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In the span of 11 terrifying minutes, a gunman targeting Black people killed two shoppers and an employee at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Fla., a rampage that the authorities are investigating as a hate crime and that has reverberated through a community that has long coped with the legacy of racism. The shooting on Saturday, on the same day that the nation commemorated the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, prompted somber vigils and renewed vows for unity from residents and officials, but also a tense appearance by the governor in a city that in recent years has dealt with a series of hateful incidents and a continuing dispute over Confederate monuments. (Manna, Betts and Mazzei, 8/27)

Jacksonville police on Sunday said law enforcement had been called about the gunman previously in a domestic incident, and he also had been held during a mental health crisis. But those cases did not result in a criminal record, so there was no legal reason to stop him from acquiring the guns he purchased this year between April and July. (Shammas, Cadell and Javaid, 8/27)

The shooting occurred as the Jacksonville community prepared for an annual commemoration of what is known as Ax Handle Saturday. In an unforgettable exhibition of brutality 63 years ago, a mob of white people used baseball bats and ax handles to club peaceful Black demonstrators protesting segregation at a downtown lunch counter on Aug. 27, 1960. Police first stood by but joined the white mob when the Black group began fighting back. Instead of collaring any white instigators, police arrested several Black people. (Calvan, 8/28)

“Our Jax community and nation are shaken to the core,” Katie Hathaway of Moms Demand Action said. “Another horrific tragedy the United States has come to normalize for the sake of someone’s ‘rights.’ An extremist with hate in his heart and easy access to guns targeted our Jax Black community, armed with a military style weapon with swastikas on it.” (Holthaus, 8/27)

Gun violence prevention research has experienced a small boom in the wake of mounting shooting deaths, expanded funding and burgeoning advocacy. (Stobbe, 8/24)

One of two gun stores owned by Representative Andrew Clyde in Georgia, Clyde Armory in Athens, was placed in a monitoring program in 2020 and 2021. (Thrush, 8/25)

Federal authorities have been investigating nearly 5,000 pilots suspected of falsifying their medical records to conceal that they were receiving benefits for mental health disorders and other serious conditions that could make them unfit to fly, documents and interviews show. The pilots under scrutiny are military veterans who told the Federal Aviation Administration that they are healthy enough to fly, yet failed to report — as required by law — that they were also collecting veterans benefits for disabilities that could bar them from the cockpit. (Rein and Whitlock, 8/27)

Use of mental health care increased substantially during the coronavirus pandemic, as teletherapy lowered barriers to regular visits, according to a large study of insurance claims published Friday in JAMA Health Forum. From March 2020 to August 2022, mental health visits increased by 39 percent, and spending increased by 54 percent, the study found. Its examination of 1,554,895 claims for clinician visits also identified a tenfold increase in the use of telehealth. (Barry, 8/25)

The Associated Press has found that 14 of the 20 most populous U.S. cities are experimenting with removing police from certain, nonviolent 911 calls and sending behavioral health clinicians. (Peltz and Bedayn, 8/28)

Yale University is settling a federal lawsuit that said the Ivy League school discriminated against students with mental health disabilities, including pressuring them to withdraw. Under the agreement, Yale will modify its policies regarding medical leaves of absence, including streamlining the reinstatement process for students who return to campus. The student group, which also represents alumni, had argued the process was onerous, discouraging students for decades from taking medical leave when they needed it most. (8/26)

Safe Connections is expanding its violence prevention program to reach younger kids. The St. Louis-based organization’s program, Project Hart, will now include children in third through fifth grade. Destiny Green, the prevention and community education manager at Safe Connections, said it’s important to start conversation about consent and boundaries early. (Lewis-Thompson, 8/28)

Some of the most widely used drugs in the US may be heading for lower prices under Medicare, a move that could save taxpayers billions of dollars and squeeze profits for big pharmaceutical companies. The US government is preparing to release a list this week of 10 drugs that the health program for the elderly will be able to negotiate prices for — one of the key elements of President Joe Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act. Analysts expect Johnson & Johnson’s Xarelto blood thinner and Eli Lilly & Co.’s Jardiance for diabetes to be among the medications chosen. (Tozzi and Cattan, 8/28)

