly understood, and this one is devastating — Chronic Wasting Disease, 100% fatal
15. Nearly six million American women (1 in 20) became pregnant from rape, sexual coercion, or both during lifetime
16. Heat and Wildfire Smoke Are Even More Harmful When Combined
17. Why did NIH abruptly halt research on the harms of cell phone radiation?
18. Your appendix is not, in fact, useless.
19. Children who have dogs, especially girls, get an exercise boost, study finds
20. Updated Covid vaccine 54% effective at preventing symptomatic infection
21. Extraction of raw materials to rise by 60% by 2060, says U.N. report
22. The Roman Empire’s Worst Plagues Were Linked to Climate Change
23. Cleaning Water Naturally the Ancient Maya Way

Week of January 29, 2024 [episode #244]:

Featuring: Post-pandemic, U.S. cardiovascular death rate continues upward trajectory, wiping out a decade of progress (1:52); Obamacare enrollment surged in red states with large Medicaid disenrollments (6:13); Congress must pass the child tax credit deal to support kids’ health (7:55); 2009 update to WIC cost-effective for reducing childhood obesity (13:07); Learning for life — The higher the level of education, the lower the risk of dying  (14:27); Urban heat islands have a substantial health cost (17:25); Nearly 65,000 pregnancies from rape have happened in states with abortion bans (19:02); HPV vaccine study finds zero cases of cervical cancer among women vaccinated before age 14 (23:03); Cervical cancer deaths rise among low-income Americans (25:43); Why diphtheria is making a comeback (27:54); Potassium-enriched salt is the missing ingredient in hypertension guidelines, say experts  (33:45); People in the world’s “blue zones” live longer — Their diet could hold the key to why (39:05).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Ohio lawmakers override DeWine veto of gender-affirming care ban, transgender athlete restrictions
2. A call to add sexual orientation and gender identity data to electronic health records
3. Ohio State study documents success of mental health interventions as key to recovery for trauma victims
4. Why Measles Keeps Popping Up in Pockets of the U.S.
5. As measles spreads in England, health authorities warn the outbreak could snowball
6. The malaria vaccine that just rolled out has surprise benefits for kids
7. Why many more people are lining up for a flu shot than a Covid vaccine
8. Shipyard veterans may have been exposed to cancer-causing radioactive materials. The Navy has not told them.
9. How the chemical-industry lobby pushes “safe use” exemptions
10. Certain indoor air pollutants can be absorbed through the skin – here’s what you need to know
11. The impact of electric cooking on reducing nitrogen dioxide–related diseases
12. Medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust — Essential Lessons for Health Professionals
13. Political concerns about U.S. support for Israel slowed CDC help for Gaza
14. Texas Gov. Abbott’s vow to ‘eliminate rape’ draws scrutiny after study on rape-related pregnancies
15. Survey data reveal uptick in anxiety, depression among women in states with trigger laws post-Dobbs abortion decision
16. What Biden’s latest actions on reproductive health mean
17. How Big Pharma Is Fueling a Radical MAGA Agenda
18. How Fringe Anti-Science Views Infiltrated Mainstream Politics — And What It Means in 2024
19. The U.S. just sold its helium stockpile. Here’s why the medical world is worried — MRI machines need thousands of liters of liquid helium to function.
20. New York City designates social media a public health hazard
21. Study links social media use to increased inflammation over time
22. Meta whistleblower says regulators are our “last hope” at fixing social media
23. Social Media Is Getting Smaller—and More Treacherous
24. Ouch. That “Free” Annual Checkup Might Cost You. Here’s Why.
25. Treatment can do more harm than good for prostate cancer. Why active surveillance may be better
26. Why you should feed both a cold and a fever
27. Gummy Vitamins Are Just Candy — The false promise of sweet, chewy supplements
28. More than half of U.S. adults don’t know heart disease is leading cause of death, despite 100-year reign
29. A Record Number of Californians Are Visiting Emergency Rooms for Dog Bites
30. Ancient zombie viruses in melting permafrost could cause new pandemic
31. Six surprising things about placebos everyone should know
32. Defunding liberal arts is dangerous for health care
33. Learning to Plan for the Next 500 Years, learning from Indigenous communities
34. Food system report and analysis defines and sets up metrics for first time

Week of January 22, 2024 [episode #243]:

Featuring: Adult diabetes worse in Luas County than Ohio and U.S., especially for Latinos (1:36); Global tobacco use shrinking despite industry efforts (4:47); The Cost of Freeing Drinking Water from “Forever Chemicals” (8:19); Women’s health worldwide no better than at pandemic height (21:19); Women and Minorities Bear the Brunt of Medical Misdiagnosis (23:42); Minority children in U.S. get poorer health care (28:58); Chronic inflammation and poverty are a “double whammy” for mortality risk (31:22); Drinking 100% fruit juice tied to weight gain (35:58); Cancer care improves in Medicaid expansion states (37:58); Who is most efficient in health care? Study finds, perhaps surprisingly, it’s the VA (39:29); WHO appeals for $1.5 billion to address crises from Gaza to Afghanistan (44:23).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Diets rich in plant protein may help women stay healthy as they age
2. Could potatoes lose their status as a vegetable? The debate has deep roots.
3. Your body has a built-in system that works like weight loss meds: Food and your gut microbiome
4. At 93, he’s as fit as a 40-year-old. His body offers lessons on aging. The human body maintains the ability to adapt to exercise at any age, showing that it’s never too late to start a fitness program.
5. What We’re Getting Wrong About Nutrition and Mental Health — Helping patients understand the connection and improve their diet can go a long way.
6. The ideal vacation length for peak relaxation, according to experts
7. How climate disasters hurt adolescents’ mental health
8. Rising Suicide Rate Among Hispanics Worries Community Leaders
9. After domestic abuse ends, the effects of brain injuries can persist
10. “I’m Not Safe Here” — Schools Ignore Federal Rules on Restraint and Seclusion
11. Researchers document health provider impacts from post-Dobbs abortion bans
12. America’s Health System Isn’t Ready for the Surge of Seniors With Disabilities
13. MedPAC Report on Medicare Advantage Growth, High Costs Generates Kerfuffle
14. Data shows nursing home closure often linked to care issues, not just money
15. Employers are struggling to figure out if they’re overpaying for health care due to lack of transparency
16. The Truth About What Health Information Exchanges Can and Cannot Do — They have the potential to be an incredible tool, but fragmentation endemic
17. Could AI Put Clinical Knowledge at Risk? Relying on AI for basic tasks may undermine physicians’ skill sets
18. Trump Official Who OK’d Drugs From Canada Chairs Company Behind Florida’s Import Plan
19. How Wealthy Corporations Use Investment Agreements to Extract Millions From Developing Countries through pseudo-governmental tribunals
20. First Uranium Mines to Dig in the U.S. in Eight Years Begin Operations Near Grand Canyon
21. To keep building materials out of landfills, cities are embracing “deconstruction”

Week of January 15, 2024 [episode #242]:

Featuring: Another layer of misery — women in Gaza struggle to find menstrual pads, running water (2:22); 2023 Lucas County Community Health Assessment documents overall physical and mental health worse than other Ohioans and Americans as a whole (5:06); Ohio House votes to overturn governor’s veto of transgender health care ban, athlete restrictions (8:11); Plastic chemicals linked to at least $249 billion in U.S. health care costs in 2018 alone (10:44); More than 900 widely used chemicals may increase breast cancer risk (20:55); U.S. heart disease deaths linked with substance use rose 4% per year between 1999-2019 (27:11); Deep Flaws in FDA Oversight of Medical Devices, and Patient Harm, Exposed in Lawsuits and Records (29:25); New estimate doubles likely deaths from fungal disease globally (39:11); WHO declares Cape Verde free of malaria (41:33).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Want to Get More Healthcare Bills Passed? Fix the Filibuster
2. Millions of U.S. women, children risk hunger without more WIC funding
3. Congress nears deal to partially restore Biden’s expanded child tax credit at cost of expanding corporate tax breaks
4. Republican governors in 15 states reject summer food money for 8 million kids
5. To get fresh vegetables to people who need them, the city of Boulder puts its soda tax to work
6. Colombia is taxing ultra-processed foods
7. New data shows just how many Ohioans traveled out of state to obtain an abortion in 2022 after Roe fell
8. Applying global lessons to protect abortion access in the United States, such as destigmatizing and decriminalizing abortion, framing abortion as a human right, and reproductive rights  as part of health equality and freedom of conscience.
9. How megacities are tackling air pollution
10. Air Pollution Is Ruining Your Skin. Wildfire smoke and exhaust fumes are triggering spikes in eczema and other skin conditions.
11. How America’s Animal-based Diet Is Feeding the Groundwater Crisis
12. “It lives in geologic time”: Nuclear contamination and health risks remain throughout Colorado
13. Bottled water contains thousands of nanoplastics so small they can invade the body’s cells
14. Covid-19 research roundup
15. America Is Having a Senior Moment on Vaccines, as millions of the people most at risk of dying aren’t getting COVID shots.
16. Skipping School: America’s Hidden Education Crisis. Absenteeism nearly doubled since the pandemic. With state and federal governments largely abdicating any role in getting kids back into classrooms, some schools have turned to private companies for a reimagined version of the truant officer.
17. Survey finds many U.S. health care workers face harassment, burnout
18. Docs’ Vacation Habits May Be Fueling Burnout
19. A Culture of Silence Persists in Medicine Despite #MeToo
20. As she drives research on structural racism in health care, Rachel Hardeman faces a painful reckoning
21. Millions of Dollars of Pharma Money Went to The Diagnostic Manual Authors
22. U.S. Diet Panel Adds Another Researcher With Alcohol Industry Ties. After dropping two Harvard experts who had received industry support, the National Academies turned to a colleague with a similar background.
23. Americans overwhelmingly favor health care price transparency
24. Private equity firms are gnawing away at U.S. health care
25. The climate costs of war and militaries can no longer be ignored. More than 5% of global emissions are linked to conflict or militaries.
26. New Research Explores a Restorative Climate Path for the Earth. Existing green growth policies are leading nowhere fast, so scientists say it’s worth exploring alternatives like degrowth to stay within planetary boundaries.
27. Quest for personalized medicine hits a snag: Current models have limited effectiveness to predict treatments
28. Landmark study finds prescribing opioids dramatically reduced deaths, overdoses for drug users, who typically rely on unreliable and dangerous sources.
29. Gender dysphoria diagnoses are rising nationwide
30. Baths, books and sex: Survey explores Americans’ regular bedtime routines
31. PTSD, depression, and anxiety nearly doubles in Israel in aftermath of Hamas attack
32. Sludge Videos (with multiple clips playing simultaneously) Are Taking Over TikTok—And People’s Mind
33. Toddlers’ Screen Time Tied to Abnormal Sensory Outcomes
34. How living like a hunter-gatherer could improve your health
35. Researchers report dramatic decline in cigarette use among U.S. teens over 3 decades
36. American Red Cross issues urgent plea for blood donations as shortage worst in 20 years [Call 1-800-RED-CROSS]

Week of January 8, 2024 [episode #241]:

Featuring: 2024 was a year of global public health wins and tragedies, but without peace, there is no health, and without health there can be no peace (1:52); Gov. Mike DeWine didn’t betray GOP base by vetoing Ohio’s anti-trans bill — he saved lives (7:53); 2023 Lucas County Community Health Assessment is released and this show will run a series of stories to make sense of it (12:10); U.S. seizes more illegal e-cigarettes, but thousands of new ones are launching (14:31); “Polluter pays” doctrine will take on new meaning (19:09); Child Care Gaps in Rural America Threaten to Undercut Small Communities (23:51); Americans less satisfied with almost every part of the health system (28:42); Researchers find that regret is rarer than believed among patients who undergo gender affirming surgery (30:41); Landmark study shows that human beliefs about drugs could have dose-dependent effects on the brain (32:57).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. The science behind building healthy habits can help you keep your New Year’s resolution
2. New Year, New Possibilities: Start Living a Smokefree Life Today!
3. Placebo Effect—Not Antidepressants—Responsible for Depression Improvement
4. Resilience and recovery: Navigating mental health challenges in disaster response
5. A Plant Proposed in Youngstown, Ohio, Would Have Turned Tons of Tires Into Synthetic Gas. Local Officials Said Not So Fast, enacting a one-year moratorium after EPA raised multiple environmental justice concerns, from toxic air to hazardous waste.
6. The Science on Benzene Keeps Getting Scarier. Industry Remains in Denial.
7. As the world swims in plastic, some offer an answer: Ban the toxic two, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
8. Hunger for gold means the Amazon has reached “tipping point” of mercury contamination from illegal mining
9. “Nanoplastics” Could Be Worse Than Microplastics and We Know Almost Nothing About Them
10. Tampa’s new water filtration system is expected to help remove forever chemicals
11. Long-term wildlife impacts at Chornobyl, Fukushima may yield “a new ecology” and highlights nuclear level toxicity of human civilization
12. Evolution might stop humans from solving climate change
13. Cleaner air from plant-based diets could save 200,000 lives around world
14. Hate salad or veggies? Just keep eating them. Here’s how our tastebuds adapt to what we eat
15. Less beef, more leftovers: 21 food sustainability resolutions for 2024
16. Working to End “Food Apartheid.” In low-income areas of Los Angeles without supermarkets, small stores are learning to profitably sell healthy foods their customers can afford.
17. We can’t allow the food and beverage industry to destroy our kids’ health.  A good place to start would be to ban junk food ads targeted to kids.
18. Cities with soda taxes saw sales of sugary drinks fall as prices rose
19. Mental hospitals warehoused the sick. Congress is on the verge of allowing Medicaid to cover substance use treatment in the facilities.
20. It keeps people with schizophrenia in school and on the job. Why won’t insurance pay?
21. Overhauling Our Mental Health System, the need for Chicago’s new “Treatment Not Trauma” initiative
22. Prisoner First, Patient Second — How hospitals ignore the rights of incarcerated patients and how they can do better
23. Insurance companies are forcing psychiatrists like me to stop accepting their coverage
24. Seeing the human in every patient, from biblical texts to 21st century relational medicine
25. How Dominican women fight child marriage and teen pregnancy while facing total abortion bans
26. States Expand Health Coverage for Immigrants as GOP Hits Biden Over Border Crossings
27. The Year in Opioid Settlements: 5 Things You Need to Know
28. Why haven’t health care cost increases exceeded inflation? One reason is bundled payments have shifted cost-saving incentives from atomized fee for procedures
29. Older Americans Say They Feel Trapped in Medicare Advantage Plans
30. “They will come at me”: Study documents fear of retaliation in America’s nursing homes
31. As Need Rises, Housing Aid Hits Lowest Level in Nearly 25 Years
32. On the Health Docket for the Supreme Court’s 2024 Term
33. There’s a public health crisis lurking in our data: the Census option “some other race”
34. Why are Americans getting shorter? A case study in America’s health reversal
35. The upside of regret: How a painful emotion can lead to better mental health
36. Think you’re good at multitasking? Here’s how your brain compensates—and how this changes with age
37. How opioid overdoses in public restrooms led an electrician to invent “safe bathrooms”
38. Today’s at-home microbiome testing industry is fraught with snake oil
39. How Much Vitamin D Do You Need to Stay Healthy? Commonly overhyped claims aren’t borne out by recent research
40. A Virginia plant promised PPE for health workers. $123M later, it’s mothballed.
41. Simply requiring defibrillators at more public places might not be enough
42. Whatever Happened to Zika? The problem with jumping between emergencies
43. The U.S. is facing the biggest COVID wave since Omicron. Why are we still playing make-believe?
44. The pandemic’s 2nd biggest wave of infections and what the JN.1 variant is telling us
45. Is Vaccination Approaching a Dangerous Tipping Point?

Week of January 1, 2024, GREATEST HITS SHOW #7, stories from May to August, 2021 [episode #216]

GREATEST HITS SHOW #7, stories from May to August 2021, featuring: New position statement declares that sleep is essential to health (2:02); Better sleep — Less fast food and screen time, more physical activity (5:12); America’s unhealthy lifestyles (10:34); Women now drink as much as men (13:45); Beyond remission — From alcohol dependence to optimal mental health (17:38); The link between structural racism, high blood pressure and Black people’s health (22:17); Study suggests unmedicated, untreated brain illness is likely in mass shooters (26:28); The Food System’s Carbon Footprint Has Been Vastly Underestimated (29:57); Pesticides Are Killing the World’s Soils and Their Biodiversity (37:52); The total health and climate consequences of the American food system cost three times as much as the food itself (42:24); The food system is unfair to real farmers and creates overabundance of highly processed foods (48:11); Researchers Critique the Medical Model of Mental Health, Propose an Alternative (50:17); Think leisure is a waste? That may not bode well for your mental health (54:44).

Week of December 25, 2023, GREATEST HITS SHOW #5, from October, 2020 thru April, 2021 [episode #173]:

GREATEST HITS SHOW #5, from October, 2020 thru April, 2021, featuring: global rates of unplanned pregnancies still too high (2:03): how drugs damage the environment (5:19); science supports new dietary guidelines limiting alcohol consumption, especially for reducing cancer in men (12:37); can local food feed big cities? yes, if we cut down on meat (16:17); concentration in the food business — to high, too risky (20:33); hospitals profit on junk food (22:12); how hope can make you happier with your lot in life (26:12); suicide rates did not decrease when antidepressant drugs were introduced (28:10); giving poor people money is more effective for mental health than brief therapy (29:50); people in societies where money plays a minimal role can have very high levels of happiness, comparable to the happiest industrialized nations (33:51); Atlanta creates the nation’s largest free food forest with hopes of addressing food insecurity (35:10); what to do when your friends and family are unsupportive of your depression (38:16); food systems responsible for one-third of human-caused emissions (43:58); greenhouse gas emissions associated with dietary guidelines vary between countries — following U.S. guidelines would increase emissions (44:38); book review — Bittman on food history — Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal (46:18); the surprise catch of seafood trawling — massive greenhouse gas emissions as much as the aviation industry (47:47); feeding cattle seaweed reduces their greenhouse gas emissions 82 percent (48:45); land could be worth more left to nature than when farmed (49:58); study finds evidence of 55 new chemicals in people (52:03); starting smoking cessation in hospitalized patients would reduce many premature deaths (53:43); A new way to measure human wellbeing towards sustainability — Years of Good Life (56:17).

