Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Prenatal Exposure To Wildfire Smoke Raises Autism Risk, Study In Calif. Says
Pregnant women's exposure to wildfire smoke 鈥 particularly in the third trimester 鈥 may increase the risk of autism in their children, according to new research, which looked at hundreds of thousands of births in Southern California. The study, published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, is the first to examine a potential link between prenatal wildfire smoke exposure and autism. Earlier research has suggested that pregnant women's exposure to air pollution more broadly, including smog spewed by vehicles, smoke stacks and lead, may be linked to the developmental disorder. (Lovelace Jr., 1/20)
More health news from across the U.S. 鈥
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced additional funding Tuesday for a nursing pipeline program that provides scholarships. The governor said the $20 million will go toward the Linking Industry to Nursing Education, or LINE, program. LINE provides matching funds to educational institutions to boost nursing education and address Florida's nursing shortage. (Prieur, 1/20)
Boarding an airplane to see a doctor is a widely accepted way of life in rural Hawai鈥榠. But a drop in the number of airlines that service Moloka鈥榠 and Lana鈥榠 residents has left patients with fewer travel options and, many people say, more frequent flight disruptions that can lead to missed appointments. A $2 million pilot project that launched last week aims to provide a new link to the state鈥檚 Honolulu medical hub by chartering flights for Moloka鈥榠 and Lana鈥榠 patients with off-island medical appointments, as well as offering flights to Honolulu doctors willing to travel to Moloka鈥榠 or Lana鈥榠 to provide care. (Lyte, 1/20)
The state of Wyoming is arguing the state Supreme Court made 鈥渕istakes鈥 when it decided two near-total abortion bans are unconstitutional. Earlier this month, the high court struck down Wyoming鈥檚 Life is a Human Right Act and 鈥渃hemical,鈥 or medical, abortion ban, which together ban most abortions with a few exceptions. The majority of justices said those laws violate residents鈥 constitutional right to make their own healthcare decisions. (Merzbach, 1/20)
More than 50 Missourians gathered at the state capital Tuesday for the first Alpha-Gal Syndrome Advocacy Day to connect and learn more about a bill which would make the reporting of the condition mandatory. (Smith, 1/21)
Students at 10 Howard County high schools say menstrual product dispensers are 鈥渁lmost never鈥 stocked or are missing altogether, despite a state mandate that public schools must provide and fill them. (Yelenik, 1/20)
Also 鈥
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers that previously recalled canned tuna was recently shipped to retail stores in several states. According to a new recall alert shared by the FDA on Monday, a third-party distributor 鈥渋nadvertently鈥 shipped quarantined canned tuna that Tri-Union Seafoods recalled roughly a year ago. Officials said the initial recall was issued after the company learned that some of the product鈥檚 鈥渆asy open鈥 pull tab lids were defective and could cause the cans to leak, 鈥渙r worse, be contaminated with clostridium botulinum, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning.鈥 (Langenfeld and Bink, 1/20)