For the first time, the federal government is allowed to negotiate drug prices for older Americans because of the Inflation Reduction Act, the sweeping climate and health legislation passed by Congress last year. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must publish the list of 10 drugs by Friday, but administration officials have signaled the announcement could come earlier in the week. (Alltucker, 8/27)

AstraZeneca is the sixth drugmaker to pile on a legal challenge to the Biden administration’s drug pricing reform law. The Medicare drug price negotiation program created in the Inflation Reduction Act is set to kick off in the next week, as officials will release the names of the first 10 medicines that will be selected for the program. Medicines are eligible for selection if they are one of the highest-spend drugs for Medicare, and they have no generic competition. (Cohrs, 8/25)

Until 2003, Medicare covered most hospital and doctor visits for the elderly, but it did not cover the ever-growing costs of prescription medications. Former President George W. Bush changed that when he signed a law adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare. But there was a catch. At drug companies’ behest, the Republican-controlled Congress banned Medicare from using its market power to drive down drug prices. The prohibition was controversial at the time — Nancy Pelosi, then the House Minority Leader, called it “unconscionable.” Critics saw the prohibition as the government’s abandonment of the single most effective tool for restraining drug costs. (Bagley, 8/27)

For more than five million Americans, even a dollar of extra income can boost annual Medicare premiums by hundreds or thousands of dollars—but refunds of these surcharges are sometimes available. Many Medicare recipients don’t know this, says Drew Tignanelli, a CPA and adviser who has obtained dozens of refunds for clients: “We warn them when they could get hit hard and tell them to call us when they get the letter.” (Saunders, 8/25)

The federal government has started penalizing Medicare Advantage insurers that have one common, glaring problem: Faulty technology systems are leading to people paying more for care and coverage than they should be. (Herman, 8/28)

Reports of COVID-19 in emergency room visits from adolescents have nearly doubled over the past week, new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows, reaching levels not seen in a year. Measured as a share of all emergency room visits in children ages 12 to 15 years old, the figures published late Thursday by the CDC show weekly COVID-19 averages have accelerated to 2.43% through August 21. (Tin, 8/25)

In the United States, a slow but steady rise in COVID activity continued over the past week according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while at the global level, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today that indicators are up in three of six regions. Much of the activity is occurring against the backdrop of newer XBB variants that contain the F456L mutation, though health officials say they are closely watching the heavily mutated BA.2.86 virus, which is circulating but with an impact that's unclear. (Schnirring, 8/25)

"People 65-plus and people who are immunocompromised should strongly consider masking during flu, RSV, COVID season while in indoor public spaces," said Dr. Céline Gounder, a CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at �鶹Ů�� Health News. "And for everyone else — it all depends on what their risk tolerance is." (Moniuszko, 8/25)

COVID cases are still on the rise, but an updated vaccine could be more than a month away. That leaves some concerned people in a predicament: get boosted now, or wait? (Martichoux, 8/26)

Lucien Dhooge, 63, likes to get his flu shot early every year before being around college students at the University of Washington Tacoma, where he teaches law and ethics. This year, he decided to get the new vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus at the same time, so he made an appointment earlier this month for both shots at his local Walgreens in Gig Harbor, Wash. But when he arrived at the pharmacy, he was told that the R.S.V. vaccine wasn’t covered by his insurance provider, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. The out-of-pocket cost? About $330. (Smith, 8/25)

The risk of death from SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection was four times higher than that from influenza in late 2022 and early 2023 in France, a Harvard Medical School researcher reports today in Epidemiology & Infection. (Van Beusekom, 8/25)

The steepest declines were in staff responsiveness and cleanliness, possibly reflecting pandemic staffing shortages and the effects of COVID-19 prevention measures (eg, healthcare workers having to don personal protective equipment). Communication about medicines, care transition, overall hospital rating, communication with nurses, hospital recommendations, and communication with doctors were moderately affected. (Van Beusekom, 8/25)