Week of December 18, 2023 [episode #240]:

Featuring: Unintentional drug overdoses in Ohio dropped 5% in 2022 (1:49); Ohio House votes to override Gov. DeWine’s veto of bill to prohibit flavored tobacco bans locally (3:22); Ban flavored vapes, WHO says, urging tobacco-style controls (5:21); Fuming over setback to casino smoking ban, workers light up in New Jersey Statehouse meeting (6:32); “We Are All Sick” — Infectious Diseases Spread Across Gaza (9:57); Eating meals early could reduce cardiovascular risk (11:32); U.S. adults found to eat a meal’s worth of calories in snacks each day (14:27); U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Draft Calls for Lifestyle Shift — Not Meds — for Kids With Obesity(16:13); Millennial women are facing the first decline in well-being since the Silent Generation (19:56); Exposure to chemicals found in many household products can lower odds of getting pregnant (20:45); Endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in menstrual products including tampons, pads, and liners (24:37); Study finds social factors, including race, drive use of scented menstrual products tied to health risks (27:16); Health impacts of abuse more extensive than previously thought (29:42); Globally, girls bear the brunt of new HIV infections (32:25); CDC presents estimates of sexual activity, contraceptive use for teens (33:21); Emergency contraception use doubles since over-the-counter approval (34:41); Kate Cox is one of hundreds, or even thousands, in Texas denied abortions despite serious health risks (37:11); 43% of veterans screened found to have potential toxic substance exposure (39:06); A substantial number of Parkinson’s disease cases can be attributed to preventable risk factors (40:22); CDC warns providers of “urgent” need to boost vaccination against COVID, flu, RSV (42:02).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Ohio bill with gender-affirming care ban and trans sports restrictions heads to governor’s desk
2. Michigan farm czar: Our fight against Lake Erie pollution isn’t working
3. We raise 18 billion animals a year to die — and then we don’t even eat them. From farm to plate, one in four animals raised on factory farms are wasted.
4. We must choose lead pipe replacement material carefully, avoiding toxic PVC
5. Methadone clinics spar with addiction doctors on bill that would widen access
6. Sobering centers offer a safe place to recover from intoxication. Every community should have one
7. Adding Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) to Methadone Treatment Provides Therapeutic Benefits for People With Opioid Use Disorder and Chronic Pain
8. “They See a Cash Cow” — Corporations Could Consume $50 Billion of Opioid Settlements
9. A “Food Is Medicine” Approach to Disease Prevention — Limitations and Alternatives
10. How Anxiety Became Content — The way we commonly discuss mental-health issues, especially on the internet, isn’t helping us.
11. Students say their New York school’s cellphone ban helped improve their mental health
12. Mental health care and research must confront systemic racism to improve health, lives of Black Americans
13. Racism produces subtle brain changes that lead to increased disease risk in Black populations
14. Texas’s war on pregnant women
15. Fatal Attraction: The seductive appeal of irrationality, anti-science and toxic extremism
16. Inside the Notorious Gun Shop Linked to Hundreds of Chicago Guns
17. Our Patients Need Us to Stand Up to Big Oil — The industry protects profits over public health
18. An EPA rule dramatically reduced smog pollution — in the 38 states that haven’t sued to stop it
19. House passes bipartisan bill allowing schools to serve whole milk
20. The red/blue divide in American food choices
21. Facility fees charged by hospitals for colonoscopy procedures higher than those charged by surgical centers
22. Thousands of Patients May Be Undergoing Vascular Procedures Too Soon or Unnecessarily
23. Doctors With Histories of Big Malpractice Settlements Work for Insurers, Deciding If They’ll Pay for Care
24. Don’t expect cost savings from precision medicine
25. Doctors call out ableism in cancer care: “The biggest accommodation is attitude”
26. NIH panel calls for fewer, better-paid postdocs in bid to halt loss of scientists to industry
27. Why Are So Many American Pedestrians Dying at Night?
28. Kids with cats have more than double the risk of developing schizophrenia
29. The silver bullet that wasn’t: Glyphosate’s declining weed control over 25 years
30. U.S. healthcare spending rises to $4.5 trillion in 2022

Week of December 11, 2023 [episode #239]:

Featuring: Tobacco-related annual health care costs of U.S. Minorities who smoke are double that of white peers (1:53); Chronic fatigue syndrome is not rare, says new CDC survey; it affects 3.3 million U.S. adults (5:00); Getting the lead out of the water supply –How one health expert crunched the numbers and prodded the EPA (7:57); In historic decision, FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease (11:11); New Sickle Cell Therapies Will Be Out of Reach Where They Are Needed Most (13:50); More than 1 in 3 women worldwide have lasting health problems after giving birth (18:32); It’s taking longer to get an abortion in the U. S. and doctors fear riskier, more complex procedures (22:44); Many people of color worry good health care is tied to their appearance (28:34).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Legal weed takes effect in Ohio as lawmakers scramble to change voter-passed law
2. Working night shifts is associated with sleep disorders in more than half of workers
3. WHO calls on countries to increase taxes on alcohol and sugary sweetened beverages
4. EPA orders packaging firm to stop making PFAS
5. The Air Force is expanding a review of cancers for service members who worked with nuclear missiles
6. Public health groups alarmed at White House delay of menthol cigarette ban
7. Don’t Neglect Tobacco Use in People Experiencing Homelessness — Cessation programs can save lives and improve financial stability
8. U.S. medical schools aren’t teaching future doctors about 7.4 million of their patients with intellectual disabilities
9. Mpox surge in Congo raises concerns world will ignore warnings again
10. Stigma, regulatory barriers delay mpox response in country that needs it most
11. “Stalemate” on AIDS relief (PEPFAR) to drag into 2024
12. Indian companies are bringing one of the world’s most toxic industries to Africa. People are getting sick.
13. New England Journal of Medicine reckons with its racist past and complicity in slavery
14. Changes to race, ethnicity data collection will impact health by improving assessment
15. After living with sickle cell disease for 39 years, I’m both excited and skeptical about the newly approved gene therapies
16. Cost of lead poisoning drug jumps from $3,500 to $32,000, making it hard for hospitals to stock
17. Gaming the Patent System Can Keep Biosimilars Off the Market for Decades
18. White House Says It Can Seize Taxpayer-supported Drug Patents to Lower Prices
19. FDA Inspections of Foreign Drug Manufacturers Haven’t Bounced Back After Pandemic
20. Millions of People Used Tainted Breathing Machines. The FDA Failed to Use Its Power to Protect Them.
21. Investigation Reveals How a Hospital Bowed to Political Pressure to Stop Treating Trans Teens
22. Corporate Ownership Worsens Patient Care, Surveyed Docs Say — Reduced autonomy, and focus on financial incentives among top negative impacts cited by doctors
23. Biden Wants States to Ensure Obamacare Plan Networks Cover Enough Doctors and Hospitals
24. “The Pain and the Trauma Lasts Longer Than a News Cycle” — White House has a new special office to tackle gun violence. Can it stop the bloodshed?
25. They watched their husbands win the Heisman – then lost them to CTE, a deadly reminder of a sport’s violent toll.
26. Clients bring politics into the therapy room. Here’s what that means for the therapist
27. Navajo Nation faces possible new threats after decades of uranium mining and the largest nuclear disaster in American history
28. Mexico’s activist “companion networks” quietly provide abortion pills and support to U.S. women
29. Debunking the holiday suicide myth
30. From a Detour to Global Dominance, the rise of the JN.1 variant
31. Screen time tied to mental health problems in kindergarten children
32. Opening a New Path on Climate and the Future. Adapting to climate change does not address the societal systems and values that spawned the current crisis. What’s needed is “systemic adaptation” that fundamentally changes our economy, our politics, and our priorities in ways that put community and the planet first.

Week of December 4, 2023 [episode #238]:

Featuring: Biden Administration to Require Replacing of Lead Pipes Within 10 Years (1:55); COVID activity picks up pace alongside other respiratory viruses (5:09); Suicide deaths reached a record high in the U.S. in 2022, despite hopeful decreases among children and young adults (6:26); How much is the economic loss of untreated mental illness? One state did the math (9:38); Breathing highway air increases blood pressure (11:48); Large decline in excess mortality seen in first decade after quitting smoking (14:32); Chemical additives replace menthol in new “non-menthol” cigarettes in tobacco industry dodge (15:58); Big Weed today is a whole lot like Big Tobacco in the 1950s (18:30); U.S. Clean Air Act cleanup of lead is associated with increased average lifetime earnings of 3.5% (28:01); Your hair care routine might carry health risks by increasing indoor air emissions from hair-straightening products and devices that use heat (30:36); More Americans could get dental coverage under Biden proposal (32:44); Aging America faces a senior care crisis of affordability and availability (34:38); Personal consumption by world’s richest 1% emits as much carbon as bottom two-thirds (37:42).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Doctors warn of New Zealand health tragedy after smoking ban scrapped
2. Disease could be bigger killer than bombs in Gaza, warns WHO
3. Psychiatry, Violence, and the State: California’s Systematic Failure of Its Unhoused Population
4. How to break the cycle of childhood trauma? Help a baby’s parents
5. Many owners see little value in storing their firearms securely, finds study
6. A lead ammo compromise? Incentives edge out bans.
7. New research supports potential link between low-level lead exposure and liver injury
8. U.N. human rights experts express alarm over PFAS pollution in North Carolina
9. A New Law Regulating the Cosmetics Industry Expands the FDA’s Power But Fails to Ban Toxic Chemicals in Beauty Products
10. Why We’re Still Breathing Dirty Indoor Air
11. How to Overcome the Biggest Obstacle to Abortion Care in Blue States: So-called “Pregnancy Crisis Centers”
12. Poland’s radical antiabortion law didn’t have the intended “pro-natal” effect
13. “Nobody cared”: Women who have reported mistreatment while giving birth say CDC report validates their trauma
14. Vaccine disparities are worse post-emergency as efforts whither
15. The 10 Chilling Laws of Pandemics
16. We’re Living the Reality of the Pandemic’s Simplest Math — Sick season will be worse from now on.
17. Medicaid “Unwinding?” Makes Other Public Assistance Harder to Get
18. Medicare Advantage Increasingly Popular With Seniors — But Not Hospitals and Doctors
19. FTC Chief Gears Up for a Showdown With Private Equity
20. Why Doctors and Pharmacists Are in Revolt. Once accustomed to a status outside the usual management-labor hierarchy, many health professionals now feel as put upon as any clock-punching worker.
21. Maker of Wegovy, Ozempic showers money on U.S. obesity doctors, concentrating that money on an elite group of obesity specialists who advocate giving its powerful and expensive drugs to tens of millions of Americans.
22. The U.S. pharmacy industry is crumbling. Here’s how to fix it.
23. Scientists in Discredited Alcohol Study Will Not Advise U.S. on Drinking Guidelines
24. The next Census could undercount the number of disabled Americans by 20 million
25. Invisible in the data: Broad “Asian American” category obscures health disparities
26. Keto diet promotes greater lean muscle loss
27. Vitamin D supplements do not prevent bone fractures in children, finds study
28. We’re “Processivores”’ How Do We Rebuild Our Eating Habits?
29. Study shows price discounts on healthful foods leads to increase in consumption
30. Tackling climate change and alleviating hunger: States recycle and donate food headed to landfills
31. Can Agriculture Kick Its Plastic Addiction?
32. Recycled plastics contain more chemicals than original plastics
33. How to end plastic pollution on Earth for good
34. Too much stuff: can we solve our addiction to consumerism?
35. America Is Getting Lonelier and More Indoorsy. That’s Not a Coincidence. Our relationship to nature and our relationships with one another are deeply intertwined.

Week of November 27, 2023: GREATEST HITS SHOW #4

GREATEST HITS SHOW #4, from December, 2019, thru September, 2020, featuring: hospital alarms prove a noisy misery for patients (1:54); long work hours linked to both regular and hidden high blood pressure (6:20); every American family basically pays a yearly $8,000 “poll tax” under U.S. health system (7:42); Ecopsychology — how immersion in nature benefits your health (11:12); Why drinking diet soda makes you crave sugar (15:50); slow carbs over low carbs – fiber matters (19:06); Hormone-altering chemicals threaten our health, finances and future (22:28); Why sequencing the human genome hasn’t cured many diseases (36:57); In an age of mass protests, what “less lethal” weapons actually do (42:11); Awareness of our biases is essential to good science (51:34).

Week of November 20, 2023 [episode #237]:

Featuring: COVID era increased gender life expectancy gap in U.S. to 6 years (1:51); Walking has plummeted across America (4:56); Planned Parenthood to invest in Ohio following abortion amendment (6:48); CDC reports increase in kindergarten vaccine exemptions, Ohio is above the national average (7:57); “Staggering” rise in measles cases last year, says WHO and CDC (9:04); Americans Struggling With Addiction, Mental Health, Fed Survey Shows (10:37); U.S. fails again in report on preterm birth, a leading cause of infant mortality (15:08); FDA grants approval for first time to a home test for chlamydia and gonorrhea (17:32); Progress in childhood cancer has stalled for Blacks and Hispanics (19:37); The Cost of Not Getting Care: Income Disparities in the Affordability of Health Services Across High-Income Countries (21:39); Current uses of asbestos vastly exceed exposure limits (24:40); Type 2 diabetes prevention programs can work at large scale, study finds (26:40); One-quarter of Americans have little to no confidence in scientists to act in public’s best interests (31:17); Can little actions bring big joy? Researchers find ‘micro-acts’ can boost well-being (33:32).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Israel battles Hamas near another Gaza hospital sheltering thousands
2. U.S. Military Says National Security Depends on “Forever Chemicals”
3. Most States Ban Shackling Pregnant Women in Custody, Yet Many Report Being Restrained
4. Ohio has enshrined the right to an abortion. But major obstacles remain for patients and providers
5. Ohio commission approves fracking in state parks and wildlife areas despite fraud investigation
6. How the next Republican president could stop most abortions without Congress: ban mailing of abortion medication
7. “Do Your Job.” How the Railroad Industry Intimidates Employees Into Putting Speed Before Safety
8. The Unusual Way a Catholic Health System Is Wielding an Abortion Protest Law: charge patients refusing to be unsafely discharged with trespassing
9. Michigan health official is taking her county to court over $4 million resignation offer, after commissioners couldn’t fire her without cause
10. We tried to quantify how harmful hospital ransomware attacks are for patients.
11. New study on hunter-gatherer moms suggests Western child care has a big problem with little human touch
12. It’s Not All in Your Head—You Do Focus Differently on Zoom
13. Over-stressing Stress: American Psychological Association Report Omits Oppression
14. Social factors, rather than biological ones, drive higher numbers of adverse drug events in women
15. Colleges face gambling addiction among students as sports betting spreads
16. Super Meth and Other Drugs Push Crisis Beyond Opioids. Poly-addiction is making treatment far more difficult.
17. Revisiting the Black-White Mental Health Paradox During the Coronavirus Pandemic
18. Race Cannot Be Used to Predict Heart Disease, Heart Association Scientists Say
19. Why Some Seniors Are Choosing Pot Over Pills. Older people are using cannabis more than ever. A primer on pot’s potential medicinal benefits and side effects as we age.
20. Facing Financial Ruin as Costs Soar for Elder Care, as the United States has no coherent system for providing long-term care.
21. Poor Cost-Effectiveness of Antiobesity Drugs for Adolescents With Severe Obesity
22. Bayer ordered to pay $1.56 billion in latest U.S. trial loss over Roundup weedkiller
23. The 2023 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for a health-centered response in a world facing irreversible harms
24. It’s not just extreme weather: “Climate-sensitive” diseases spreading through the U.S.

Week of November 13, 2023 [episode #236]:

Featuring: Majority of workers at America’s nursing homes unvaccinated against flu, COVID (1:51); U.S. faces almost daily hazardous chemical accidents (4:01); Mercury is still an environmental threat (7:11); The FDA Is Still Not Tracking How Farms Use Antibiotics, affecting antimicrobial resistance efforts (14;32); The World’s Broken Food System Costs $12.7 Trillion a Year, 10 percent of global GDP (20:20); Dietary guidelines may soon warn against ultraprocessed foods (24:30); Cutting 1 teaspoon of salt works as well as blood pressure meds (32:21); 42% of people who use drugs in rural areas were recently incarcerated, pointing to treatment opportunities (35:08); Underdiagnosed and Undertreated, Young Black Males With ADHD Get Left Behind (37:38).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. After Ohio vote, advocates in a dozen states are trying to put abortion on 2024 ballots
2. How Ohio’s Election Results Will Both Protect Abortion and Affect Maternal Mortality in the State
3. Ohio GOP lawmakers call to block courts from implementing new abortion amendment
4. How is Ohio managing the Medicaid unwinding process and eligibility? [better than most states]
5. Supreme Court looks poised to uphold ban on guns for accused domestic abusers
6. Narcissism, immorality and lack of empathy: The dark psychology that can poison elites
7. Public health approaches to gambling: a global review of legislative trends
8. Tapped Out: New Orleans drinking water testing procedures don’t follow gov’t regulations
9. U.S. Regulators Order Minnesota to Clean Up Nitrate Contaminated Water that is due to manure pollution
10. FDA moves to pull common drug used by pork industry, citing human cancer risk
11. Reducing pesticides in food: Major food manufacturers earn an F grade
12. Polluting Industries Say the Cost of Cleaner Air Is Too High [for them, not public]
13. Pollution Is Driving Today’s Reverse Great Migration. The first Great Black Migrations built the Midwest. In return, Black communities received pollution and toxic contamination.
14. How pharmacy deserts are putting the health of Black and Latino Americans at risk
15. Pulse oximeters’ inaccuracies in darker-skinned people require urgent action, AGs tell FDA
16. Countless kids are colorblind — and don’t know about it. Here’s how to help.
17. 10 Ways MedPAC Commissioners Think Regulators Should Fix Medicare Advantage Plans
18. You Have a Right to Know Why a Health Insurer Denied Your Claim. Some Insurers Still Won’t Tell You.
19. Feds Launch “Birthing-Friendly” Designation on Web-Based Care Compare Tool
20. Ambulance rides for just $100? Government advisers want major billing fixes
21. VA reports major uptick in veterans’ care after passage of toxic exposure law
22. How to unlock healthier communities? Team up with librarians.
23. Syphilis cases in U.S. newborns skyrocketed in 2022, highlighting hole in basic public health infrastructure.
24. Why It’s So Tough to Reduce Unnecessary Medical Care [profits and “more is better”]
25. Mind-altering ketamine becomes latest pain treatment, despite little research or regulation
26. After Antidepressants, a Loss of Sexuality. Some patients are speaking up about lasting sexual problems after stopping antidepressants, a poorly understood condition.
27. Common cat-borne parasite is positively associated with frailty in older adults.
28. Is the U.S. reporting system for vaccine safety broken?
29. HPV vaccines are so effective that new screening policies may be in order
30. History of 18th and 19th century disease outbreaks speaks powerfully to the present
31. U.S. CDC to expand surveillance of traveler samples for respiratory viruses
32. More Americans Say They’re in a Cognitive Fog. Adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s are driving the trend. Researchers point to long Covid as a major cause.
33. The rise and fall of antibiotics. What would a post-antibiotic world look like?
34. The “Gas Masks for All” Approach to Air Pollution: What Could Possibly Go Worng?
35. WHO warns of “worrying trends” in disease spread in Gaza
36. The Great American Smokeout — Take the First Step Toward a Smokefree Life

Week of November 6, 2023 [episode #235]:

Featuring: Ohio Issue #1 to enshrine reproductive health rights (2:17); Public health crisis of genocide in Gaza worsens (2:17); Scapegoating mental illness is ineffective in preventing mass shootings — easy access to firearms is main driver (2:51); Lawn equipment spews “shocking” amount of air pollution, highlighting need to electrify (5:33); The U.S. infant mortality rate rose last year — the largest increase in two decades (10:55); Vaping by high school students dropped this year (12;10); Americans carry “collective trauma” from COVID pandemic era, mental health survey suggests (15:02); Latest data shows millions of eligible Americans have been disenrolled from Medicaid (21:48); Medical Debt Is Disappearing From Americans’ Credit Reports, Lifting Scores (24:06); Only about half of those eligible for WIC in 2021 received benefits (29:15); Medicare Expands the Roster of Available Mental Health Professionals (31:40); 1 in 4 U.S. medical students consider quitting, most medical and nursing students don’t plan to treat patients (37:24); Poll shows more Americans are familiar with the work of their local health department and most have favorable opinion (39:17); Practicing kindness is good for your health and others’ (41:43).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. The Signs Were All There. Why Did No One Stop the Maine Shooter? Shortcomings in mental health treatment, weak laws and a reluctance to threaten personal liberties can derail even concerted attempts to thwart mass shootings.
2. A public health response helped reduce fatal car wrecks in Texas. Can it do the same for gun deaths?
3. The Supreme Court Will Decide if Domestic Abuse Orders Can Bar People From Having Guns. Lives Will Be at Stake.
4. Firearm Homicides of U.S. Children Precipitated by Intimate Partner Violence
5. Why many scientists are now saying climate change is an all-out “emergency”
6. Food justice advocates didn’t set out to save the climate. Their solutions are doing it anyway. Urban gardening connects food justice and climate mitigation.
7. Flight attendants say their uniforms made them seriously ill. Four flight attendants were awarded over $1 million in a California lawsuit against uniform manufacturer.
8. American Cancer Society expands lung cancer screening guidelines for cigarette smokers
9. Antibiotics for common childhood infections no longer effective in many parts of the world
10. Check out the Hospital Safety Grade of your hospital
11. “Worse Than People Can Imagine”: Medicaid “Unwinding” Breeds Chaos in States
12. Pregnant farmworkers in California are eligible for paid time off — but many don’t know it exists
13. Paid family leave found to boost postpartum well-being, breastfeeding rates
14. Despite post-COVID efforts, the U.S. is still undersupplied with domestic-made PPE
15. EPA testing shows the power of D-I-Y air filters to trap viruses
16. Science Says Teens Need More Sleep. So Why Is It So Hard to Start School Later?

