Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Yellow Jackets Buzz After Helene, NC Health Officials Send Allergy Meds
Severe flooding in western North Carolina as a result of Hurricane Helene has stirred up colonies of yellow jackets, raising the risk of stings. The rain and floodwater most likely destroyed the insects鈥 underground nests, in addition to toppling trees or stumps that held nests, said Chris Hayes, an extension associate in urban entomology at North Carolina State University. ... North Carolina health officials said they have bought large amounts of Benadryl and EpiPens to address the problem. (Bendix and Edwards, 10/4)
An estimated tens of thousands of people in and around Asheville, N.C., are still without running water, six days after the tropical storm Helene. The faucets ran dry in Alana Ramo鈥檚 home last Friday after the storm swept through. She resorted to creek water and rainwater. 鈥淲e [were] going around the house labeling buckets as 鈥榝lush only鈥 or 鈥榯ap water not filtered鈥 and then 鈥榝iltered water鈥 or 鈥榙rinkable,鈥欌 Ramo says. (Huang, 10/3)
Language and other barriers are hobbling the flow of assistance to hard-hit communities where affordable housing drew growing numbers of Hispanic migrants. (Sandoval, 10/3)
The search for victims of Hurricane Helene dragged into its second week on Friday, as exhausted rescue crews and volunteers continued to work long days 鈥 navigating past washed out roads, downed power lines and mudslides 鈥 to reach the isolated and the missing. With at least 215 killed, Helene is already the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005, and dozens or possibly hundreds of people are still unaccounted for. Roughly half the victims were in North Carolina, while dozens more were killed in South Carolina and Georgia. (Amy, 10/4)
Also 鈥
Hospital leaders raced to shore up stocks of IV fluids after Hurricane Helene severely damaged a plant in North Carolina that produces much of the country鈥檚 supply, laying bare the precarious system for manufacturing and distributing critical medicines. Flooding from the storm damaged the plant in the Blue Ridge Mountains town of Marion that produces 60 percent of the country鈥檚 IV supply, forcing its parent company, Baxter International Inc., to shut it. (Lazar, 10/3)
The North Cove facility is the largest manufacturer of intravenous and peritoneal dialysis solutions in the U.S. Here are the medications and their NDCs. (Twenter, 10/3)