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals said on Friday it plans to appeal a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware on two patents asserted against Moderna for the latter's COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Alnylam sued both Moderna and Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) in Delaware last year, seeking royalties for the lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology their vaccines use to deliver genetic material known as mRNA. (8/25)

Scientists and educators are searching for ways to improve air quality in the nation’s often dilapidated school buildings. (Mandavilli, 8/27)

More than 8 in 10 health care leaders in a new survey say hiring and keeping talent is a top risk for their business — a reflection of the labor issues continuing to roil health care and other high-stakes industries. Health care executives (82%) were more likely than those from most industries (71%) to indicate concern about talent retention in this inflationary environment, according to a PwC August Pulse Survey. (Reed, 8/28)

Two health systems of vastly different sizes are using technology to tackle a widespread problem—clinician burnout. Burnout was already an issue for providers and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the problem. A July study in JAMA Health Forum found nearly half of nurses and a third of physicians reported high levels of burnout. Also, more than 40% of nurses said they’d leave the profession if they could. (Perna, 8/25)

As MassHealth considers covering doula care for pregnant and postpartum patients, a move intended to improve maternal outcomes for the most vulnerable populations, it must be sure to adequately compensate doulas, advocates said Friday at a public hearing. The Executive Office of Health and Human Services held the hearing Friday morning on proposed regulation that would govern how much doulas are paid if they become covered by MassHealth, a move expected to happen by October as part of the state’s efforts to reduce racial inequities in maternal outcomes. (Mohammed, 8/25)

San Antonio-based CentroMed is reporting a data breach affecting 350,000 individuals, according to a filing with the HHS. An unauthorized party accessed CentroMed’s systems on June 9. The HHS described the breach as a hacking incident. (8/25)

Upland, Pa.-based Crozer Health confirmed to Becker's that its computer systems are back online after an Aug. 3 ransomware attack on its parent company, Prospect Medical Holdings, rendered them offline. "Crozer Health's computer systems are now back up and running as normal and the health system is continuing to provide safe, quality care to patients following a data security incident that disrupted our operations," Lori Bookbinder, manager of communications and media relations at Crozer, told Becker's.  (Diaz, 8/25)

Ocean Springs, Miss.-based Singing River Health System, its three hospitals and its medical clinics are still resorting to paper records as the organization was forced to take its systems offline due to a cyberattack, BankInfoSecurity reported Aug. 24. "Systems remain offline and downtime procedures remain in place as we continue to see patients," a spokesperson for Singing River told the publication.  (Diaz, 8/25)

A Eastern Connecticut Health Network nurse says staff are doing their best to make sense of their paychecks as their systems are still down due to a ransomware attack that started Aug. 3, WFSB reported Aug. 24. "Despite the fact that we're logging our hours on paper hour sheets, they've been telling us that there's no way to keep track of our hours," Dee, a nurse for Manchester-based Eastern Connecticut Health Network, told the publication. (Diaz, 8/25)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Journalists Track Hospitals’ Delivery Of Charity Care And The Menace Of ‘Forever Chemicals’

�鶹Ů�� Health News senior Colorado correspondent Markian Hawryluk discussed how the community of Pueblo is pushing back against a nonprofit hospitals’ lack of charity care on Colorado Public Radio on Aug. 17. ... �鶹Ů�� Health News former senior editor Andy Miller discussed PFAS, otherwise known as “forever chemicals,” on WUGA’s “The Georgia Health Report” on Aug. 18. Miller also discussed a �鶹Ů�� survey on weight loss drugs and health care fraud on WUGA’s “The Georgia Health Report” on Aug. 11 and Aug. 4, respectively. (8/26)

Rite Aid is preparing to file for bankruptcy in coming weeks to address mass federal and state lawsuits the drugstore chain is facing over its alleged role in the sale of opioids, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. The chapter 11 filing would cover Rite Aid’s more than $3.3 billion debt load and pending legal allegations that it oversupplied prescription painkillers, the people said. Philadelphia-based Rite Aid hasn’t agreed on a settlement with federal, state government and private opioid plaintiffs to resolve those opioid liabilities in a potential chapter 11 and is currently planning to treat them as general unsecured claims, they said. (Gladstone, Scurria, and Klein, 8/25)