Week of October 30, 2023 [episode #234]:

Featuring: Blacklisting in America –Journal Editor Fired for Hamas-Israeli Conflict Comments (1:57); Medical exceptions to abortion bans often exclude mental health conditions (4:31); Abortions in the U.S. rose slightly overall after post-Roe restrictions were put in place (6:17); Mini Research Roundup (9:48); Warning signs for the U.S. health system staffing shortages are piling up (14:15); Paying for It — How Health Care Costs and Medical Debt Are Making Americans Sicker and Poorer (19:33); Health Care Cost Worries Threaten Retirement Dreams for Many (22:10); Food insecurity rose sharply in 2022, new report from USDA shows (25:43); Easy diet changes can lower carbon footprint (30:31).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. “Partial-birth abortions” is banned in the U.S. — Why is it a hot topic in fight over Ohio’s abortion amendment?
2. Ohio joins 40 states suing Meta alleging that Instagram and Facebook are harmful for kids
3. Twice as many parents report specific concerns about internet addiction than substance addiction.
4. Children today have less independence. Is that fueling a mental health crisis?
5. Young adults suffer from anxiety, depression twice as often as teens. Many of them are grappling with high housing prices, a lack of connection in the workplace, misinformation exacerbated by social media and a loneliness epidemic
6. How Climate Change Drives Conflict and War Crimes Around the Globe
7. Rising Temperatures, Extreme Weather Threatening to Propel Malaria
8. Why Ending Childhood Lead Poisoning is a Top-Tier Global Development Challenge, Killing More Than Either TB, HIV/AIDS, or Malaria
9. Worldwide vaccination coverage increased in 2022, but still below 2019 levels
10. Prescription for disaster: America’s broken pharmacy system in revolt over burnout and errors
11. Some pharmacy staff from Walgreens, other chains are walking out again, in what organizers have dubbed “Pharmageddon”
12. What will it take to end health care worker burnout?
13. Want to end historic nursing strikes? Fix a broken, outdated reimbursement model
14. What Financial Engineering Does to Hospitals — Raising Debt, while Cutting Staff and Services, all to enrich investors
15. A New Era of More Costly Vaccines Raises Issues of Cost-Benefit.
16. Exercise found to be nearly as good as Viagra in overcoming erectile dysfunction
17. The Science Behind Food and The Dangers of Ultra-Processed, Artificial, Non-Food [PODCAST]

Week of October 23, 2023 [episode #233]:

Featuring: A view from the “nightmare” of Gaza’s hospitals (1:56); “I’d rather not know”: Why we choose ignorance (6:08); Domestic violence calls about “reproductive coercion” doubled after the overturn of Roe (9:18); Health Care “Game-Changer”? Feds Boost Care for Homeless Americans through “Street Care” (12:04); Already second leading cause of death worldwide, stroke deaths may rise by 50 percent by 2050 (15:38); Eating for Stroke Prevention (17:07); CDC sees vastly inconsistent gains in HIV prevention prescriptions by race/ethnicity (21:14); The story behind soaring near-sightedness among kids — too much time indoors and with screens and too little time outdoors (23:02); Pediatricians’ report spills the milk on toddler so-called “formulas,” questions marketing of drinks (25:50); 10 Medicaid holdout states scramble to improve health coverage, with little success (28:37); EU abandons promise to ban toxic chemicals in consumer products (36:40).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Study identifies the top 12 PFAS producers in the world and reveals shocking societal costs at 1,000 times the market price for PFAS chemicals
2. FDA faces pressure to act nationwide on red dye in food
3. Once hailed as a drought fix, California moves to restrict synthetic turf over health concerns
4. How gas utilities used tobacco industry tactics to avoid gas stove regulations
5. Abortion Coverage Is Limited or Unavailable at a Quarter of Large Workplaces
6. Information about abortion care largely omitted or buried on 80% of health systems’ patient-facing websites
7. More Than a Third of Women Under 50 Are Iron-Deficient — The condition can cause fatigue and other symptoms but is rarely tested for
8. Pregnant and Addicted: Homeless Women See Hope in Street Medicine
9. The mental health crisis among doctors is a problem for patients
10. Is there a nursing shortage in the United States? Depends on whom you ask
11. Studies highlight risks of excluding people with obesity from drug trials
12. As the number of vaccines for pregnant women rises, so does vaccine hesitancy
13. Tiny, Rural Hospitals Feel the Pinch as Medicare Advantage Plans Grow
14. Using Opioid Settlement Cash for Police Gear Like Squad Cars and Scanners Sparks Debate
15. Why Failed Psychiatry Lives On: Its Industrial Complex, Politics, & Technology Worship
16. Ketamine’s effect on depression may hinge on hope
17. I’m a Neurosurgeon. Social Media May Change Your Kid’s Brain.
18. Fatty Liver Disease Rising in Kids as Ultraprocessed Diets Surge
19. Dementia’s staggering financial cost revealed in new report: It’s “bankrupting families”
20. Sleep problems can increase as you age. These tips can help.
21. U.S. income inequality grew through pandemic years, despite massive income support
22. Tobacco purchases rise following restrictions on e-cigarette sales
23. Lake Erie is full of algae again. Southwestern Ontario’s exploding greenhouse sector won’t help
24. The Key to Stopping Tooth Decay is Limiting Refined Sugar

Week of October 16, 2023 [episode #232]:

Featuring: In Ohio, Black women get abortions at a much higher rate (1:51); Pharmacies begin dispensing abortion pills (3:42); Surgeon General Murthy says rebuilding social connection has to be a “national priority” (7:42); How kangaroo mother care can help millions of pre-term babies each year (10:04); The depressing relationship between your job and your odds of drug overdose (13:34); Improving Prison Care and Re-entry: An Unexpected Answer to the Opioid Epidemic (21:25); The U.S. is waking up to the plastic pollution crisis, but is it too little too late? (23:56); How U.S. Hospitals Undercut Public Health — The U.S. health care industry is one of the world’s worst polluters, causing many of the deaths it seeks to prevent (27:11);26 Potentially harmful chemicals used in many cosmetic products banned by California (34:40); Arthritis Is Massive Public Health Problem, affecting 0ne in five adults, nearly half of seniors (37:45); Largest ever study on light exposure proves its impact on mental health — too much light at night, too little during the day (40:20).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Why Gaza health care facilities and workers have suffered so much violence
2. Israeli health minister instructs public hospitals not to treat Hamas members
3. First large study of hair relaxers among black women finds increased risk of uterine cancer
4. FDA plans to propose ban on hair-straightening chemical products linked to health risks
5. Roundup herbicide ingredient connected to epidemic levels of chronic kidney disease
6. 800,000 tons of radioactive waste from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry has gone “missing”
7. U.S. oil production hits all-time high, conflicting with efforts to cut heat-trapping pollution
8. Corporate interests and the UN treaty on plastic pollution: neglecting lessons from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
9. Leadership of Patient Advocacy Organizations Tied to Pharma and Device Industry
10. How to free ourselves from the scholar-activist dilemma
11. Incidence of lung cancer higher in women versus men aged 35 to 54 years
12. Misogyny in medicine impacts us all
13. Medicare Enrollees Can Switch Coverage Now. Here’s What’s New and What to Consider.
14. Scammy Medicare ads and unsolicited calls bombard seniors shopping for health insurance. Will federal efforts help them?
15. Insurers often shortchange mental health care coverage, despite a federal law. The Biden administration is pushing insurers and state regulators to ensure that mental health care is treated like other care.
16. FDA warns of dangers in treating psychiatric disorders with ketamine
17. Illicit E-Cigarettes Flood Stores as F.D.A. Struggles to Combat Imports
18. The New Vaccines and You: Americans Better Armed Than Ever Against the Winter Blechs
19. RSV Vaccine Maintains Efficacy Across Two Seasons in Seniors
20. Yes, everyone should get an updated Covid-19 vaccine (8 reasons why)
21. COVID might raise odds for immune disorders like Crohn’s, alopecia
22. Paxlovid cuts hospitalization, death only in at-risk COVID patients with weak immune systems
23. Review estimates 69% 3-dose vaccine efficacy against long COVID
24. Rare “Flesh-Eating” Bacterium Spreads North as Oceans Warm
25. Ohio Issue 1: Right to Make Reproductive Decisions Including Abortion Initiative
26. Ohio votes on abortion rights this fall. Misinformation about the proposal is spreading
27. Ohio Issue 2: An act to regulate adult use of cannabis, decriminalize and tax

Week of October 9, 2023 [episode #231]:

Featuring: Type 2 diabetes diagnosis at age 30 can reduce life expectancy by up to 14 years (1:51); AMERICA’S LIFE EXPECTANCY CRISIS — AN EPIDEMIC OF CHRONIC ILLNESS IS KILLING US TOO SOON (3:58); HOW RED-STATE POLITICS ARE SHAVING YEARS OFF AMERICAN LIVES — Ohio vs. Pennsylvania and New York (21:32); Child gun deaths and fatal drug poisonings skyrocketed over past decade (45:078); Violence dropped in California — but was alarmingly high for trans and nonbinary (47:22); Medicare Advantage Plans Overcharge 22-35% (48:39); EPA moving to ban more harmful chemicals after toxics law overhaul (50:18); Awe-inspiring science can have a positive effect on mental well-being (52:33).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Dengue will “take off” in southern Europe, US, Africa this decade, WHO scientist says
2. Why dengue in Europe could spell disaster for the rest of the world — Increased investment into previously neglected diseases could see poorer countries left behind.
3. How a Big Pharma Company Stalled a Potentially Lifesaving Vaccine in Pursuit of Bigger Profits
4. We know how to regulate new drugs and medical devices–but we’re about to let health care AI run amok
5. Industry ties could muddy U.S. dietary guidelines, watchdog says
6. Nursing schools are turning away thousands of applicants during a major nursing shortage. Here’s why.
7. Medicare’s proposal on nursing home staff meets insane impasse between huge profits and poor staffing and wages
8. Language services a legal right in health care, but often not a reality
9. As conservative views collide with science, doctors find themselves navigating political landmines
10. Idaho Banned Abortion. Then It Turned Down Supports for Pregnancies and Births.
11. “They just tried to scare us”: How anti-abortion centers teach sex ed inside public schools
12. Severity of RSV Hospitalizations Rivals COVID in Older Adults
13. Walgreens walkout: Your pharmacy might be closed this week
14. How barring medical debt from credit scores could impact borrowers
15. Cleveland Accelerates Its Ambitions for Hitting Net Zero Energy

Week of October 2, 2023 [episode #230]:

Featuring: Narcan, naloxone boxes being installed at Ohio highway rest stops (1:48); Suicide rates of teenage boys are skyrocketing because of firearm access (3:21); CDC launches “wild to mild” flu vaccine campaign to emphasize prevention of flu severity not just infection (12:55); New report shows Food is Medicine interventions would save U.S. lives and billions of dollars (14:35); Rising prevalence of obesity in developing countries approaching levels found in high-income countries (17:50); Women spend 20% more per year on out-of-pocket health costs (20:27); Women face host of disadvantages in cancer prevention and care, commission finds (23:20); What it will take to eliminate disparities in fertility care for Black women (29:50); Biden administration looking to expand coverage of over-the-counter birth control, other products (34:02); Children of color and from low-income families disproportionately harmed by toxic chemicals (36:02); Millions more students eligible for free school meals (38:09); Report on Improving Mental Health Outcomes by focusing on People, Place and Purpose (39:46).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Clouds now contain plastic, risking contamination of “everything we eat and drink”
2. PFAS “forever chemicals” harming wildlife the world over
3. Decades Later, Closed Military Bases Remain a Toxic Menace
4. FDNY deaths from 9/11-related illnesses now equal the number killed on Sept. 11
5. “Monster Fracks” Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier, threatening America’s fragile aquifers.
6. Louisiana’s struggle with influx of salt water prompts a request for Biden to declare an emergency
7. Lead contamination could rise as salt water enters New Orleans-area water systems and corrodes pipes
8. “We can’t drink oil”: how a 70-year-old pipeline imperils the Great Lakes
9. Mosquitoes Are a Growing Public Health Threat, Reversing Years of Progress
10. Mainstay malaria drug may be beginning to fail in the Horn of Africa
11. Study suggests poor environmental controls and poor sanitation may aid spread of resistant pathogens to humans
12. FDA releases draft guidance on antibiotic duration limits in food animals
13. Nitazenes: Synthetic opioids more deadly than fentanyl are starting to turn up in overdose cases
14. Elevated temperatures and climate change may contribute to rising hospitalizations from drug and alcohol disorders
15. A Decades-Long Drop in Teen Births Is Slowing, and Advocates Worry a Reversal Is Coming
16. Abortion restrictions repel graduating OB-GYNs from conservative states
17. Prostate cancer—a notable killer of Black men—can be made less deadly by modifying key risks
18. Black people are more likely to be physically restrained in emergency rooms
19. “An understaffed and broken system”: 900,000 Texans have lost Medicaid as others struggle to access SNAP benefits
20. Medicaid rolls are being cut. Few are finding refuge in ACA plans.
21. As Covid Infections Rise, Nursing Homes Are Still Waiting for Vaccines
22. Vaccine rollout is a mess today, but wasn’t during the pandemic.
23. Free Rapid COVID Tests Are Back. How Should We Use Them?
24. Peak COVID viral loads at 4th to 5th day of symptoms onset may influence best home-test timing
25. Did the government get a bad deal on the Covid-19 boosters?
26. Biden administration draws commitment from health insurers to cover COVID-19 shots
27. U.S. to rein in algorithms that limit Medicare Advantage care
28. Two Large Medical Groups Shun Medicare Advantage Plans
29. Disability groups win fight to be included in health equity research at NIH
30. Exodus of life scientists from academia reaches historic levels
31. Kids and teens are inundated with phone prompts day and night
32. To prevent gun violence, these peacemakers start with the basics
33. What’s a food forest? Metro Denver already has 19 of them.
34. Forget About Living to 100. Let’s Live Healthier Instead.
35. Study pinpoints the length of incidental activity linked to health benefits

Week of September 25, 2023 [episode #229]:

Featuring: These 7 habits can cut the risk of depression in half, a new study finds (1:49); More than 4 in 10 Americans are now obese, a new record high (12:01); High blood pressure affects 1 in 3 adults worldwide, and most are not properly treated (12:47); Work stress can double men’s risk of heart disease (16:07); Study finds firearm injuries increase 62% in gentrified neighborhoods (20:06); Type 2 diabetes rates in U.S. youth rose 62% after COVID pandemic began (22:12); Biden administration relaunches free at-home COVID testing program by mail at COVIDtest.gov (24:07); Google could play a big role in protecting the health of American children by limiting unhealthy food marketing online (24:59); FDA must do more to penalize retailers that illegally sell tobacco to kids, government review finds (28:57); How new non-profit model boosts supply and lowers prices for generic drugs (35:46); Want Better Health Outcomes? Check Out What Other Countries Do — Countries who outperform the U.S. system have three things in common (39:06); Even a partial electrification of vehicles could saves lives and money, with outsized benefits for Black and Latino residents (44:10); The Reach of Wildfire Smoke Is Going Global and Undoing Progress on Clean Air (46:04).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. A healthy diet may lower dementia risk — even if you start late
2. Loneliness Needs to Be Treated Like Any Other Health Condition
3. The quickest way to improve your family’s mental health: start talking, even about your mental health struggles
4. Redefining the non-communicable disease framework to incorporate oral diseases and sugars
5. When You Think About Your Health, Don’t Forget Your Eyes
6. In North Carolina, a radical experiment targets social determinants of health with fresh produce and safe housing
7. Biden to announce first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention
8. Hep C’s Number Comes Up: Can Biden’s 5-Year Plan Eliminate the Longtime Scourge?
9. Medicare Advantage ads will look different this fall
10. White House aiming to scrub medical debt from people’s credit scores, which could up ratings for millions
11. Brain drain, skills loss, and other unintended consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade
12. United States scores a C on global LGBTQ+ human rights scorecard, and may be flunking soon, as 62% of countries are now.
13. The Republican Betrayal of PEPFAR, threatening a signature George W. Bush program, and potentially killing millions with HIV/AIDS
14. How Will Rural Americans Fare During Medicaid Unwinding? Experts Fear They’re on Their Own
15. A Black Community in West Virginia Sues the EPA to Spur Action on Toxic Air Pollution
16. As oceans warm, pathogenic bacteria are turning up more frequently in northern regions
17. The Biden Administration’s Next Big Climate Decision: The liquefied-natural-gas buildout—and fossil-fuel exports—challenge progress on global warming.
18. What the *#@%?! How to respond when your child swears.
19. Nearly half of women with disabilities report experiencing sexual harassment or assault at work
20. Only 2 percent of U.S. doctors are Latina, despite diversity leading to better care for patients
21. Inside the gold rush to sell cheaper imitations of Ozempic weight loss drug
22. Melatonin warnings: Nearly half of parents give it to their kids to help them sleep, but experts urge caution. Melatonin is “not a regulated substance,” doctor warns
23. Does the risk of getting long Covid increase each time you get reinfected?

Week of September 18, 2023 [episode #228]:

Featuring: Malnutrition early in life sets stage for poor growth and death, affecting 150 million children worldwide (1:52); Child poverty in the U.S. jumped and income declined in 2022 as coronavirus pandemic benefits ended (3:57); The Lancet Commission on gaining peaceful societies through health equity and gender equality (6:37); Food from tobacco-owned brands more “hyperpalatable” than competitor’s food (11:29); Prescription opioid shipments declined sharply even as fatal overdoses increased (16:52); U.S. school shootings hit another annual record high (18:58); High rate of mental health problems and political extremism found in those who bought firearms during COVID pandemic (20:33); Heat-Related Deaths Are Up, and Not Just Because It’s Getting Hotter (25:14); Extreme heat is linked to higher risk of life-threatening delivery complications for pregnant people (27:48); Superbugs catch a ride on air pollution particles spreading anti-microbial resistance (32:22); RSV season may have already begun (36:50); Why the CDC Has Recommended Newly-updated Covid Vaccines for All (39:41); Half of Americans interested in updated COVID vaccine (42:48); Here’s Another Racial-Ethnic Disparity in Back Pain Care (43:19); Sexual assault survivors can now track their rape kits in most states (44:32).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Food Can Be Literally Addictive, New Evidence Suggests. Highly processed foods resemble drugs of misuse in a number of disturbing ways.
2. How a supplement company became a haven for health misinformation
3. The food industry pays “influencer” dietitians to shape your eating habits
4. Anemia afflicts nearly 1 in 4 people worldwide, but there are practical strategies for reducing it
5. No deal in sight for global AIDS program as deadline looms
6. States considering later high school start times as teens’ health and school performance improve with more sleep
7. Climate Change a “Major Threat” for Respiratory Patients, Experts Warn
8. Fentanyl plus stimulants drives “fourth wave” of overdose epidemic in the U.S.
9. FDA Reviewers Say Over-The-Counter Decongestant Doesn’t Work
10. Why the F.D.A. Took Decades to Tackle a Disputed Cold Remedy
11. Patients might finally receive practical information with prescriptions — if the FDA doesn’t blow it
12. Without “high-touch” strategies, cancer’s breakthroughs will increase disparities — people, not drugs, are the key.
13. A Huge Threat by Medicare to the U.S. Budget Has Receded. And No One Is Sure Why.
14. Medicare encourages states to test global health budgets to cut costs and align incentives to patient outcomes
15. “The rule has sticks as well” — Biden’s getting tough with health insurers over denials of mental health care and mental health parity.
16. Americans don’t trust politicians on abortion and gender-affirming care, poll finds
17. They’re immigrants, farmworkers, and new moms. And they’re facing postpartum depression at high rates
18. Concerned About Your OB-GYN Visit? A Guide to What Should Happen — and What Shouldn’t. How to Avoid Sexual Misconduct and Receive Good Care.
19. Survey shows American men are less healthy than they believe.
20. Marriage could mean losing life-saving benefits for people with disabilities. So they’re protesting.
21. How Advance Care Planning Neglects Black Americans
22. U.S.-funded hunt for rare viruses halted amid risk concerns
23. Amid another rise in cases, Covid’s new normal has set in
24. The latest on COVID-19 vaccine fall update
25. This Season’s Flu Shot Appears Effective Against Serious Cases
26. Health Workers Warn Loosening Mask Advice in Hospital Infection Control Would Harm Patients and Providers
27. Why you may want to think twice before throwing out those old at-home COVID tests
28. Eating a vegan diet could reduce grocery bill by 16%, a savings of more than $500 a year.

