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 106.1 FM Toledo

Just for the Health of It - The Science of Health for ALL - PUBLIC HEALTH radio show, WAKT 106.1 FM ToledoJust for the Health of It is my weekly one-hour public health show on , 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; plus local, state, national, and global health news, as well as local guests for home-grown perspectives and connections to local resources. Just for the Health brings you the best of both social justice and personal health.WAKT Toledo 106.1 FM -- Just for the Health of It - Public health radio show

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 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 feed big cities? yes, if we cut down on meat (16:17); concentration in the business — to high, too risky (20:33); hospitals profit on junk (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 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, stories from September thru December, 2021 [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 SciencePART 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

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