Drugmaker Mallinckrodt on Monday said the company and some of its units have filed for a second bankruptcy in 3 years in the U.S., with the newest restructuring plan set to reduce its debt by about $1.9 billion. The Ireland-based company initiated Chapter 11 proceedings after reaching a debt reduction deal that would cut $1 billion from the amount it owes to victims of the opioid crisis. (8/28)

Nine members of the Georgia congressional delegation sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration Thursday seeking answers to questions on cancer drugs that have been in shortage for months. The shortage, brought to a head by the shutdown of a large manufacturing plant in India, could harm patients because doctors have been forced to change treatment plans. “Providers at cancer centers have started to alter treatment programs and delay preferred therapies due to limited drug availability,” the letter states. (Hart, 8/27)

It’s been 10 months since the Food and Drug Administration first announced a nationwide shortage of Adderall — one of the most widely used medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — and the supply strain could potentially worsen in the months ahead. (Constantino, 8/26)

"There's really been a large number of clinical and anecdotal reports coming in suggesting that people's drinking behaviors are changing and in some instances pretty substantially while taking [Ozempic or Wegovy]," says Christian Hendershot, a psychologist and addiction researcher at the University of North Carolina. He's leading one of six clinical trials now underway aimed at understanding how semaglutide may alter people's drinking and smoking habits. (Doucleff, 8/28)

Over the past year, weight loss drugs have captured the public’s imagination but also raised existential questions about the future of bariatric surgery. For obesity, surgery has long been — and continues to be — the most effective treatment, reducing patients’ risk of sleep apnea, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and death. However, the gap between weight loss drugs and bariatric surgery is starting to narrow after Wegovy cut the risk of major heart complications by 20% in Novo Nordisk’s SELECT trial. (Bajaj, 8/28)

The Upper East Side is one of the city’s wealthiest and healthiest neighborhoods. It has one of the highest life expectancies, and among the lowest rates of diabetes and obesity in New York City. Now the neighborhood’s residents are getting even thinner. Last year, about 2.3 percent of people living along a stretch of Manhattan that extended from the Upper East Side down to Gramercy Park were taking Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro — injectable medications belonging to a breakthrough new class of weight loss and diabetes drugs, according to an analysis by Trilliant Health, a health care analytics firm. That was the highest rate in New York City. (Goldstein, 8/26)

Most research shows that over-the-counter fish oil supplements don’t offer cardiovascular benefits, but that hasn’t stopped marketers from touting them for heart health, a new study shows. The sale of fish oil supplements is a multibillion-dollar industry, and many people take fish oil capsules daily, believing the omega-3 fatty acids they contain are good for their overall health, particularly for their heart. (Bever, 8/23)

3M and plaintiffs attorneys are nearing a settlement that would resolve hundreds of thousands of claims by veterans that earplugs made by the company and a subsidiary failed to protect them from hearing loss. Under the terms being discussed, 3M would pay about $5.5 billion, people close to the discussions said. Negotiations are continuing, they said, and the final amount hasn’t been established yet. (Tita and Keilman, 8/27)

Neumora, a neuroscience startup founded by VC Arch Venture Partners, hopes to become one of the few biotechs to go public this year. The company filed paperwork for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. It did not state how many shares it plans to sell or at what price. (DeAngelis, 8/25)

Liberal groups, long accustomed to seeing the court as hostile terrain, quickly maneuvered for potential victories on a string of major issues, including abortion. (Marley, 8/27)

Less than a month after their double-digit victory on abortion rights in Ohio, Democrats are preparing to pour millions of dollars into the next big battlefront over the hot-button policy. Across the border in Pennsylvania, a seat on the state Supreme Court is up for grabs this November, and a Democrat who has vowed to protect “women’s reproductive rights” is running against a Republican who’s promised to defend “all life under the law.” (Otterbein, 8/27)