Week of September 11, 2023: GREATEST HITS SHOW #6, stories from April thru May, 2021

GREATEST HITS SHOW #6, from April thru May, 2021, featuring: Devastatingly pervasive — 1 in 3 women globally experience violence (1:59); Stress from work and social interactions put women at higher coronary heart disease  risk (6:11); Physicians are more likely to doubt black patients than white patients (7:42); Women’s pain not taken as seriously as men’s pain (8:53); Study finds Americans eat food of mostly poor nutritional quality — except at school (11:12); Time to shift from “food security” to “nutrition security” to increase health and well-being (16:48); How to gain a sense of well-being, free and online –free course with full reference materials, “The Science of Well-being” (20:02); Children born to Chernobyl survivors don’t carry more genetic mutations (22:03); Even “safe” ambient carbon monoxide levels may harm health (24:11); Music improves older adults’ sleep quality (25:22);   Spanking may affect the brain development of a child similar to more severe violence (26:34); The clear message on promoting body positivity (28:11); How a shocking environmental disaster was uncovered off the California coast after 70 years (30:57); The Sense, and Dollars, of Food as Medicine (37:47);  New approach to understanding our wellbeing — the ability to connect and feel a sense of belonging (44:42);  Providing medications for free leads to greater adherence and cost-savings (46:14); Long term use of prescription meds for insomnia not linked to better quality sleep (48:19); Number of smokers has reached all-time high of 1.1 billion globally (49:51); Leading global cardiovascular organizations release joint opinion on achieving the “tobacco endgame” (53:00).

Week of September 4, 2023 [episode #227]:

Featuring: New research links wildfire smoke to increased risk of emergency room visits for people of all ages (2:01); Dirty air is biggest external threat to human health, worse than tobacco or alcohol (4:06); Students face new school year with jump in bullying (6:15); Suicides among U.S. veterans jumped 10-fold in decades after 9/11 (9:12); Shooting survivors have “distressingly high” risk of repeat firearm injury, especially young Black males (11:53); Brain Damage, Including CTE, Seen in Athletes Who Died Young (18:37); New flame retardants found in breast milk years after similar chemicals were banned (20:47); TB research shows a good diet can cut infections by nearly 50% (25:39); Medicaid-eligible people who aren’t enrolled far more likely to delay care (27:48); Prevalence of disabilities for older Americans plummeted from 2008 to 2017 (33:03).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Removing Fukushima’s melted nuclear fuel will be harder than the release of plant’s wastewater
2. Gender Affirming Surgeries Nearly Tripled in the U.S. From 2016 to 2019 — Breast and chest procedures most common, followed by genital reconstruction
3. Evidence Undermines “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria” Claims.  Fears of “social contagion,” used to support anti-transgender legislation, are not supported by science
4. Canada warns LGBTQ people of U.S. state laws in updated travel advisory
5. Fruit and vegetable “prescriptions” may lead to better heart health
6. How New York’s Public Hospitals Cut Carbon Emissions: More Vegetables. Making plant-based meals the default has reduced food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 36 percent. Just don’t say “vegan.”
7. The myths we tell ourselves about American farming. “Agricultural exceptionalism,” explained.
8. Kellogg’s is going to war over Mexico’s nutrition label rules. A similar fight is coming to the U.S.
9. How Menopause Affects Women of Color — Symptoms can be more severe than they are for white women and last longer. Doctors often don’t realize this.
10. What People Misunderstand About Rape — Sexual assault often goes unpunished when victims fail to fight back. But freezing is an involuntary response to trauma.
11. American study estimates 1.87 million excess deaths occurred in China two months after its zero COVID policy ended
12. COVID-19 boosts risks of health problems 2 years later, giant study of veterans says
13. High levels of exposure to COVID-19 virus may reduce protection provided by vaccination and prior infection — dose matters.
14. Top review says COVID lockdowns and masks worked, period.
15. ProMED infectious disease surveillance website issues ultimatum to striking moderators, as questions about site’s future persist
16. “Valley fever” fungus surging northward in California as climate changes
17. America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow
18. The true cost of climate pollution? 44% of corporate profits. Yet governments are still pouring $7 trillion into subsidies for fossil fuels.
19. How the twin crises of climate change and poor public housing are harming people’s health
20. Workers exposed to extreme heat have no consistent protection in the U.S.
21. Study shows no change in U.S. dental antibiotic prescribing rates
22. EPA punts ozone standard review
23. Hospitals swallowing independent practices found to lead to higher costs, worse patient health outcomes
24. Will drug price negotiations work? Here’s what you need to know.
25. Not Everything We Call Cancer Should Be Called Cancer
26. Optimizing tobacco cessation treatment with lung cancer screening
27. Why isn’t there any enforcement of the ACA mandate to support breastfeeding?
28. Toddlers’ Screen Time Linked to Delayed Development — More time on devices at 1 year was associated with specific delays at 2 and 4 years
29. 5,000 pilots suspected of hiding major health issues. Most are still flying.
30. Music can serve as therapy. Here’s how it can help reduce anxiety.

Week of August 28, 2023: GREATEST HITS SHOW #10, stories from April to July, 2022 [episode #226]

GREATEST HITS SHOW #10, stories from April to July 2022, featuring: New article outlines the characteristics of a “longevity diet” (2:00); New expert consensus statement published on achieving remission of type 2 diabetes using diet as a primary intervention (3:26); Vegan diet eases rheumatoid arthritis pain (5:14); The U.S. is soon to become a net food importer (6:48); World’s vulnerable are being polluted in their own homes as they cook (8:04); Men – especially from rich countries – still dominate the boards of global health groups (9:44); High cost of cancer care in the U.S. doesn’t reduce mortality rates (12:09); Heart attack mortality rate higher in the U.S. compared to other high-income countries (14:22); Locking People Up Is No Way to Treat Mental Illness (16:48); PTSD costs in U.S. civilian, military populations combine for more than $230 billion, surpassing costs for conditions such as anxiety and depression (20:34); Study finds disparities in improper antibiotic prescribing, which is commonplace (24:44); What are the Radiation Risks from CT Scans? and CT Scans Cause About 40,000 Cancers Deaths Per Year, Similar to Breast and Prostate Cancers (26:54); Up to 540,000 lives could be saved worldwide by targeting speed and other proven traffic crash prevention interventions (34:08); United States had highest motor vehicle crash mortality rate among comparable countries (36:12); Cutting air pollution from fossil fuels would save 50,000 lives a year in U.S. (37:48); Toledo ranks as 10th most stressed city in U.S. (38:08); Reasons Why Most Young Adults Sweep Depression Under the Rug (40:52); A new study shows benefits to dispatching mental health specialists in nonviolent 911 emergencies (42:05); Global abortion facts and health care standards (44:23); “Set them up for failure” – Sex education not required in many states where abortion is or will be banned (49:28); One-Week Social Media Break Reduces Anxiety, Depression (54:11).

Week of August 21, 2023 [episode #225]:

Featuring: U.S. suicide deaths reached record high in 2022 (1:53); Cancer screenings have saved the U.S. at least 12 million years of life and $6.5 trillion over 25 years (2:28); Risk of cancer death after exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation underestimated, says study of nuclear industry (4:44); EPA’s new definition of PFAS could omit thousands of “forever chemicals” (7:51); Middle-aged U.S. adults binge drinking and marijuana use at record levels (11:46); Younger adults increasingly view alcohol as unhealthy (14:11); Americans’ biggest fears: Opioids surge past guns (15:23); Some Health Workers See Double the Risk for Fatal Drug Overdoses (17:06); Drinking, often heavy, is common among cancer survivors (18:03); Two-thirds of Americans say their lives have been affected by addiction (19:42); A marijuana legalization question will be on Ohio’s fall ballot after lawmakers failed to act on it (21:01); Negotiations for lower drugs prices are at risk again — this time in the courts (22:02); The U.S. pays much more for newer weight loss drugs than its peer countries (26:02); Few Early Alzheimer’s Patients Qualify for Newest Drug (26:47); Feds raise concerns about long call center wait times as millions dropped from Medicaid (29:24); In emergency rooms, marginalized patients more likely to be skipped in line (30:31); Nurse Home-Visit Program Shows No Benefit for Prenatal Care, Pointing to Larger Social Determinants (33;36); Older discharged COVID patients at twice the risk of death as older flu patients (35:47); NFL announces more steps to reduce head injuries, as injuries continue to increase (36;49).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Environmental groups sue SoCal air regulator over ozone pollution for failing to impose regulatory fees on major industries polluting
2. The EPA is rejecting calls for tougher regulation of big livestock farms. It’s promising more study.
3. New Top Cop at the E.P.A. Aims to Get Enforcement Back on Track
4. Maui wildfire survivors face new threat from chemical contamination that could linger for months
5. Maui water is unsafe even with filters, one of the lessons learned from fires in California
6. Many users of skin-lightening products are unaware of risks
7. Teenage smokers have different brains than non-smoking teens
8. Eels, Cocaine and Climate Change — Forget “Cocaine Bear” and “Cocaine Shark.” To really understand the environmental threat of illicit drugs, look to eels.
9. What does the U.S. abortion pill ruling mean for patients?
10. Why so few get screened for lung cancer, the deadliest cancer in the U.S.
11. Removing Race-Corrected Pulmonary Function Tests May Alter Lung Cancer Care
12. A New Medicare Proposal Would Cover Training for Family Caregivers
13. The definition of clinical trial diversity must include disabled people
14. Why Doctors Spend Millions on Fees That Could Be Spent on Providing Care. The shift to electronic medical reimbursements gave rise to payment processing companies demanding a 1.5% to 5% fee every time a doctor gets paid by insurers. The government banned such fees — until a company lobbyist got involved.
15. Low Regret, High Satisfaction Long Term After Gender-Affirming Mastectomy
16. Turning the tide on obesity? Prevention efforts that address all of the factors that contribute to obesity must be bolstered, not abandoned, to ensure that the next generation will not require lifelong medication to maintain metabolic health.
17. AI Causes Real Harm. Let’s Focus on That over the End-of-Humanity Hype
18. Thousands of scientists are cutting back on Twitter, seeding angst and uncertainty
19. 1 in 3 men worldwide have genital HPV infection
20. 81% of infants in ICU for RSV were previously healthy, born full-term
21. “Underwhelming” — NIH trials fail to test meaningful long Covid treatments — after 2.5 years and over $1 billion spent
22. Amid the New Normal of COVID, There’s an Old Normal Too — Low-income working families and people of color continue to be hit hardest.
23. COVID-19 may trigger new-onset high blood pressure
24. Right Price, Wrong Politics — People want to live in states with access to abortion care and liberal policies. They just can’t afford to.
25. Just 4,000 daily steps may lower your risk of death, study finds, with additional benefits the more you walk

Week of August 7, 2023: GREATEST HITS SHOW #9, January to April, 2022 [episode #224]

GREATEST HITS SHOW #9, stories from January to April 2022, featuring: A Healthy Diet Is Too Costly for Three Billion People (1:53); Financial incentives for smoking cessation proves highly cost effective for society but not for individual businesses (3:23); Resolved to quit smoking this year? Experts offer tips (6:42); In helping smokers quit, combining treatments is key (9:18); Health-Care Disparities: A Way of Life for Black Ohioans? (12:39); Incarceration increases long-term mortality rates among blacks but not whites (14:55); For the uninsured, crowdfunding provides little help in paying for health care and deepens inequities (17:02); Eat your legumes — How a healthier diet can add 10 or more years to your life (18:44); Why are alcohol- and drug-related deaths rising in the U.S. and not elsewhere? (21:02); Pressure to feel good associated with poorer individual wellbeing in happier countries (24:02); Why the pursuit of happiness can be bad for you, and what you should pursue instead (25:45); Overlooked and underfunded — experts call for united action to reduce the global burden of depression (30:00);  More spice could help seniors avoid salt (35:23); One in ten Americans say they don’t eat meat, a growing share of the population (36:56); Some of the world’s lowest rates of dementia found in Amazonian indigenous groups (37:41); High blood pressure, obesity, and physical inactivity have the biggest impact on dementia cases (41:09); Diet quality decreased for U.S. seniors from 2001 to 2018, dropping to 61% with poor quality (41:56); “Stand your ground” laws linked to 700 additional firearm homicides each year in U.S. (45:36); Amid war and disease, World Happiness Report shows bright spot of increased benevolence (47:56);  Cities are making us fat and unhealthy: A “healthy location index” can help us plan better (51:04); Subsidy would improve fruit and veg intake by as much as 15%, say economists (53:23); Sci-Hub Offers the Quickest, Easiest, and Greatest Access to Science — all for free, though illegally (55:16).

Week of August 7, 2023 [episode #223]:

Featuring: 7 out of 10 people worldwide protected by at least one best practice tobacco control measure (1:52); A majority of Americans support universal background checks, gun licensing and an assault weapons ban (5:02); Miami’s top cop shot himself — Mental health remains an issue for first responders (7:33); Attacks at U.S. medical centers show why health care is one of the nation’s most violent fields (9:29); Doctors in states that ban abortion can still refer patients elsewhere — Why are so few doing that? (14:55); Enough with the health care policy patchwork — It’s time for universal insurance (23:12); 10% of cancer risk lurks in your genes, and testing is cheaper now — Why do so few people get it? (32:21); Without a plan to fight antibiotic-resistant superbugs, the Cancer Moonshot will never achieve liftoff (36:07); The Real Costs of the New Alzheimer’s Drug, Most of Which Will Fall to Taxpayers — $82,500 per year (40:00).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Study shows 8 out of 10 child deaths in low-income countries could be prevented
2. Legislators rolling back child labor protections
3. The World Is Not Prepared for Another Cholera Wave
4. ProMED, an early warning system on disease outbreaks, appears near collapse
5. 17 percent of U.S. toddlers falling short on childhood vaccinations
6. Measles was once seen as a childhood disease. Increasingly, adults are susceptible, too
7. EPA Approved a Fuel Ingredient Even Though It Could Cause Cancer in Virtually Every Person Exposed Over a Lifetime
8. “Halliburton Loophole” Allows Fracking Companies to Avoid Chemical Regulation
9. Outdoor air pollution may increase non-lung cancer risk in older adults
10. Black Women Weigh Emerging Risks of Hair Straighteners
11. Doctors Sound Alarm About Child Nicotine Poisoning as Vapes Flood the U.S. Market
12. Lawsuit over Texas abortion ban could be a model in other states where doctors and hospitals are afraid to end dangerous pregnancies
13. Doctors Emerge as Political Force in Battle Over Abortion Laws in Ohio and Elsewhere. Ohio is among at least five states where physicians have mobilized to protect reproductive rights.
14. Drugmakers go under the skin with injectables, skirting early U.S. Medicare price negotiations
15. Doctors say insurers are ignoring orders to pay surprise billing disputes
16. Millions more Americans have medical debt than student debt. Where’s their relief?
17. “I’m going to be homeless” — Ohio Medicaid collects $87.5M from families after loved ones’ death
18. Options, resources available to help avoid Medicaid taking your assets
19. All U.S. racial and ethnic minority groups are underrepresented in Alzheimer’s neuroimaging research
20. Marijuana addiction is real. Those struggling often face skepticism.
21. The Wild West of Online Testosterone Prescribing
22. How do doctors’ personal political affiliations affect how they care for their patients?
23. Climate change is hitting close to home for nearly 2 out of 3 Americans, poll finds
24. The NIH Ices a Research Project on Science Communication. Is It Self-Censorship?
25. How the ADA paved the way for workplace protections for women and LGBTQ+ people
26. Mississippi Remains an Outlier in Jailing People With Serious Mental Illness Without Charges
27. Changes in heat-related illnesses
28. In a summer marked by extreme heat, some suggest it is time for a national cooling standard
29. Mom of two dies from drinking too much water after feeling dehydrated on family trip
30. Field sobriety tests cannot reliably identify drivers under the influence of cannabis
31. “Oppenheimer” is a must-watch for everyone who works in AI and health care
32. It’s a busy, noisy, bright world. For millions, going out is hard, due to sensory processing disorder that makes sights, sounds and smells feel overwhelming
33. As black lung disease declines, silicosis in miners is taking its place
34. After decades of delays and broken promises, coal miners hail rule to slow rise of black lung driven by silicosis
35. Fatigue Can Shatter a Person — Everyday tiredness is nothing like the depleting symptom that people with long COVID and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome experience
36. Switching from the average American omnivore diet to a fully plant-based diet saves 1.15 acres of land.
37. The Life-Changing, Solar-Charged Power of Sustainable “Regenerative Travel” that reconnects us with nature
38. The COVID Virus is Learning New Tricks and We Humans Keep Falling Behind
39. U.S. News & World Report HOSPITAL RANKINGS for TOLEDO [None in top tier]

Week of July 31, 2023 ,GREATEST HITS SHOW #8  [episode #222]:

GREATEST HITS SHOW #8, stories from September to December 2021, featuring: High-quality diet tied to lower migraine frequency, severity (1:56); Higher sodium intake may be tied to worse migraine outcomes (2:32); Consuming fruit and vegetables and exercising can make you happier (3:06); Top tips if your child is a fussy eater (4:15)  A Little Radiation Is Not Good For You (6:12); Science Alone Can’t Heal a Sick Society (7:25);  Corporate versus public control of science and technology: Forging a framework for the 21st Century (13:41); How placebos work is not fully understood, but alternative theory of consciousness holds some clues (20:57); Researchers trace the outlines of two cultures within science, one of which promotes greater equity and inclusivity (25:30); Investing $1 per person per year in hand hygiene could save hundreds of thousands of lives (30:42); Only about half of U.S. adolescents get sex education that meets minimum federal standards (34:03); New look at nutrition research identifies 10 features of a heart-healthy eating pattern (36:59); What Makes Some Countries Happier Than Others? (44:22); Seven questions to assess how wise you are (47:42); Protective effect of education against midlife mental health struggle waning for Americans (49:41); Junk food portion sizes need to be reigned in (51:18); Our meat habit is causing pollution issues — by way of our poops (54:20).

Week of July 24, 2023 [episode #221]:

Featuring: Toledo ranks 84th among top 100 U.S. cities on fitness index (1:51); What’s in your sports supplement? Not what’s on the label, study finds (3:37); The Supreme Court Should Back Firearms Restraints That Save Lives through domestic violence civil protection orders (7:44); Hepatitis C Infections in Pregnancy Skyrocketed Over the Past Two Decades (16:36); Misdiagnoses cost the U.S. 800,000 deaths and serious disabilities every year (17:37); Insurers Deny Medical Care for the Poor at High Rates (25:41); The Overlooked Reason Our Health Care System Crushes Patients — administrative burden on patients and providers (31:32); Cancer experts call for cancer care to be centered on patients rather than commercial interests (37:02); Just more than a third of hospitals are complying with price transparency rules (38:57); A Positive Covid Milestone — excess deaths each day is no longer historically abnormal (41:16); A clue to China’s true covid-19 death toll — likely 1.6 million deaths in 3 month of wave (43:05).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Headers linked to memory issues, raising questions about soccer safety as the World Cup kicks off
2. Trump COVID Shot Ad Boosted Vaccination in Red Counties
3. WHO urges governments to set up surveillance for people at risk from heatwaves
4. Why ultra-processed foods matter: they worsen the state of world hunger
5. What Happened When Oregon Decriminalized Hard Drugs
6. The Painful Legacy of ‘Law and Order’ Treatment of Addiction in Jail
7. Providers still hesitate to prescribe buprenorphine for addiction, despite ‘X-waiver’ removal
8. Medical Debt Is Making Americans Angry. Doctors and Hospitals Ignore This at Their Peril.
9. Medicare Advantage could get up to $1.6 trillion more than it’s entitled to over the next decade, due to coding oddities and healthier patients, and that could hurt the Medicare trust fund
10. A program to bring internet access to low-income people is running out of money. Health care will suffer.
11. Health care providers are raking in profits by exploiting programs meant for the poor
12. POLICY PRIMER: THE PROBLEMS WITH MEDICARE ADVANTAGE
13. In some states, gender dysphoria is a protected disability — and momentum could be growing
14. FTC and HHS Warn Hospital Systems and Telehealth Providers about Privacy and Security Risks from Online Tracking Technologies
15. Biden’s HIPAA expansion for abortion draws criticism, lawsuit threats
16. Blue-state doctors launch abortion pill pipeline into states with bans
17. C-section Rates Are Way Too High. We Need to Hold Doctors and Hospitals Accountable
18. “Nudges” from electronic health records could improve the implementation of tobacco use treatment almost three-fold over standard care for cancer patients
19. America’s food program for the poor should focus on nutrition
20. Undue influence? Anonymous donations to World Health Organization’s new foundation raise concerns
21. Top DEA official resigns after report on high-priced consulting work for pharma
22. Light pollution is fixable. Can researchers and policymakers work together to dim the lights?
23. As Climate Clock Ticks, U.S. Government Has Been Using Credits for Burning Trash to Look Green
24. Climate Change Threatens U.S. Nuclear Strike Capability through flooding and heat waves
25. Trinity Nuclear Test’s Fallout Reached 46 States, Canada and Mexico, New Study Finds
26. A Meatless Diet Is Better for You—And the Planet
27. Being Anxious or Sad Does Not Make You Mentally Ill — We easily pathologize bad feelings, but they’re a normal, even healthy part of human experience.

