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Researchers say that thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars have been saved in the United States by recent reductions in emissions from vehicles. Harvard University researchers who study the environment and public health examined the impact of declines in emissions from vehicles over a decade. They found deaths dropped from 27,700 in 2008 to 19,800 in 2017 and that the economic benefits of the reduction in emissions totaled $270 billion. (Costley, 12/13)

And a ham and pepperoni recall is expanded —

A recall of fully cooked ham and pepperoni products shipped to retail stores nationwide has ballooned to more than 2.3 million pounds that may be contaminated with listeria — 10 times more than first announced. (Gibson, 12/14)

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week released its Foodborne Outbreak Response Improvement Plan, which is designed to boost the speed, effectiveness, coordination, and communication of events for both the FDA and its investigation partners. (12/13)

In other public health news —

Older adults who drink moderate amounts of alcohol may have a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and a lower risk of mortality from all causes, compared to those who do not drink, according to a study published last month in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. The study looked at more than 18,000 individuals over the age of 70 from the United States and Australia. (McGorry, 12/13)

The U.S. Supreme Court signaled interest in Bayer AG’s bid to stop thousands of claims that its top-selling Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, asking the Biden administration for advice on whether to hear the company’s appeal in potentially a multibillion-dollar case. Bayer is challenging a $25 million award to Edwin Hardeman, a California man who says decades of exposure to Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Bayer argues that federal approval of Roundup’s label meant Hardeman’s suit -- and others like it -- couldn’t go forward. (Stohr, 12/13)

Almost all of the states that produce the most unfavorable economic and health care outcomes for children are among those poised to ban or severely restrict access to abortion if the Supreme Court overturns the nearly 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision. That pattern underscores the paradox that the states most committed to requiring women to carry pregnancies to term tend to invest the least in the health and economic security of expectant mothers and children after they are born. (Brownstein, 12/14)

KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: She Fights Health Insurers For Fun — And Wins
Health insurance is like some medieval horror, law professor Jackie Fox says. But, funny thing: She also says insurance fights are easy. For her. She’s been helping people win them for 30 years. For Fox, it started when an insurance provider wanted to cancel lifesaving cancer surgery for her mom. Fox, then a young associate at a big firm, called the company right away and said, “I am out the door to sue you over this.” (Weissmann, 12/14)

In news about drug addiction —

Esperanza Cordova isn’t afraid of the blues. Then again, the 43-year-old isn’t afraid of much. She’s been using heroin since she was 15 and – once fentanyl showed up – overdosed “plenty of times” on a mix of the two. In the past year, she’s seen more than a dozen people overdose and die. Not strangers, people she cared about. Too many to count. (Reisen, 12/11)

KHN: With Overdose Deaths Surging, Advocates On The Ground Push For Over-The-Counter Naloxone
Louise Vincent figures her group, the North Carolina Survivors Union, saves at least 1,690 lives a year. The harm-reduction and syringe service program distributes the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone to people who use drugs. Research suggests this approach is effective, since people who use drugs are most likely to witness an overdose and administer naloxone. (Pattani, 12/14)