In the year since Roe v. Wade was reversed, New Mexico has emerged as a safe haven for those who provide abortions and those who need them. (Ebbers and Kavathas, 8/25)

The fight over the Missouri abortion ban begins with language. Eager to once again legalize the procedure in the state after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year made way for the General Assembly to ban it, abortion-rights supporters have been floating 11 versions of a petition to ask voters for a change in November 2024. They submitted those would-be changes to the state constitution to Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft to sort out what sort of summary could actually show up on ballots. (Cunningham, 8/28)

�鶹Ů�� Health News and PolitiFact: Untangling Ron DeSantis’ Debate Anecdote About An Improbable Abortion Survival Story 

When the topic of abortion came up during the first Republican primary presidential debate this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shared a perplexing anecdote about a woman he’d met who he said had survived the procedure. “I know a lady in Florida named Penny,” DeSantis said. “She survived multiple abortion attempts. She was left discarded in a pan. Fortunately, her grandmother saved her and brought her to a different hospital.” Some accused the governor of fabricating the story. (Putterman, 8/25)

Pennsylvania is facing a worsening crisis of severe health problems after childbirth, according to a new state report that found a 40% rise in the rate of poor outcomes between 2016 and 2022. The data released this week offers a chilling snapshot of a national maternal health crisis that disproportionately affects people of color and low-income families, even as more health resources were devoted to improving prenatal and postpartum care. (Gantz, 8/26)

A new technology at St. Anthony Hospital is now connecting mothers and newborns with family and friends across the U.S. and Mexico. The new system is just the latest in an array of services the community hospital is offering to make its patients feel welcome regardless of citizenship status as Chicago’s migrant population has grown to over 13,500 in the past year. (Salzman, 8/28)

About one in every eight women experiences symptoms of postpartum depression, also known as perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs), per CDC data — and with a national shortage of mental health providers, many may find it difficult to get care. Researchers at the University of Texas are looking to bridge that gap by using artificial intelligence, according to a report from Kris 6 News in Texas. (Rudy, 8/26)

A Texas law banning transgender youth from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy will go into effect this week after the state attorney general’s office filed to block a judge’s temporary injunction against Senate Bill 14. In her decision Friday, state district court Judge Maria Cantú Hexsel wrote that SB 14 “interferes with Texas families’ private decisions and strips Texas parents … of the right to seek, direct, and provide medical care for their children.” (Melhado, 8/25)

A St. Louis judge has denied an attempt to prevent a new law prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender youth from going into effect. Earlier this summer, a number of plaintiffs sued to block the law barring transgender minors from accessing things care such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy. They contended that the law violated state guarantees of equal protection. But in a ruling released on Friday afternoon, St. Louis Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer denied a request for a preliminary injunction. That means the new law will go into effect on Monday while the case is heard. (Rosenbaum, 8/25)

One of Iowa’s largest cities repealed its ban on “conversion therapy” — the discredited practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling — after a Christian organization threatened legal action, part of a deepening national movement to challenge protections for LGBTQ+ kids. The city council in Waterloo voted this week to remove its restrictions after Liberty Counsel warned in a letter June 30 that it would “take further action” if the city did not repeal the ordinance by August 1. It was enacted in May. (Fingerhut, 8/25)

As Missouri lawmakers were considering the most anti-LGBTQ bills of any state, the state health department quietly scrubbed youth sexual health and LGBTQ resources from its website. (Bayless, 8/25)

When classes resume for kids in eight states, they won’t have to worry about where their next meals will be coming from because they’ll be free. Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado, Vermont, Michigan, and Massachusetts will make school breakfasts and lunches permanently free to all students starting this academic year, regardless of family income, following in the footsteps of California and Maine. Several other states are considering similar changes and congressional supporters want to extend free meals to all kids nationwide. (Karnowski and Bryan, 8/26)

Alabama is seeking to become the first state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe pure nitrogen. The Alabama attorney general’s office on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58. The court filing indicated Alabama plans to put him to death by nitrogen hypoxia, an execution method that is authorized in three states but has never been used. (Chandler, 8/25)