 Week of July 17, 2023 [episode #220]:

Featuring: Hunger and famine are not accidents — they are created by the actions of people — the connection to violent conflict and profiteering (1:52); Where Was Climate Change at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health? (8:13); EPA makes major move to reduce childhood exposure to lead-based paint dust (11:12); Electric vehicle tires — a lesser-known pollution headache (14:58); FDA approves first over-the-counter birth control pill (20:12); Cost could limit demand for over-the-counter birth control pills (21:50); Why more Americans aren’t using the 988 mental-health crisis hotline (24:36); Most patients using weight-loss drugs like Wegovy stop within a year (28:44); Investigating the XY (male-female) factor in disease (31:17); East Palestine, Ohio, Railroad Derailment — Lessons to Learn, Actions to Take (34:18); My Epidemiologist — Lessons I learned during the pandemic (39:02).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Houston just started enforcing a decade-old ban on feeding the homeless. Food Not Bombs volunteers are fighting back.
2. New York City hotline to advise police on involuntary hospitalizations has gotten zero calls
3. Understanding effects of heat on mental health
4. Saharan dust plume arrives in Houston, another health risk as temperatures approach 100
5. Takeaways from AP’s examination of nuclear waste problems in the St. Louis region
6. The U.S. Will Send Depleted Uranium Munitions to Ukraine
7. Decades after the dangers of lead became clear, some cities are leaving lead pipe in the ground
8. Why tires — not tailpipes — are spewing more pollution from your cars (brakes too)
9. EU to drop ban of hazardous chemicals after industry pressure
10. Johnson & Johnson sues researchers who linked talc to cancer
11. As Nonprofit Hospitals Reap Big Tax Breaks, States Scrutinize Their Required Charity Spending
12. Who Employs Your Doctor? Increasingly, a Private Equity Firm.
13. Why nearly half of Americans with Parkinson’s don’t see a neurologist
14. Unlocking Ohio’s economic potential: The impact of eliminating racial disparities on Ohio businesses, governments and communities
15. Melanoma an even more deadly disease in black men
16. The end of affirmative action will lead to more preventable deaths
17. Will Our Healthcare Workforce Ever Look Like America?
18. Why maternal mortality is so hard to measure — and why the problem may get worse
19. Drowning Is No. 1 Killer of Children age 1 to 5. U.S. Efforts to Fix It Are Lagging.
20. India demands higher manufacturing standards from small drugmakers
21. Presenting a sham treatment as personalized increases the placebo effect in a randomized controlled trial
22. Kidney stones are rising among children and teens, especially girls
23. Is aspartame a carcinogen?
24. Can ChatGPT Defend the Long-term Use of Antipsychotics?
25. How abortion bans will strain an already failing foster system
26. Right-wing politicians are stoking renewed moral panic about HIV
27. “Greenhushing” — Why some companies quietly hide their climate pledges
28. Judge holds Washington state in contempt for not providing services to mentally ill people in jails
29. Mental Health Respite Facilities Are Filling Care Gaps in Over a Dozen States
30. Chronic insufficient sleep leads to overeating and eating more junk food
31. Want to keep your memory sharp? Here’s what science recommends [exercise and eating well]
32. Having a negative view of aging may be hurting your health and shortening your lifespan. 5 ways to change your mindset.

Week of July 10, 2023 [episode #219]:

Featuring: Places With Smoke-Free Laws Have the Best Health Outcomes, with less cardiovascular, respiratory system disease, and adverse birth outcomes (1:52); Here are the 12 states — including Ohio — where smoking rates are 50% higher than the rest of the country (4:18); Ohio has much room for improvement in state tobacco control ratings (6:49); CDC helping states address gun injuries after years of political roadblocks (9:00); CDC to Reduce Funding for States’ Child Vaccination Programs due to debt ceiling bill (14:32); Idaho Drops Critical Panel Investigating Pregnancy-Related Deaths as U.S. Maternal Mortality Surges (16:05); Equity in decline — fair distribution in a worse-off world (21:19); More than one third of young women in U.S. suffer from iron deficiency (33:31); Fewer than half of new drugs add substantial therapeutic value over existing treatments (36:51); New Federal Decisions Make Alzheimer’s Drug Widely Accessible, despite safety risks, marginal benefit, and high costs (38:51); Emergency lights and sirens on ambulances may do more harm than good (46:30).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. U.S. livestock, pet industries, and various animal markets pose disease threat to people
2. Report: Animal Markets and Zoonotic Disease in the United States (PDF)
3. In Arizona Water Ruling, the Hopi Tribe Sees Limits on Its Future
4. How private interests benefit from tribal water settlements
5. New Biden initiative targets controversial hospital “facility fees” that often surprise patients
6. Biden takes aim at “junk” insurance, vowing to save money for consumers being played as “suckers”
7. Billing the Hospital Billing Department [WARNING: This is satire]
8. The Problems With For-Profit Nursing Programs
9. The U.S. Banned Farmers From Using a Brain-Harming Pesticide on Food. Why Has It Slowed a Global Ban?
10. How to Lose a Century of Progress: Fret About Imperfect Public Health Delivering Huge Results
11. Pro-Vaccine Views Are Winning. Don’t Fear the Skeptics.
12. What could cause a malaria comeback in the U.S. — and what could stop it
13. More States Legalize Sales of Unpasteurized Milk, Despite Public Health Warnings
14. Ohio governor asks Biden to declare disaster over train derailment
15. Texas Pipeline Operators Released or Flared Tons of Gas to Avert Explosions During Heatwave
16. To Save the Planet, Should We Really Be Moving Slower? Balancing Growth of Green Technologies While Leveraging Degrowth Movement
17. What to Do When You Can’t Fall Asleep May Surprise You  — get up, relax, do something boring
18. How Focusing on Care Can Change Our Relationship to Food while building a better world

Week of July 3, 2023 [episode #218]:

Featuring: Air quality affects skin health — A dermatologist explains as more Canadian wildfire smoke hits the U.S. (2:07); Vaping a gateway to smoking for non-smokers (4:17); “Jarringly” Low Hepatitis C Cure Rates a Decade After New Treatments (6:07); Nearly half of tuberculosis cases in prisons worldwide go undetected (9:54); More Americans see gun violence as major problem, poll finds (12:03); More in new poll say pandemic is over, but fewer than half say lives are back to normal (14:42); As AIDS epidemic raged, a rogue Reagan official taught America the truth (17:55); Chemical industry used big tobacco’s tactics to conceal evidence of PFAS “forever chemical” risks (25:26).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Threats to Democracy Are Threats to Health
2. Harassment against scientists is out of control
3. Misinformation Obscures Standards Guiding Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth
4. Millions face a relentless summer of smoke that won’t end anytime soon
5. Extreme Heat Is Here to Stay. Why Are We Not More Afraid?
6. Texas heat isn’t letting up at night
7. Pressure builds for FEMA to declare deadly heat events as disasters
8. Heat, humidity, and smoke… oh my. [epidemiological brief]
9. How Safe Is Your Office Air? There’s One Way to Find Out. [measure it]
10. We’re Building Infrastructure Based on a Climate We No Longer Live In
11. A Grid Collapse Would Make a Heat Wave Far Deadlier
12. The EPA was on the cusp of cleaning up “Cancer Alley.” Then it backed down.
13. The ugly side of beauty: Chemicals in cosmetics threaten college-age women’s reproductive health
14. How Plastics Are Poisoning Us. They both release and attract toxic chemicals, and appear everywhere from human placentas to chasms 36,000 feet beneath the sea. Will we ever be rid of them?
15. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is a game changer for U.S. women. Here’s why.
16. “I felt like I was dying”: How women with postpartum depression fall through the cracks of U.S. health care
17. Life in the Throes of Postpartum Depression
18. “Man Down!”: Surviving the Texas Heat in Prisons Without Air-Conditioning
19. Conditions at Guantánamo Are Cruel and Inhuman, U.N. Investigation Finds
20. Sickle cell disease is 11 times more deadly than previously recorded
21. Opioids are overrated for some common back pain
22. That essential morning coffee may be a placebo
23. WHO’s cancer research agency to say aspartame sweetener a possible carcinogen
24. As Low-Nicotine Cigarettes Hit the Market, Anti-Smoking Groups Press for Wider Standard
25. Georgia launches Medicaid expansion in closely watched test of work requirements
26. Supreme Court strikes down use of affirmative action, a blow to efforts to diversify medical schools
27. George W. Bush’s AIDS-fighting program’s new critics: Republicans
28. Malaria has always been a risk, but U.S. outbreaks are rare thanks to surveillance
29. States and CDC to track cronobacter cases [which triggered baby formula crisis] like other infectious diseases
30. Melted, pounded, extruded: Why many ultra-processed foods are unhealthy. Industrial processing fundamentally changes the structure of food.

Week of June 26, 2023 [episode #217]:

Featuring: Air pollution, even at low levels, made COVID much worse for patients and hospitals (1:52); Air pollution from intensive agriculture and urban emissions linked to Kawasaki disease (5:03); A cheap fix to global warming, reducing methane emissions, is finally gaining support (6:53); E-Cigs Are Still Flooding the U.S., Addicting Teens With Higher Nicotine Doses (10:08); Report finds nationwide spike in preventable deaths, maternal mortality and medical bills (18:11); Diabetes cases worldwide to double to 1.3 billion by 2050 (23:25); Danger afoot — U.S. pedestrian deaths at highest level in 41 years (25:57); “Mosquito days” are getting more common nationwide due to climate change (29:23); Belize certified malaria-free by WHO (30:26); Traumatic brain injury should be recognized as chronic condition (32:08); Bloated patient records are filled with false information, thanks to copy-paste (33:23); Online harassment of doctors is a public health issue (38:35).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. The World Rallied to Find Missing Titan Sub but Ignored Shipwrecked Migrants
2. Heat Waves Are Unleashing a Deadly but Overlooked Pollutant — Ozone
3. Wildfire Smoke Reacts with City Pollution, Creating New Toxic Air Hazard — Ozone
4. How America solved its first air pollution crisis — and why solving the next one will be harder
5. The New War on Bad Air (for better ventilated buildings)
6. Meet the Texas commissioners who could stymie Biden’s climate agenda by approving methane releases
7. How to build a zero-waste, circular economy. These businesses say: reuse, refill, return.
8. Navy weapons tests in Potomac spark environmental lawsuit
9. Supreme Court rules against Navajo Nation in Colorado River case, voiding water rights
10. Harsh New Fentanyl Laws Ignite Debate Over How to Combat Overdose Crisis: Law Enforcement Versus Public Health
11. Abortion bans are causing “chilling effect” for OB/GYNs says poll of OB/GYNS
12. Even in states where it is legal, abortion isn’t as accessible as the laws make it seem
13. Malpractice Lawsuits Over Denied Abortion Care May Be on the Horizon
14. Abortion is ancient history: Long before Roe, women terminated pregnancies
15. States with abortion bans or severe limits far outpace those offering paid family leave. None of the 25 anti-abortion states  offer any paid family leave. This double whammy of mandated birth and state neglect has grave health consequences.
16. Medical Exiles: Families Flee States Amid Crackdown on Transgender Care
17. Everything you need to know about gender-affirming care
18. How does trauma spill from one generation to the next?
19. Americans are drinking as much alcohol now as in Civil War days
20. Head Hits, Not Concussions, Tied to CTE
21. New study links combined contraceptive pills and depression
22. In-Hospital Delivery-Related Maternal Mortality on the Decline — But the prevalence of severe maternal morbidity increased
23. BMI vs Body Fat Percentage When Classifying Obesity
24. “Night owls” more likely to die younger, study says. But the problem isn’t sleep; it’s drinking and smoking.
25. “It’s beyond unethical”: Opaque conflicts of interest permeate prescription drug benefits
26. The Biotech Edge: How Executives and Well-Connected Investors Make Exquisitely Timed Trades in Health Care Stocks
27. “You’re not God”: Doctors and patient families say HCA hospitals push hospice care
28. The Moral Crisis of America’s Doctors practicing in America’s corporate health care
29. L.A. voters could clamp down on pay for hospital executives
30. Why Do We Tolerate Our Health Insurance Problem?
31. How AI could spark the next pandemic by making it easier to make dangerous germs
32. They only want you to believe it’s food — the ultra-processed food industry rules

Week of June 19, 2023, GREATEST HITS SHOW #7 [episode #216]:

GREATEST HITS SHOW #7, stories from May to August 2021, featuring: New position statement declares that sleep is essential to health (2:02); Better sleep — Less fast food and screen time, more physical activity (5:12); America’s unhealthy lifestyles (10:34); Women now drink as much as men (13:45); Beyond remission — From alcohol dependence to optimal mental health (17:38); The link between structural racism, high blood pressure and Black people’s health (22:17); Study suggests unmedicated, untreated brain illness is likely in mass shooters (26:28); The Food System’s Carbon Footprint Has Been Vastly Underestimated (29:57); Pesticides Are Killing the World’s Soils and Their Biodiversity (37:52); The total health and climate consequences of the American food system cost three times as much as the food itself (42:24); The food system is unfair to real farmers and creates overabundance of highly processed foods (48:11); Researchers Critique the Medical Model of Mental Health, Propose an Alternative (50:17); Think leisure is a waste? That may not bode well for your mental health (54:44).

Week of June 12, 2023 [episode #215]:

Featuring: Even Healthy People Should Minimize Exposure to Wildfire Smoke, Experts Say (1:50); Hazardous air quality from wildfire smoke takes a toll on outdoor workers (3:57); Wildfire smoke, COVID-19, and striking comparisons (7:25); Ohio Senate budget slashes help for poor and families while lowering taxes and granting private school tuition vouchers to wealthy (10:43); U.S. COVID deaths and hospitalizations reach record low (15:03); China’s new COVID wave (16:04); What if There Was Never a [respiratory virus] Pandemic Again? Indoor air quality is next frontier for public health (18:08); More kids are anxious but fewer are getting the right help (25:21); More than 3 in 5 children do not receive timely mental health services after firearm injury (28:06); Study identifies “marked disparities” in federal cancer research funding (31:22); Even At Top Hospitals, Racial Health Disparities in Patient Safety Are Steep (32:42); America’s health care paradox: We need smarter spending, not more — investing in social determinants of health (34:14); Your health insurance may not be as good your state requires — and it’s perfectly legal (38:39); How the conversation about moral injury in health care is changing (43;15); LGBTQ health coverage improved after same-sex marriage ruling (46:17).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. What Wildfire Smoke, Gas Stoves and Covid Tell Us About Our Air
2. How the public health lessons of Covid can help Americans protect themselves from wildfire smoke
3. The Air Quality Index Explained: What It Means and How to Stay Safe
4. How to pick the right air purifier for your home as wildfire smoke descends
5. Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment
6. Fears about the future of the planet will impact all of us—it’s how we act on them that matters, say researchers
7. Removing antimicrobial resistance from the WHO’s “pandemic treaty” will leave humanity extremely vulnerable
8. UK no longer following EU guides on cutting safe levels of BPA plastic containers. As a result, the safe level of BPA in plastic containers in the UK is now 20,000 times higher than in Europe
9. States take matters into their own hands to ban “forever chemicals”
10. The Ways Pollution and Climate Change are Linked to Policing and Incarceration
11. Industrial disasters may cause higher rates of disability and cancer for future generations
12. HHS’ first national STI plan could face obstacles, as STI rates reach record highs
13. U.S. government sets penalties on 43 drugs over price hikes
14. Exploring the Effect of Law Enforcement Drug Market Disruptions on Overdoses
15. Jump in child deaths reveals impact of industrialisation on Amazon’s Indigenous peoples
16. Americans are divided on gender identity, pronouns and whether schools should discuss them, survey finds

Week of June 5, 2023 [episode #214]:

Featuring: Fukushima set to release hundreds of millions of gallons of radioactive water into world’s ocean’s (2:52); A $528 billion plan to clean up 54 million gallons of highly radioactive bomb-making waste defies a solution (4:23); Doctors think “advocate” is a dirty word, but it’s our ethical responsibility (17:04); Why reducing air pollution is a “bargain investment” (23:11); New study shows quitting smoking can improve mental health (26:48); U.S. life expectancy growth falling behind dozens of countries, happening since 1950’s (29:51); How to Lower Deaths Among Women? Give Away Cash (31:33); Sick workers tied to 40% of restaurant food poisoning outbreaks (34:52); Black men were likely underdiagnosed with lung problems because of racial bias built into software (37:21); FDA proposes easy-to-read drug package inserts (40:26); Chemical found in common sweetener (sucralose/Splenda) damages DNA and gut lining (42:02).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Former Gun Company Executive Explains Roots of America’s Gun Violence Epidemic and warns of growing radicalization in the industry
2. U.S. lead pipe replacements stoke concerns about plastic and environmental injustice, and need to avoid regrettable substitutions like PVC piping
3. Move to limit tracking of U.S. pesticide use sparks protest
4. Court ruling on civil immunity casts long shadow over future opioid lawsuits
5. States greatly underestimate extreme heat hazards in their emergency plans
6. State lawmakers leading new charge for single-payer care
7. “A target on my back”: New survey shows racism is a huge problem in nursing
8. Trapped at work: Immigrant health care workers can face harsh working conditions and $100,000 lawsuits for quitting, constituting human trafficking
9. Rate of pregnant U.S. women who have diabetes keeps rising
10. Cardiovascular Disease Is Primed to Kill More Older Adults, Especially Blacks and Hispanics
11. Low sexual satisfaction linked to memory decline later in life [poor circulation]
12. Junk food may impair our deep sleep
13. The myth of the “protective” base tan

Week of May 29, 2023 [episode #213]:

Featuring: Most Americans say curbing gun violence is more important than gun rights in wide-ranging poll on gun violence (1:51); Most Americans don’t know what 988 suicide crisis hotline is for (6:43); Uninsured Rate Hits Record Low of 8.3%. though expected to rise in coming years (8:43); HIV declines, driven by teens and young adults (9:55); White House launches national plan to end gender-based violence (13:40); The NIH must address disparities in women’s health research funding (16:07); How Can Primary Care Be Improved in the U.S.? (20:57); “We’re failing to make progress” — Studies show ongoing toll of premature Black deaths (27:02); Study finds that eight factors account for all of the 59% greater risk of early death of Black versus White Americans (31:23); How a little more silence in children’s lives helps them learn and grow (35:28).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Causal association found between evening social media use and delayed sleep
2. Why Scientists Have a Hard Time Getting Money to Study the Root Causes of Outbreaks
3. U.S. Nutrition Monitoring System is at Grave Risk
4. In the “Wild West” of Outpatient Vascular Care, Doctors Can Reap Huge Payments as Patients Risk Life and Limb
5. DEA’s failure to punish distributor blamed in opioid crisis raises revolving door questions
6. How doctors buy their way out of trouble
7. Why Are Female Doctors Sued Nearly Half as Often as Male Doctors?
8. Checklists to screen for patients’ social needs aren’t helping
9. A mental-health crisis is gripping science — toxic research culture is to blame
10. Denials of Health Insurance Claims Are Rising — And Getting Weirder
11. Hundreds of Thousands Have Lost Medicaid Coverage Since Pandemic Protections Expired, a lot for procedural reasons.
12. A Catch-22 for Clinics: State Bans Limit Abortion Counseling. Federal Title X Rules Require It.
13. Texas wants to wean trans youth off meds in a “safe and medically appropriate” way. Doctors say that’s impossible.
14. Gender-affirming hormone therapy reduces psychological distress in transgender people, says systematic review
15. A lifetime of racism makes Alzheimer’s more common in Black Americans
16. New study indicates treatment patterns, not genetics, drive prostate cancer disparities
17. Black children are more likely to have asthma. A lot comes down to where they live.
18. What is long Covid? For the first time, a new study defines it, with 12 defining conditions
19. “Worse than what we thought”: New data reveals deeper problems with the Bureau of Prisons’ Covid response
20. How Supreme Court’s EPA ruling will massively affect U.S. wetlands, clean water
21. Plastic waste puts more than 200 million of world’s poorest at higher risk from floods, as plastic pollution blocks drainage systems
22. How the Arts Can Benefit Your Mental Health (No Talent Required). Drawing, music and writing can elevate your mood. Here are some easy ways to welcome them into your life.

Week of May 22, 2023 [episode #212]:

Featuring: The debt ceiling deal could make America’s STD problem much worse (1:52); Hundreds of millions of life years lost to pandemic, at 22 years of life lost per COVID death (5:02); Trust in childhood vaccines holds steady, despite skepticism of Covid-19 vaccines (8:07); Americans walk less frequently and less safely compared to other countries (12:21); Rate of fatal falls among U.S. seniors doubled in 20 years (19:40); Investigation unveils increase in deaths from diabetes and cardiovascular disease, a reversal from previous trend (22:03); Depression rates hit new high (23:36); Investigation into suicides on U.S. Navy ship reveals failures in working and living conditions (25:47); Profiteering Off the Body Insecurity of Teens — Keep dangerous supplements out of kids’ hands (27:20); Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee: conflict of interest disclosed, sort of (32:53); Prostate cancer “test by request” policies drive over-diagnosis and over-treatment with minimal benefit (34:40); CDC takes a step toward virus-free air in schools and offices (36:58); Gov. Lujan Grisham: “I will use every tool in my toolbox” to block nuclear waste storage in New Mexico (40:33); The Plastic Crisis Finally Gets Emergency Status and a Plan (42:33).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Baltimore children who moved from high-poverty to low-poverty areas saw their asthma improve
2. One in five seniors report cost-related medication nonadherence
3. Postpartum women face high burden of medical debt
4. American women need more maternity leave, access to pregnancy care, says poll
5. Hospitals in Two States Denied an Abortion to a Miscarrying Patient. Investigators Say They Broke Federal Law.
6. New draft recommendations for mammograms take a one-size-fits-all approach
7. After decades of neglecting women athletes, sport and exercise medicine is finally catching up
8. Researchers identify 10 pesticides toxic to neurons involved in Parkinson’s
9. Chemical exposure may raise your risk for Parkinson’s, says large veteran study
10. A “ticking time bomb”: Environmental group says Pentagon moving too slowly on toxic cleanup at military bases
11. Three families vowed to stop a killer chemical. Here’s how they did it.
12. A simple way to prevent heaps of methane pollution: Composting
13. An AI Chatbot May Be Your Next Therapist. Will It Actually Help Your Mental Health?
14. State Lawmakers Eye Forced Treatment to Address Overlap in Homelessness and Mental Illness
15. Something Weird Is Going On With Melatonin, as pediatric overdoses have increased by 530 percent over the past decade.
16. WHO warns against using artificial sweeteners
17. Bitten by a Tick: What’s My Risk of Getting Sick?
18. Those at high risk of mpox should get 2 doses of vaccine, CDC says
19. Appeals Court Pauses Ruling That Threatened Free Preventive Health Care
20. Why is a curable disease still allowed to kill millions? [TB]
21. The Pandemic Didn’t Really Change Much About Americans’ Sickness Behavior
22. People in the U.S. Think They Are Better Than They Actually Are. People in Asia Don’t — a case study of why research bias in WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) societies distorts our understandings of our world

Week of May 15, 2023 [episode #211]:

Featuring: U.S. families experience more chronic food insecurity now than 20 years ago (1:51); Autoimmune disorders found to affect around 1 in 10 people (3:52); Teens should be trained in media literacy and limit their screen time, psychologists say in new guidelines (6:24); U.S. backs study of safe injection sites, overdose prevention (10:03); FDA blocks marketing on 6,500 flavored e-cigarette products (12:05); U.S. support for nuclear power soars to highest level in a decade, representing a dangerous bet in dealing with climate change (14:02); Air pollution from oil and gas production [not consumption] is responsible for $77 billion in annual U.S. health damages (17:22); Breast cancer screening should begin at 40, not 50, and continue every other years until age 74, national health panel recommends (23:03); New research finds telemedicine consistently outperforms in-person visits for cancer care when both are available (30:02); Corporate Giants Buy Up Primary Care Practices at Rapid Pace, bolstering potential profits from huge Medicare Advantage population (32:03); 10 maternity wards have closed in Ohio in the last year, as Ohio leads nation in number losing access to care (38:21); Monkeypox, now known as mpox, showing signs of return (40:30).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. THE “ELECTRIFY EVERYTHING” MOVEMENT’S CONSUMPTION PROBLEM. Electrification offers an opportunity to rethink how we use energy. Will we squander it?
2. Ohio opioid settlement panel’s records must be public, top state court says
3. Ohio Republicans approve August special election that could thwart abortion-rights push in state
4. Report documents “Sharp increase” in crimes against abortion clinics post-Roe
5. As More Hospitals Create Police Forces, Critics Warn of Pitfalls
6. Overdose prevention centers are tough sell in U.S. despite successes
7. The tragedy of the Golden Gate Bridge’s $400 million anti-suicide net
8. New blood donation rules allow more gay men to give in U.S.
9. Federal rules don’t require period product ingredients on packaging labels, so states are stepping in
10. A plastic sheet with a pouch could be a “game changer” for maternal mortality
11. Cervical cancer screening doubles when under-screened women are mailed at-home testing kits
12. Socioeconomic diversity of U.S medical school students has decreased
13. Amid Opioid Crisis, Doctors Turn to Antidepressants for Chronic Pain, despite unproven efficacy
14. Internal Pharma Documents Reveal Strategies Used to Corrupt the Medical Field
15. The Medical Care That Helps No One, an ICU nurse discusses futile care that is confusing and traumatic for family members, demoralizing for doctors and nurses, and dehumanizing for patients.
16. Sex? Sexual intercourse? Neither? Teens weigh in on evolving definitions — and habits, as sexual intercourse prevalence among teens continues decline
17. Polluting Cooking Methods is a stubborn problem in much of the world

Week of May 8, 2023 [episode #210]:

Featuring: COVID dropped to 4th leading cause of death in U.S. last year (1:51); CDC opens probe after 35 test positive for Covid following CDC conference (3:53); U.S. approves 1st vaccine for RSV after decades of attempts (5:34); Survey of Nurses Reveals Worsening Working Conditions and Career Satisfaction (8:03); “Too greedy” — mass walkout at global science journal over “unethical” fees (12:36); Millions Are Stuck in Dental Deserts, With No Access to Oral Health Care (17:18); Report on medical access finds one-third of Black Americans live in “cardiology deserts” (22:17); Larger welfare checks lead to healthier brains, study finds (26:41); Quitting smoking can lead to a lower risk of household food insecurity (28:49); Fentanyl Overdose Deaths Increased 279% Over Recent Years (31:41); Exposure to airplane noise may increase risk of sleeping fewer than 7 hours per night (32:49).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Why are Americans shooting strangers and neighbors? “It all goes back to fear.”
2. Loneliness poses risks as deadly as smoking, says surgeon general
3. Surgeon General: We Have Become a Lonely Nation. It’s Time to Fix That.
4. Mobile phone calls linked with increased risk of high blood pressure
5. Our Covid Data Project Is Over, but the Need for Timely Data Is Not
6. Disease experts warn White House of potential for omicron-like wave of illness
7. Why Is One Dose Suddenly Enough for the mRNA COVID Vaccines?
8. Why Dead Birds Are Falling From the Sky [pandemic bird flu]
9. Democratic AGs are using the courts to win on abortion, gun control
10. How to Spot Anti-Abortion “Crisis Pregnancy” Centers
11. Birth control pills aren’t available over the counter in U.S. That could change.
12. Black Alabamians endured poor sewage for decades. Now they may see justice.
13. Heading to a beach this summer? Here’s how to keep harmful algae blooms from spoiling your trip
14. Biden Administration Issues New Warning About Medical Credit Cards
15. “Ghost” Provider Networks a Big Problem for Patients, Especially in Mental Health
16. National Academies Members Demand Answers About Sacklers’ Donations
17. Wealth, not health: For this hospital, closing Chicago’s alarming “death gap” didn’t mean more clinics
18. Understanding the Emotional Labor of Public Health Equity Work
19. When states limit care, some trans people do it themselves
20. Examining why Indigenous “Spirit medicine” principles must be a priority in psychedelic research
21. An Illinois law required schools to test water for lead. They found it all over the state.
22. Elevated cancer rates found near Kansas chemical spill
23. UNICEF reports more than 1 million polio vaccines destroyed in Sudan looting
24. Study reveals how poor bedroom air quality affects sleep and next-day work performance

Week of May 1, 2023 [episode #209]:

Featuring: Ohio Ranks 44th in Health Value, a composite score of dozens of metrics on public health and healthcare spending (1:52); U.S. adult cigarette smoking rate hits new all-time low (8:19); More voters support assault weapons ban over arming citizens to reduce violence (10:14); Awareness of HPV Infection’s Link to Cancer Lags as Cases Continue to Increase (12:26); Bell’s Palsy Occurred More Frequently With COVID Vaccines — BUT Covid infection tripled the risk over vaccination (15:10); Melatonin levels in some gummies don’t match label, and they contain CBD, often unlabeled (16:46); Older drivers drinking or using drugs up to four times likelier to be at fault during a car crash (19:06); 45% of people with concussion still show symptoms of brain injury six months later (22:26); Study shows NIH investment in new drug approvals is comparable to investment by pharmaceutical industry (24:31); Biden officials propose slate of Medicaid transparency changes [more here] (26:47); Medicaid enrollment among immigrant children higher in sanctuary states (29:41); ChatGPT Answers Beat Physicians’ on Info Quality and Patient Empathy (33:28); A research team airs the messy truth about AI in medicine — and gives hospitals a guide to fix it (39:16).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. How journalists can cover RFK Jr.’s antivax presidential run responsibly
2. Challenging the FDA’s authority isn’t new — the agency’s history shows what’s at stake when drug regulation is in limbo
3. Roadside Drug Tests Used to Convict People Aren’t Particularly Accurate. Courts Are Beginning to Prevent Their Use.
4. Finding the Origin of a Pandemic Is Difficult. Preventing One Shouldn’t Be.
5. As Federal Emergency Declaration Expires, the Picture of the Pandemic Grows Fuzzier
6. Latest polling on Americans’ support for abortion rights
7. “Immense And Needless Suffering”: Idaho’s Abortion Ban Is Creating A Crisis Of Care
8. Lawyers suggest off-label use a a way around abortion pill restrictions but doctors may be afraid to try it
9. “Obstetric racism” prevalent in U.S., fueling rise in questionable labor inductions
10. Microplastics in Lake Erie highlight growing concern over potential health effects
11. Adults are getting allergies for the first time. Thanks, climate change.
12. Led by students, a nascent climate movement is taking hold in medical education
13. How a 2019 Florida Law Catalyzed a Hospital-Building Boom
14. Physician-Owned Hospitals May Not Be Good for Healthcare
15. Health groups sound the alarm over foreign nurse visa freeze
16. There’s a surprisingly easy way to avoid a huge number of major amputations: multidisciplinary collaboration
17. When Patient Questions Are Answered With Higher Quality and Empathy by ChatGPT than Physicians
18. Study finds stool transplants more effective than antibiotics for treating recurring, life-threatening gut infections
19. First pill for fecal transplants wins FDA approval
20. We’re using less energy when we rest than we did 30 years ago
21. We’ve Had a Cheaper, More Potent Ozempic Alternative for Decades: Bariatric Surgery
22. Industrialization Bad for Brain Aging, as shown by indigenous communities
23. Biden run fuels age debate: Experts weigh in on octogenarian health.
24. How to Grow Your Social Network as You Age
25. Self-test for Adult Symptom Deficiency Disorder (ASDD) — WARNING: Contains Satire

Week of April 24, 2023 [episode #208]:

Featuring: “Policy Murder” — Research Shows Poverty Is 4th Leading Cause of Death in U.S. (1:47); The Rising Chorus of Renewable Energy Skeptics points to ending culture of extraction and consumption and embracing true sustainability (6:59); The Hidden Injuries of Systemic Oppression confound mental health field, missing opportunities for social justice (9:28); Refined carbs and red meat driving global rise in type 2 diabetes (12:51); Europe seeks drastic cut to BPA exposure, U.S. far behind (15:45); Psychologists map the psyche of extreme altruists — not that much different in many ways, but truly value well-being of strangers and their communities (19:23);  Over-the-counter naloxone is a baby step toward making the life-saving medication accessible (22:16); Americans bought almost 60 million guns during the pandemic (28:02); Milder autism far outpacing “profound” diagnoses (38:17); Medicare Advantage is not an advantage for many seniors with cancer (38:23).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Losing Ballot Issues on Abortion, Ohio G.O.P. Now Tries to Keep It Off the Ballot
2. “A game changer”: this simple device could help fight the war on abortion rights in the U.S. [manual uterine aspiration]
3. Insurers Are Starting to Cover Telehealth Abortion
4. The Dobbs Decision — Exacerbating U.S. Health Inequity
5. State Abortion Bans May Affect Where Americans Attend College, Poll Finds—Even Republicans
6. Gun Violence Is Actually Worse in Red States. It’s Not Even Close.
7. A silent crisis of men’s health gets worse
8. From swimming pools to gardening, the rich’s privileged lifestyles are driving urban water crises
9. As The Midwest Burns, Biden Ignores Plastic Waste Dangers
10. 18 years and counting: EPA still has no method for measuring Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations [CAFO] air pollution
11. PFAS has more effect than type of diet on weight gain, says study
12. Study links air pollution, heat, carbon dioxide, and noise to reduced sleep
13. Abundant, Ultra-Processed Food Waste
14. After Pandemic Delays, FDA Still Struggling to Inspect Foreign Drug Manufacturers
15. Opiod Drugmaker Sacklers Family Gave Millions to Institution That Advises on Opioid Policy
16. Why employers should wake up to the value of naps at work
17. Lancet Psychiatry: We Are Undervaluing the Placebo Effect
18. WHO elevates XBB.1.16 to variant of interest as levels rise in U.S. and other countries
19. Researchers detect 2 new SARS-CoV-2 strains on Polish mink farms, suggesting long-term circulation in animal reservoirs
20. The heightened risk of autoimmune diseases after Covid

Week of April 17, 2023 [episode #207]:

Featuring: White House launches $5 billion program to speed next generation coronavirus vaccines and treatments (1:51); The Biden administration will hang on to some Covid pandemic emergency powers, such as pharmacies delivering COVID-19 vaccines (3:08); Traditional values closely linked to following COVID-19 precautions, except in U.S. (4:46); 1 in 5 American adults say they have relative killed by a gun (6:47); Why do mass shooters kill? It’s about more than having a grievance — including feelings of loss of significance, perceived pathway to stardom, and network that glorifies shootings (9:16); Rural residents are more depressed and anxious than those in urban areas (16:33); About 21 percent of U.S. adults experienced chronic pain in 2021 (18:17); Syphilis Cases Spike 74% in Four Years (18:57); Men Age 70+ Still Overscreened for Prostate Cancer (22:12); Millions expected to lose dental care coverage after Medicaid disenrollments (23:30); Proposed federal rule would regulate coal plant wastewater pollution for the first time (25:46); Juul to pay $462 million over “less addictive” claims and marketing to kids (33:17); All Opioid Pain Meds to Get New Safety Warnings, including on  side effect of increased sensitivity to pain (34:47); Biden to expand access to health care for undocumented immigrants, “Dreamers”, brought to U.S. as children (35:43); Nonprofit Hospitals Often Really Give Back Less Than They Get From Tax Exemption (38:17); Focus on communication, not misinformation (38:17).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. What Ohio Patients, Providers and Advocates Need to Know about the Mass Disenrollment of Medicaid
2. Report outlines how plastic production harms human health, environment, economy
3. Trucks are still taking tainted waste out of East Palestine. One spilled this week.
4. Why is the chemical industry pitting public health against economic growth?
5. Half of PFAS in drinking water not monitored by EPA
6. Legal Abortions Fell by 6 Percent in the Six Months After Dobbs, New Data Shows
7. Texas Mifepristone Case Could Lead to Other Drug Approval Lawsuits, Experts Say
8. Missouri to limit gender-affirming care for both minors and adults
9. Body dysmorphia in boys and men can fuel muscle obsession
10. Six Things To Know About Dietary Supplements Marketed for Bodybuilding or Performance Enhancement
11. Research with exotic viruses risks a deadly outbreak, scientists warn
12. Medicare tests a solution to soaring hospice costs: Let private insurers run it
13. I’m a biopharma supply chain specialist — and even I can’t find the Adderall I’m prescribed. Transparency is missing in supply chains.
14. Possibilities of AI in the practice of medicine
15. Health insurance makes many kinds of hospital care more expensive
16. Here’s a new data point for cancer patients to consider: “time toxicity”
17. We’re Treating Low Back Pain All Wrong – We Need to Expand Non-Pharmacological Approaches
18. Functional Neurological Disorder Still Carries Stigma
19. Chronic health conditions in incarcerated people in the U.S. are likely severely undertreated
20. Emergency rooms need clear guidelines about how to handle law enforcement
21. Almost 90% of U.S. mpox-related deaths were in Black men, CDC reports
22. Black men face many more health hurdles. An expert discusses why.
23. Chronic Stress and “Mental Illness”
24. Polypharmacy Isn’t the Answer for Adolescent Mental Health
25. We need a way to tell useful mental health tech from digital snake oil
26. People with Down Syndrome Are Living Longer, but the Health System Still Treats Many as Kids
27. What SuperAgers show us about longevity, cognitive health as we age — the value of healthy lifestyles and strong social connections
28. Education and peer support cut binge-drinking by National Guard members in half
29. Now is the time to build up public health departments, not shrink them further
30. Four Philly moms explain how cash for expecting parents could be transformative in America’s poorest big city

Week of April 10, 2023 [episode #206]:

Featuring: Global health past and future — The W.H.O. at 75 (1:51); FDA to okay second omicron-targeting booster for age 65+ and the immunocompromised (7:58); Where is the White House’s new mandated pandemic response office? (11:08); It’s Not “Deaths of Despair” — It’s Deaths of Children (13:58); Uptick in Gun Deaths “At the Scene” Point to Increased Injury Lethality (24:20); Another county adopts pilot for universal income (25:39); EPA tightens mercury emissions limits at coal power plants (28:46); For the First Time in Nearly Two Decades, the EPA Announces New Rules to Limit Toxic Air Pollutants From Chemical and Plastics Plants (32:33); “Nature prescriptions” can improve physical and mental health (37:41); Prescribers Often Fail to Support Patients Discontinuing Antidepressants (40:38); Up to 90% prescribed (21 million Americans) may take a hypothyroidism drug (Synthroid) they don’t need (44:01); Air Force Will Allow More Body Fat for Recruits as Service Struggles to Meet Recruitment Goals (45:08); Black women with better access are still at higher risk of maternal mortality than white women with poorer access (46:03); Infertility affects 1 in 6 adults around the world (46:50).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Federal judge suspends FDA approval of abortion pill
2. Federal judges issue conflicting rulings in a pill used for medication abortion
3. What does 1870s Comstock Act have to do with abortion pills?
4. FDA’s power tested by dueling abortion pill rulings
5. A maternal mortality review committee law meant to save lives of Idaho mothers is on the chopping block. Will lawmakers keep it?
6. “War on drugs” deja vu: Fentanyl overdoses spur states to seek tougher laws
7. World Athletics banned transgender women from competing. Does science support the rule? [Not really]
8. How a lobbying blitz led to weaker Medicare Advantage reforms
9. The big squeeze: ACA health insurance has lots of customers, small networks
10. Hospitals that pay trustees offer less charity care
11. I declined to share my medical data with advertisers at my doctor’s office. One company claimed otherwise
12. Nearly All Hospital Websites Send Tracking Data to Third Parties
13. JAMA Psychiatry: We Must Look at the Harms of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy
14. For Uninsured People With Cancer, Securing Care Can Be Like Spinning a Roulette Wheel
15. Study reveals that pollution can cause lung cancer in non-smokers
16. Chemicals from grocery stickers may be leaching into foods. Here’s what you need to know.
17. U.S. states consider ban on cosmetics with “forever chemicals”.
18. How reframing mass shootings as suicide could help prevent them
19. Why the new RSV vaccines are a BFD
20. Why do we forget after catastrophic events?
21. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome strikes home for thousands each year: POEM – Death Unexplained [Ode to Harry Gavin]
22. Experts address top food myths
23. More than 1 in 4 U.S. adults suffers from seasonal allergies

Week of April 3, 2023 [episode #205]:

Featuring: CDC teams studying East Palestine health risks got sick during investigation (2:06); The Farm Bill — transform its focus to food, not feed or fuel (4:11); U.N. food chief says billions needed to avert unrest, starvation (5:32); In much of the world, one of the most powerful public health measures is simply recording every birth and death (6:55); Court ruling on prevention coverage “disastrous for public health”, “deeply flawed” and confusing, affecting 100+ screenings and preventive services (11:07); Lung cancer screening rates extremely low, worst among the commercially insured (18:17); Achieving health for all requires action on the economic and commercial determinants of health (19:55); “We have arrived in the post-antibiotic era” — WHO warns of too few new drugs for deadly superbugs (26:57); Ohio sues prescription drug middlemen over business practices (35:51); American IQs rose 30 points in the last century — now, they may be falling, perhaps due to technology (26:59); Limit screen use in children under six (38:16); Kids’ Mental Health Hospitalizations Surged Over Past Decade, cases more serious (39:32); Researchers call attention to unsupervised youth’s easy gun access (41:06); Alcohol increases risk for gun-involved suicide among Americans (42:53); Ohio joins majority of states with failing grade on annual gun law scorecard (44:34); One COVID-19 bivalent booster is enough for now, CDC finally decides (45:33); New research finds 40% of people over 50 don’t report their hearing loss 47:05).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Are you one of 200K Ohioans losing Medicaid in April? What to know and what to do
2. WHO Booster Update: Here’s What They Got Right and Wrong
3. Study finds excess harm from overprescribed antibiotics for patients results in widespread side effects
4. Don’t expect big changes to preventive services insurance, yet
5. Ten Questions and Answers About Narcan
6. Get Free Naloxone in Ohio
7. Fear of Family Separation a Barrier to Addiction Care During Pregnancy
8. Mothers Face Broken Addiction Treatment System
9. Black women continue to receive poorer care for endometriosis
10. Why experts worry the “magic” in new weight loss medications carries a dark side
11. Incidence of type 1, type 2 diabetes increasing in people younger than 20
12. Pharmacists are burning out. Patients are feeling the effects.
13. Social media is addictive for many girls, especially those with depression
14. Research suggests social isolation may be as bad for our health as hypertension, obesity
15. Can you die from a broken heart? How emotional distress can wreck your body.
16. As a Doctor, I Know Being Ready to Die Is an Illusion
17. Adam Peaty withdraws from British swimming championships to focus on mental health
18. The public health playbook: ideas for challenging the corporate playbook
19. Is Sex ed, birth control, Medicaid: Republicans’ “new pro-life agenda”?
20. Women were already unequal in the world of global health. The pandemic made it worse
21. KFF/The Washington Post Trans Survey
22. To Understand Anti-vaxxers, Consider Aristotle — Science denialism reaches back centuries.
23. The lab leak conversation shows it’s time to rethink our biosecurity infrastructure, not just policies
24. Pandemic Jump in ED Visits for Firearm Injuries Continued Into 2022 — — biggest increases among kids under 14
25. Active shooter drills: Do risks outweigh benefits?
26. The gun that divides a nation — The AR-15
27. How the Gun Became Integral to the Self-Identity of Millions of Americans
28. America’s unique, enduring gun problem, explained
29. Scientists make “disturbing” find on remote island: plastic rocks
30. Probiotic supplements may do the opposite of boosting your gut health

Week of March 27, 2023 [episode #204]:

Featuring: Global water crisis could “spiral out of control” due to overconsumption and climate change, UN report warns (1:57); Obesity Tied to Density of Food Stores Carrying Less Healthy Options (4:35); Steps have dropped since Covid-19 and the trend is worrisome (6:23); FDA seeks to allow salt substitutes in everyday food formulations (9:52); Road noise can make your blood pressure rise, literally (11:30); Teen overdose deaths have doubled in three years — blame fentanyl (12:47); Study suggests last-resort antibiotic still being widely used in animal feed, worsening antibiotic resistance (17:40); Rapidly spreading fungus already in 28 states presents “urgent” threat, CDC warns (18:47); Bacteria from meat likely to cause more than a half-million urinary tract infections in the U.S. every year (20:17); Health experts call for bold action to prioritize health over profit (23:01); Patients want their medical test results immediately, even when its bad news, survey finds (27:52); More than 20 percent of trans youth lost access to gender-affirming care under new state laws, and more expected (34:06); Autism now more common among Black, Hispanic kids in U.S. (37:40); Troubled U.S. organ transplant system targeted for major overhaul (39:38).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Tuberculosis, not COVID-19, is the plague of the century
2. Lead keeps poisoning children. It doesn’t have to. The only way to stop long-lasting harms is to end exposure.
3. EPA Asks for More Public Input on Asbestos After ProPublica and Others Reveal New Information
4. Prescription for Housing? California Wants Medicaid to Cover 6 Months of Rent
5. How to ensure social determinants of health actually improve health care
6. World is on brink of catastrophic warming, U.N. climate change report says
7. Biden Plan to Cut Billions in Medicare Fraud Ignites Lobbying Frenzy
8. Health Providers Scramble to Keep Remaining Staff Amid Medicaid Rate Debate
9. Health Inequity Should Be Labeled as a “Never Event”, with a goal of zero
10. Intersex surgery is condemned by the United Nations. Anti-trans bills are allowing it.
11. How Ivermectin Became a Belief System
12. Culture wars are costing lives by distracting us from more important issues
13. Federal Study Calls U.S. Stillbirth Rate “Unacceptably High” and Recommends Action
14. 80% of receipts at major store chains contain “toxic” chemicals (e.g., BPA)
15. Every stage of plastic production and use is harming human health
16. Inside the fight over abortion rights in Ohio
17. Vaccination halves risk of long COVID, largest study to date shows
18. New childhood obesity guidelines face a long road to consensus
19. JAMA Psychiatry: No Evidence that Psychiatric Treatments Produce “Successful Outcomes”
20. The much-maligned ‘quality-adjusted life year’ is a vital tool for health care policy
21. How just walking around, even when accompanied by an adult, is empowering for children
22. Why Americans should eat lentils every day
23. Americans should be able to register to vote when they apply for health insurance on HealthCare.gov

Week of March 20, 2023 [episode #203]:

Featuring: Increase in mortality rate among kids, teens largest in decades (2:25); Biden Signs Executive Order on Reducing Gun Violence (5:59); Almost 2 in 3 Americans say threat of deadly pandemics is growing (10:24); Vaccine makers prep bird flu shot for humans “just in case”, as rich nations lock in supplies (12:33); Antidepressant withdrawal should be taken seriously — researchers investigating ways to help (14:01); The second age of psychedelic therapies for mental health (22:15); 600 rural hospitals in danger of closing, threatening access to basic health care (27:10); Idaho hospital blames anti-abortion politics for closing of labor and delivery department (29:59); A Third of Docs Blame Prior Authorizations for Serious Harm to Patients, and 4 in 5 say they waste resources, forcing use of ineffective treatments, extra visits (33:18); Aggressive Medical Care Remains Common at Life’s End (37:35).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Exodus of healthcare workers from poor countries worsening, WHO says
2. West Nile, Lyme, and other diseases are on the rise with climate change. Experts warn the U.S. is not prepared
3. New study cites Wuhan raccoon dogs as possible origin of COVID-19
4. There’s a Psychological “Vaccine” against Misinformation
5. Florida bill would ban young girls from discussing periods in school
6. Social Drivers of Infant Mortality: Recommendations for Action and Accountability in Ohio
7. Common dry cleaning chemical (trichloroethylene) linked to Parkinson’s
8. Public Health vs. Industry: Toxic Chemical Rules Pose Test for Biden
9. Higher cancer rates found in military pilots, ground crews
10. Take Risk Into Account Before Repeat Surveillance Colonoscopy — 58% of seniors with limited life expectancy, no significant findings were invited for another round
11. Researchers Warn of Major Threats to the Validity of Psychedelic Research
12. World Happiness Report 2023 [slightly higher than pre-pandemic]

Week of March 13, 2023 [episode #202]:

Featuring: “Infectious host — COVID is in the house!” (1:51); Covid backlash hobbles public health today and future pandemic response (3:03); Massive efforts needed to reduce salt intake and protect lives (5:37); Statin study finds inflammation better predictor of cardiovascular events, death than LDL-cholesterol (9:36); Low-dose radiation linked to increased lifetime risk of heart disease (10:57); Screen All Adults for Hepatitis B, CDC Says (13:00); Opioids Most Common Substance in Young Children’s Fatal Poisonings (15:20); FDA panel to reevaluate the most common over-the-counter decongestant, phenylephrine, criticized as useless (16:57); “All work, no independent play” cause of children’s declining mental health, says study (19:13); Greater gender equality could help both women and men live longer (23:33); It’s legal in 15 states for teachers to hit your child, and 7 more states take no stand (25:43); Body dysmorphic disorder is more common than eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia (29:47); Poll finds more Americans worried about health care understaffing (34:32); Black people in rural areas have greater mental health resiliency than white people (38:34).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. A history of smoking, and how we’re making the same mistakes with vaping
2. Study finds “alarming” rates of nicotine in sports
3. Mental health: How living in the city and country compare
4. Does It Matter Where COVID-19 Came From?
5. Covid-19 lab leak fight obscures the global rise of high-security biolabs
6. Multiple COVID variants found in New York rats
7. Indoor air is full of flu and COVID viruses. Will countries clean it up?
8. Organization publishing now infamous “mask” review addresses widespread inaccurate and misleading interpretations
9. How Publication Bias Threatens Research Integrity and Public Health
10. Leading American medical journal omits Black research, reinforcing legacy of racism in medical knowledge
11. How one medical school became remarkably diverse — without considering race in admissions
12. Medicaid expansion reduced Black-white disparities in preventable hospital visits
13. Structural Racism and Pedestrian Safety: Historical Redlining Increases Contemporary Pedestrian Fatalities
14. Black Patients Dress Up and Modify Speech to Reduce Bias
15. Feds Move to Rein In Prior Authorization, a System That Harms and Frustrates Patients (and Providers)
16. Denied by AI: How Medicare Advantage plans use algorithms to cut off care for seniors in need
17. AMA, Surgeon General Propose Ways to Prevent Doctor Burnout/Moral Injury
18. Prostate cancer treatment can wait for most men
19. Females of all ages, ethnicities have more salt- sensitive hypertension than males
20. Why are women more affected by plastic pollution (and how can they be protected)?
21. How fake sugars sneak into foods and may be disrupting metabolic health
22. Six former Phillies died from the same brain cancer. We tested the turf they played on and found dangerous chemicals
23. Toxic Chemicals We Consume Without Knowing It
24. Good news: Some toxic insecticides are vanishing from the atmosphere
25. Jimmy Carter Took on the Awful Guinea Worm When No One Else Would — And Triumphed

Week of March 6, 2023 [episode #201]:

Featuring: CDC says 20,000 people may have been exposed to measles at Asbury University religious revival (1:52); CDC issues warning about rise in highly drug-resistant stomach bug (3:49); Toxic “forever chemicals” about to get their first U.S. limits (5:42); Many firearm owners in the U.S. store at least one gun unlocked, fearing an emergency (7:34); Black People Visit ER for Mental Health at Highest Rates, Receive Less Care (10:23); At the intersection of politics and mental health, women are standing out (11:11); Majority in new poll would be uncomfortable with health care provider relying on AI (16:12); The FDA plans to regulate far more AI tools as devices — the industry won’t go down without a fight (17:57); Infants outperform AI in “commonsense psychology” (18:44); “Alarming” Rise in Colon Cancer Rates Among Younger People (19:33); Diabetes and obesity are on the rise in young adults (20:46); More than half the global population will be living with overweight and obesity within 12 years if prevention, treatment and support do not improve (22:33); U.S.-born Hispanic people may be more vulnerable to chronic diseases than foreign-born counterparts (24:12); Another Republican state (NC) reaches Medicaid expansion deal (27:23): New states have extended Medicaid coverage for new mothers (30:12); Rural Hospitals Are Shuttering Their Maternity Units (32:08); Weight loss drug coming to the U.K. market, and it will cost a fraction of what Americans pay (26:07); Research puts a new face on who is at risk for eating disorders (36:53); Keto vs. vegan: Study of popular diets finds over fourfold difference in carbon footprints (42:33).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Activist Judy Heumann led a reimagining of what it means to be disabled
2. The next deadly pandemic is just a forest clearing away. But we’re not even trying to prevent it.
3. Is climate change good for insurgent groups?
4. HHS’s Environmental Justice Index institutionalizes climate apartheid
5. Guns Are the Biggest Public Health Threat Kids Face. Why Aren’t They Getting the Message?
6. Documents detail EMTs’ failure to aid Tyre Nichols, beaten to death by police
7. After People on Medicaid Die, Some States Aggressively Seek Repayment From Their Estates
8. For-profit hospices deliver lower quality care than nonprofit hospices
9. Walgreens won’t distribute abortion pills in states where GOP AGs object
10. Eli Lilly Slashed Insulin Prices. This Starts a Race to the Bottom.
11. “Bailed out by taxpayers” — Data shows Big Insurance profiting massively from Medicare privatization
12. Brokers Get Lush Trips and Cash Perks to Sell Costly Medigap Plans
13. A Maryland experiment in global budgeting shows a better way to reduce health care spending
14. FTC fines BetterHelp $7.8M, alleges it shared consumers’ mental health info with advertisers
15. How physician wellness programs blame doctors and overlooks system’s illness
16. Despite Pharma Claims, Illicit Drug Shipments to US Aren’t Full of Opioids. It’s Generic Viagra.
17. Organ donation cartel is a failure.
18. Population-wide gene testing has limited ability to predict disease
19. Erythritol, an artificial sweetener may increase heart attack risk
20. How common is transgender treatment regret, detransitioning? Likely rare.
21. Why human touch matters in health care: the limitations of AI
22. The little-known physical and mental health benefits of urban trees
23. Are You Considering a Complementary Health Approach?

Week of February 27, 2023 [episode #200]:

Featuring: Flu vaccine worked well in season that faded fast (1:52); Predeparture COVID-19 Testing Among International Travelers Cuts Infections in Half (3:06); “Forever chemicals” disrupt key metabolic processes in children and teens, says landmark study (3:42); Newly-approved “Climate-Friendly” Fuel Comes With an Astronomical Cancer Risk (6:05); Looming Cuts to Emergency SNAP Benefits Threaten Food Security, Especially in Rural America (11:03); Majority not aware of looming Medicaid eligibility redeterminations (14:30); U.S. plans to allow Medicaid for drug treatment in prisons (15:16); Medicaid during incarceration: a step toward health equity (17:20); Progress on reducing global maternal mortality has stalled since 2015 (18:36); More Investment in Primary Care Needed (21:42); Tighter hospital price transparency enforcement and standardized requirements are on the horizon (25:23); Nonprofit hospitals are failing Americans — Their boards may be a reason why (27:23); Fixing U.S. public health will require a health-systems revolution — and for physicians to take a backseat (33:06); 52% of veterans and 86% of non-veterans with likely PTSD do not receive treatment (40:11); Palliative care doesn’t improve psychological distress, says study (41:01); Disordered eating impacts one in five youth worldwide (42:16); U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends folic acid to prevent neural tube defects (44:05); Foodborne illness outbreaks linked to unpasteurized milk and relationship to changes in state laws (45:33); Exercise more effective than medicines to manage mental health, says study (46:32).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. East Palestine Residents Could Get Medicare for Life After Ohio Disaster
2. Ohio abortion-rights campaign unveils ballot proposal in first official step for possible statewide November vote
3. U.S. abortion rights groups and law firms launch legal defense network
4. As the Pandemic Swept America, Deaths in Prisons Rose Nearly 50 Percent
5. Cereal, pasta, and other food companies blast the FDA for a too-strict definition of “healthy”
6. Tobacco companies pledge “harm reduction” but are doing the opposite
7. Passive vaping—it’s time we see it like secondhand smoke and stand up for the right to clean air
8. Gun industry could be held liable for shootings under proposed state laws that “empower victims of gun violence to have their day in court”
9. It would take less than 3% of Big Oil’s profits to clean up rising methane emissions
10. In 1996, the EPA was ordered to test pesticides for impacts on people’s hormones. They still don’t. They are being sued, again.
11. Needed: a new framework to make sure health companies play fair with patient data
12. There is a worrying amount of fraud in medical research
13. The new scientific review on masks and Covid isn’t what you think — science isn’t easy
14. How might the metaverse impact public health?
15. Small-aircraft fuel is still poisoning children
16. “Stomach flu” on the rise – what to know
17. Most young men are single. Most young women are not.
18. Health, not age, driving a rise in pregnancy complications
19. 10 ways to reduce your risk of dementia

Week of February 20, 2023 [episode #199]:

Featuring: Teen girls “engulfed” in violence and trauma, CDC finds (1:52); Almost half of children who go to ER with mental health crisis don’t get the follow-up care they need (7:30); Unless most people get an annual COVID vaccine, COVID will continue to be much worse than a really bad flu season (12:24); COVID-19 infection may cause a higher risk of developing diabetes (16:26); DNA damage levels similar in vapers and smokers (16:58); As little as one day of wildfire smoke exposure in pregnancy may raise risk of preterm birth (19:02); Americans’ dissatisfaction with gun laws at new high (22:18); Decades of conflict in Iraq have fueled “catastrophic” rise in antibiotic resistance (23:45); High sugar intake, including from fruit juices, linked to elevated risk of heart disease and stroke (25:36); Survey finds cost of heathy food biggest barrier to heart-healthy diet (26:42); Study hints healthier school lunch can reduce obesity (27:59); Unveiling the predatory tactics of the formula milk industry (30:36); Cheese and the Comparison Challenge reveals diary industry’s misleading research (30:36).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Bird flu spreads to new countries, threatens non-stop “war” on poultry
2. A virus crippled U.S. cities 150 years ago. It didn’t infect humans, rather horses
3. Surveillance report shows rise in multidrug-resistant Salmonella from food animals
4. Animal viruses jump to humans much more often than thought — how this changes preparing for the next pandemic
5. Scientists in global south most likely to save us from next pandemic
6. The Ohio train derailment underscores the dangers of the plastics boom.  As the petrochemical industry grows, the disaster is a reminder of the health and safety risks that accompany reliance on fossil fuels.
7. Dissatisfaction with abortion policy highest since 2000
8. Post-Roe, Native Americans face even more abortion hurdles
9. High drug prices are not justified by industry’s research and development spending, argue experts
10. Doctors Are Disappearing From Emergency Rooms as Hospitals Look to Cut Costs
11. Patients still have no protection against surprise ambulance bills. And there’s no solution in sight
12. Nearly 80% Of Women With Breast Cancer Face Financial Toxicity
13. Cost of getting sick for older people of color is 25% higher than for white Americans
14. Scientific institutions must embrace antiracist policies, National Academies report urges
15. Now for sale: Data on your mental health, from telehealth and therapy apps
16. The Best Way to Boost Workers’ Mental Health Is to Give Them Good Managers
17. How “empathetic engagement” can increase access to mental health care
18. Indoor Pollutant Concentrations Are Significantly Lower in Homes Without a Gas Stove
19. Beyond Medicare and Social Security: Cutting Medicaid after the pandemic would be political madness
20. Long COVID Now Looks like a Neurological Disease, Helping Doctors to Focus Treatments
21. The haunting brain science of long COVID
22. The Future of Long COVID — This emergency is not about to end.
23. Have More Sex, Please! [It can be good for your health]
24. Can food be medicine? Will insurers cover it? And other big questions about a new health movement
25. Want to live a longer life? Try eating and living like a centenarian.

Week of February 13, 2023 [episode #198]:

Featuring: Ohio officials declare measles outbreak over (1:58); How a public health program can usher police and prisons into obsolescence (3:35); Reduce pollution to combat “superbugs” and other anti-microbial resistance (7:48); Even with legal protections, extreme heat and wildfire take a toll on farmworkers (11:46); I treat people with gambling disorder – and I’m starting to see more and more young men who are betting on sports (16:43); Researchers estimate cost of “injury deaths of despair,” including suicide, exceeds $1 trillion annually in the U.S. (21:52); For former football players, concussion and hypertension go hand in hand (24:49); Pregnancy complications heighten heart risks in later life– it’s time to pay attention (26:47); Win to stave off intrusive but profitable middlemen in Traditional Medicare (34:03); Researchers call for prescription charge to be cut to save health and money (39:10); Study highlights nationwide reliance on emergency departments for mental health care — with Ohio most reliant (40:35); Study Finds Wide Variation in Organ Procurement Performance — with only a fourth of organs recovered from potential donors (42:37); Too often, we waste that gift of organ donation (44:22).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Asking incarcerated people for their organs is exploitative
2. Toxic gases connected to Ohio train derailment cause concern
3. Ohioans may vote on abortion in 2023
4. What ending the COVID emergency status actually means
5. Tracking the bird flu, experts see a familiar threat — and a virus whose course is hard to predict
6. Young people are more likely to die of heart attacks post-COVID
7. New mouse study shows genes aren’t only way to pass obesity to next generation
8. A Technicality Could Keep RSV Shots From Kids in Need
9. Doctors Aren’t Burned Out From Overwork. We’re Demoralized by Our Health System.
10. Hospitals at a Breaking Point: Lack of Staff and Resources Leave Emergency Departments in Chaos
11. “Hail, Profit”: The Existential Threat of Greed in U.S. Health Care
12. Here’s How to End the U.S. Health Disadvantage — Let’s focus on prevention and social policy, not sick care.
13. Congress Told HHS to Set Up a Health Data Network in 2006. The Agency Still Hasn’t.
14. The Community of Mothers Who Lost Sons to Police Killings
15. “The Country Is Watching”: California Homeless Crisis Looms as Gov. Newsom Eyes Political Future

Week of February 6, 2023 [episode #197]:

Featuring: U.S. spends most on health care but has worst health outcomes among high-income countries (2:02); Improvement in the prevalence of disabilities among older Americans from 2008 to 2017 (6:22); All countries “dangerously unprepared” for future pandemics, says International Red Cross (10:12); New gun deaths data in U.S. show continued rise in suicides, as majority of gun deaths (11:43); “Stand Your Ground” Laws Are a Greater Health Threat Than Mass Shootings (19:12); Federal appeals court strikes down domestic violence gun law (23:33); A majority of Americans support banning all tobacco products (24:47); Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy Declines in U.S. from 2016 to 2021 (29:06); In polluted cities, reducing air pollution could lower cancer rates as much as eliminating smoking would (29:32); Venture capital is investing little in new treatment for addiction (32:03); Your child’s academic success may start with their screen time as infants, study says (35:01); New rules would limit sugar in school meals for first time (37:41); States that expanded access to food benefits saw decreases in child neglect and abuse cases (40:19); Nearly two-thirds of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck (41:39); Relationship between food and disease stronger than you may think (42:20).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. We Now Face an Army of COVID Viruses. The pandemic has not ended. It is evolving, with big implications. Here are six.
2. Covid emergency’s end will mean new costs, hassles
3. Getting vaccinated at pharmacies works: It could soon disappear
4. The funding cliff for student mental health
5. Public health emergency for mpox officially ends
6. Vaccine Makers Kept $1.4 Billion in Prepayments for Canceled Covid Shots for the World’s Poor
7. Nursing Home Owners Drained Cash During Pandemic While Residents Deteriorated
8. Some Addiction Treatment Centers Turn Big Profits by Scaling Back Care
9. Rising Physical Pain Is Linked to More “Deaths of Despair”
10. How Patent Thickets Keep Cheaper Drugs Off the Market
11. UnitedHealthcare Tried to Deny Coverage to a Chronically Ill Patient. He Fought Back, Exposing the Insurer’s Inner Workings.
12. Tainted-drug deaths, weak regulation corrode confidence in Indian drugs
13. The FTC wants science to back up supplement health claims. What a concept!
14. The FTC is finally ready to take on health data leaks by companies and web-sites
15. Promises — and pitfalls — of ChatGPT (AI)-assisted medicine
16. Unlocking the promise of learning from everyone with cancer through electronic health record standards
17. Can Community Programs Help Slow the Rise in Violence?
18. MRI scans reveal disparate impact of poverty and other “toxic stress” on brains of Black children
19. Drop race adjustment for common genetic prenatal screening test, study urges
20. As Long-Term Care Staffing Crisis Worsens, Immigrants Can Bridge the Gaps
21. Lawmakers Attempting Takeover of Funds for Jackson’s Water System, Federal Manager Warns
22. How to take in traumatic news events and preserve your mental health
23. Artificial light harms our bodies and souls. It doesn’t have to be this way
24. The Weight-Loss-Drug Revolution Is a Miracle—And a Menace How the new obesity pills could upend American society
25. One in 8 Americans over 50 show signs of “food addiction”
26. The link between our food, gut microbiome and depression
27. What If… DIET were a Vital Sign? A Thought Experiment

Week of January 30, 2023 [episode #196]:

Featuring: Brief COVID-19 update (1:52); Six healthy lifestyle practices linked to slower memory decline in older adults (2:23); PET imaging shows greater lung inflammation in e-cigarette users than cigarette smokers (4:12); 18% of U.S. adults use sleep medications in previous month (5:18); Head injury is associated with doubled mortality rate long-term (6:22); Mental health tops parental concerns about children (8:02); Adding Stigma to Obesity and Heart Disease Expands Harm (9:22); The dangers of “bureaucra-think” — Research demonstrates structural bias and racism in mental health organizations (11:25); Medicalizing childbirth shortens average pregnancy length in the U.S. (13:41); New recommendations say patients don’t need to be “checked for everything” (17:43); The Tests Are Vital, But Congress Decided That Regulation Is Not (22:55); Death by missing data — Uncollected racial and ethnic pandemic data will drive inequities for decades to come (27:17); Congressional District Health Dashboard includes 36 metrics for all 435 U.S. Congressional Districts — OH-9 [Toledo] fares poorly (37:48); Ohio Early Childhood Dashboard shows Ohio ranks 50th in family resiliency (39:01); A Rare Public Health Challenge — Rare Diseases, 10,000 of them (41:20); Eliminating neglected diseases in Africa — There are good reasons for hope (43:45).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. Annual COVID-19 booster? FDA cliff notes
2. Why are there no eggs? Avian flu and keeping human risk low
3. Mass shootings can be contagious, research shows
4. Many Americans don’t know basic abortion facts. Test your knowledge
5. Abortion Out of Reach: The Exacerbation of Wealth Disparities After Dobbs
6. A global rush is on to reduce cow burps — and help save the world from climate change
7. The Industry Playbook — PART 1: How Food Companies Distort Nutrition Science;  PART 2: Amplifiers of Bad Science; PART 3: Getting Nutrition Science Right
8. In the Fight Over Gas Stoves, Meet the Industry’s Go-To Scientist
9. Medicare Part D (Drug) Plan Prices May Change Unexpectedly
10. How a Drug Company Raked In $114 Billion by Gaming the U.S. Patent System
11. A dangerous loophole for drug ads needs to be closed
12. After nearly 4 years of deliberation, FDA punts on how to regulate CBD
13. CDC Makes Biggest Agency Changes Yet
14. Wave of Rural Nursing Home Closures Grows Amid Staffing Crunch
15. What will it take to give babies a phthalate-free start in the world?
16. Midlife obesity linked to heightened frailty risk in older age
17. Intensive blood pressure control may lower risk for cognitive problems in more people
18. Antidepressants Blunt Emotions and Cause Sexual Dysfunction
19. Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 1: Why a Critical Textbook of Psychiatry? [All chapters to follow]

Week of January 23, 2023 [episode #195]:

Featuring: China’s Covid Deaths Expected to Surge to 36,000 a Day Over Lunar New Year (2:29); In China, doctors say they are discouraged from citing COVID on death certificates (3:16); Record High in U.S. Put Off Medical Care Due to Cost in 2022 (5:07); Record Low — Less than half in new survey rate US health care as excellent or good (7:14); Healthcare ranked lowest for employee satisfaction among 28 industries (9:12); Study finds hospitals are still not posting prices as required (11:03); Patient portals’ digital divide (11:15); Less than a third of heavily advertised drugs have “high therapeutic value” (12:13); FTC asks court to hold “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli in contempt (15:21); 80% of Mississippians favor Medicaid expansion (17:31); Buprenorphine deaths did not increase despite wider access during pandemic (20:05); Nearly 9 in 10 trans youth say recent wave of anti-LGBTQ policies negatively affected their mental health (23:25); Congress barely dents scourge of hunger in military (25:59); Few Studies Assess Social Determinants of Health Intervention by Race (28:02); Mothers in states with abortion bans nearly 3 times more likely to die (30:57); Leaders at Davos need to pay attention to the crossroads of climate change, health, and security (31:49); The struggle to contain the global threat of superbugs (34:16); Study suggests U.S. freshwater fish highly contaminated with “forever chemicals” (36:00); Mexico imposes one of world’s strictest anti-smoking laws (38:51); Political news takes mental toll, but is disengaging the answer? (41:06); Beans in toast could revolutionize British diet (43:05); WHO calls for soda taxes (46:39).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. The December Omnibus Bill’s Little Secret: It Was Also a Giant Health Bill dealing with mental health, drugs, pandemic preparedness, new Medicare benefits and Medicaid expansion
2. White House Aims to Reflect the Environment and Value of Ecosystems in Economic Data
3. An Old TB Vaccine Might Help Stave Off Diabetes, Cancer, Alzheimer’s, and More
4. Why Kids’ Medication Shortages Aren’t Going Away
5. Drug shortages are an urgent national danger. Here’s how we fix them.
6. “Just Say No” to the Medication Switches Dictated by Insurers
7. “Hot mess”: Abortion pills at pharmacies could face legal quagmires, especially in restrictive states
8. Mental health benefits of gender-affirming hormones for teens persist for two years in new study
9. Racist beauty standards leave communities of color more exposed to harmful chemicals
10. The costly lesson from COVID: Why elimination should be the default global strategy for future pandemics
11. The science (and business) behind COVID-19 disinformation. And what to do about it.
12. COVID-19 vaccines and sudden deaths: Separating fact from fiction
13. HHS policy for monitoring gain-of-function virus research unclear, GAO says
14. The Health Risks of Gas Stoves Explained
15. Reducing total calories may be more effective for weight loss than intermittent fasting
16. Family dynamics and doctors’ emotions drive useless end-of-life care, says study
17. Military probing whether cancers linked to nuclear silo work
18. Therapy Beats Drugs for Depression for Long-Term Outcomes — Adding drugs to therapy didn’t help
19. Researchers have followed over 700 people since 1938 to find the keys to happiness. Here’s what they discovered.

Week of January 16, 2023 [episode #194]:

Featuring: COVID-19 update (1:52); The doctor won’t see you now — Covid winters are making long hospital waits the new normal (3:37); Law enforcement officers’ deaths due to COVID fell by 83% in 2022, but COVID still kills more officers in line of duty than shootings (9:31); U.S. childhood vaccinations dip again in 2021-22 school year (13:09); U.S. traffic deaths fell slightly in first nine months of 2022, but still at high level (16:12); Sanders tells Moderna planned COVID vaccine price hike is “unacceptable corporate greed” (17:53); Even as NY nurses return to work, more strikes likely to follow (21:03); Medicare Advantage Plans Take Top Spot in Shkreli Awards for greedy and unethical behavior (22:48); Providers say Medicare Advantage hinders new methadone benefit (30:31); Medicaid expansion linked with fewer postpartum hospitalizations (40:53); A closer look at outdoor air pollution and health as Ohio ranks 46th (42:05); Drought, extreme rains linked to infectious diseases in kids (43:58); Insect Loss Stunting Fruit and Vegetable Production, Leading to More Than 400,000 Early Deaths a Year Globally (45:39); The ozone layer is on track to recover within decades as harmful chemicals are phased out (46:57); Use this “4-part prescription” to wake up alert and refreshed every morning (48:47).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. The U.S. Could Help Solve Its Poverty Problem with a Universal Basic Income
2. Citizen scientists are seeing an influx of microplastics in the Ohio River
3. “Forever chemicals” expose the need for systemic changes
4. Why EPA’s long-awaited proposal on two “forever chemicals” is bound to be controversial
5. Scientists are finding increasing evidence for a link between air pollution and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s
6. Too many smelly candles? Here’s how scents impact the air quality in your home
7. Consumer product safety agency chair, White House say there are no plans to ban gas stoves
8. FTC’s proposed ban on noncompete agreements could be a game changer for some physicians
9. For addiction treatment, longer is better. But insurance companies usually cut it short
10. Sen. Bernie Sanders to target high healthcare costs as leader of influential committee
11. Maryland AG Seeks to Preserve Massive Set of Sexual Assault Evidence
12. Antipsychotic withdrawal—an unrecognized and misdiagnosed problem

Week of January 9, 2023 [episode #193]:

Featuring: COVID-19 update (1:52); Long COVID stemmed from mild cases of COVID-19 in most people (5:14); Amid low demand, global coronavirus vaccination set to slow in 2023, even as low-income countries have low vaccination rates (7:18); Gov. Mike DeWine vetoes flavored tobacco ban bill, signals support for statewide ban (8:47); Priorities for 20203 pile up for HHS, FDA, CMS, NIH, and other health agencies (12:22); FTC Asks for Randomized Controlled Trials, Not Vague Health Claims (19:55); Paying research participants — a lot — may be a key to increasing diversity in studies (21:38); The bad business of developing new antibiotics (23:02); U.S. new drug price exceeds $200,000 median in 2022 (26:37); Drugstores make slow headway on staffing problems (29:04); Air pollutants in low-income urban areas linked with youth asthma attacks (31:05); As respiratory diseases rise, EPA tightens air quality standards (33:07); Increasingly under fire as potential health hazards, gas stoves could be banned in 2023 (35:59); Firearms assaults too often classified as “accidental” (38:06); Study suggests one solution to America’s opioid epidemic: Tell doctors their patients fatally overdosed (39:53); Good hydration linked with lower risk of chronic disease, increased longevity (44:00).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. “Not business as usual”: Health lobbyists brace for Bernie Sanders — lobbyists concerned they’ll be unable to blunt criticism of their clients’ profits or corporate executive salaries.
2. 500,000 people die of strep A every year. Why isn’t there a vaccine?
3. More Orthopedic Physicians Sell Out to Private Equity Firms, Raising Alarms About Costs and Quality
4. Health care for transgender adults becomes target in 2023 state legislative sessions
5. What does the FDA’s new rule allowing retail pharmacies to dispense abortion pills mean for the fight over abortion pills?
6. Postal Service is clear to deliver abortion drugs, DOJ says
7. New York’s supervised injection sites have halted nearly 700 overdoses in just over a year
8. Weighing Risks of a Major Surgery: 7 Questions Older Americans Should Ask Their Surgeon
9. Your Response to Stress Improves as You Grow Older
10. Social Media Use Is Linked to Brain Changes in Teens, with an increasing sensitivity to peer feedback
11. New Pediatrics Guidelines: “Watchful Waiting”‘ No Longer the Right Call for Child Obesity
12. Unsettling Arrival: Pediatric Obesity Guidelines
13. Hospitals More to Blame Than the Pandemic for Nurse Staffing Woes
14. A ragtag coalition of public-health activists believe that America’s pandemic restrictions are too lax—and they say they have the science to prove it.
15. In county jails, guards use pepper spray, stun guns to subdue people in mental crisis
16. Four ways to make mental health a priority in the new year
17. Great Salt Lake on track to disappear in five years, threatening toxic dust clouds
18. New Human Metabolism Research Upends Conventional Wisdom about How We Burn Calories — no adolescent boost or midlife decline.
19. Want a Clue on Health Care Costs in Advance? New Tools Take a Crack at It [Promedica Tool, Mercy Health Tool]

Week of January 2, 2023 [episode #192]:

Featuring: Brief COVID-19 update (1:52); COVID in China, the U.S., and everything in-between (2:25); Measles outbreak in Ohio now up to 82 kids infected, most of them unvaccinated (6:13); Experts challenge the narrative for this season’s flu activity (7:16); Many reproductive-age women receive their preventive health care from OB-GYNs (9:43); Abortion Access Tied to Suicide Rates Among Young Women (12:05); Senate passes milestone protections for pregnant workers and new mothers (13:24); Medicaid expansion linked with improved cancer survival in young adults (14:32); Racism leads to troubled sleep — and it’s putting Black Americans’ heart health at risk (15:22); Most hospitals include “extraordinary collection actions” in their attempts to collect medical debt (29:50); Medical Debt Is Being Erased in Toledo, Ohio and Elsewhere (35:54); U.S. starts grappling with ‘travesty’ of untreated hepatitis C (44:23); Diabetes control stagnant in US from 1988 to 2020 (48:55); U.S. Pays to Clean Up Agent Orange on Vietnam War 50th Anniversary (50:06).

BONUS stories to read online!

1. How Central Ohio Got People to Reduce Their Food Waste
2. Three things to watch in chronic disease in 2023: obesity drugs, long Covid and health care costs
3. “No Surprises Act” Implementation Is Full of Surprises
4. Classifying aging as a disease could speed FDA drug approvals
5. High number of mosquitoes found with mutation that resists insecticides
6. Study finds lack of racial, ethnic inclusivity in OB-GYN research
7. She Says Doctors Ignored Her Concerns About Her Pregnancy. For Many Black Women, It’s a Familiar Story.
8. Racist Doctors and Organ Thieves: Why So Many Black People Distrust the Health Care System
9. UCSF apologizes for experiments done on prisoners in the ’60s and ’70s
10. It’s Been a Tough Year for Transgender Medicine
11. Can politics kill you? Research says the answer increasingly is yes.
12. In Child Welfare Cases, Most of Your Constitutional Rights Don’t Apply
13. The Bittersweet Defeat of Mpox — The epidemic has largely subsided, but largely because queer men seem to have learned more from AIDS and Covid-19 than the authorities did.
14. Under new rules, methadone clinics can offer more take-home doses. Will they?
15. Psychotherapy: Less Expensive and Better Than Pills, It’s What the Patients Want but Don’t Get
16. Major effort needed by FDA to remove illegal vaping products, review finds
17. Tobacco: Vaping and smoking drive environmental harm from farm to fingertip
18. Resolve to be Smokefree in ‘23 — Resources and Tips to Help

View SHOW ARCHIVES from 2022

ViewSHOW ARCHIVES from 2021 and earlier