Sugar cane burning in South Florida makes harvesting the crop easier and cheaper. But residents at the southern end of Lake Okeechobee in Palm Beach County may be at greater risk of Alzheimer’s and related dementia. Particle pollution from sugar cane burning can cross the blood brain barrier and lead to brain inflammation. (Zaragovia, 8/25)

Veterans Affairs staffers have found housing for more than 26,000 veterans at risk of homelessness through the first seven months of this year thanks to unprecedented outreach through community partners, department leaders announced Monday. Combined with similar efforts last year, more than 67,000 veterans have received permanent housing since the start of 2022, part of an administration-wide effort to cut down on homelessness across America. (Shane III, 8/28)

State and federal agencies are scrambling to find measures to combat what experts call one of the harshest and most neglected effects of climate change in the U.S.: rising heat deaths and injuries of people who work in triple-digit temperatures. (Stern, 8/28)

�鶹Ů�� Health News and Tampa Bay Times: More Cities Address ‘Shade Deserts’ As Extreme Heat Triggers Health Issues

If it weren’t for the traffic along South MacDill Avenue, Javonne Mansfield swears you could hear the sizzle of a frying pan. The sun is scorching with such violent intensity that even weathered Floridians can’t help but take note. In a hard hat, Mansfield pushes a shovel into the earth. Heat radiates from the road, the concrete parking lots. It’s around 10:30 a.m., and his crew is starting a 10-hour shift fixing traffic lights in West Tampa. Cloud coverage is minimal — thin and wispy. There’s no greenery or trees to shield them, no refuge from the blistering sun. (Peace and Prator, 8/28)

Eric Hitchner teaches English on the fourth floor of a 111-year-old high school in Philadelphia. Come September, his classroom will be packed with a new crop of teenagers, but one thing will be the same: the lack of air conditioning. It can get so hot in his room, he says, "no one wants to even move, let alone do some strenuous thinking." (Carrillo, 8/28)

Grand Canyon National Park officials are warning that E. coli bacteria has been detected in the water supply close to Phantom Ranch, the only lodging at the bottom of the canyon. Park authorities said visitors should not consume any water in that area without boiling it first. E. coli can lead to diarrhea, cramps, headaches and sometimes kidney failure and even death. Infants, younger children and immuno-compromised people are more at risk. (8/25)

Researchers from Dell Medical School in Austin, Texas, are warning parents and caregivers not to toss babies and young children into the air in rooms with ceiling fans. Some 2,300 children were treated in U.S. emergency rooms for head injuries between 2013 and 2021, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics this month. (Rudy, 8/27)

A group of Nigerian, British, and U.S. doctors have discovered a genetic variant that increases the risk of Parkinson’s disease in people of African and mixed-African descent and is not seen in those with European ancestry, a finding that could improve treatment of the movement disorder in a vastly underserved population. (McFarling, 8/25)

A recent study showed that tests for sick newborns that look at their full genetic blueprints are nearly twice as good at finding genetic problems as narrower, more commonly used tests. (Ungar, 8/26)

Bronny James went into cardiac arrest during a basketball workout at the University of Southern California last month because of a congenital heart defect. ... “It is an anatomically and functionally significant Congenital Heart Defect which can and will be treated,” the statement said. “We are very confident in Bronny’s full recovery and return to basketball in the very near future.” (Harris, 8/25)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: A Nanoengineer Teamed Up With Rihanna’s Tattoo Artist To Make Smarter Ink 

Mad-scientist kind of moments happen fairly often for nanoengineer Carson Bruns. A few months ago in his lab at the University of Colorado-Boulder, he tested his latest invention on his own arm and asked a colleague for help. “We were like, ‘OK, we’re going to tattoo ourselves. Can you help us today?’” he said. (Bichell, 8/28)

When you’re a psychiatrist, there’s no such thing as a typical day. But if you’re working in a clinic setting (like one of us, Jessi, is currently, and the other, Simone, has done previously), one thing is for sure: You’re busy. And it’s not just about seeing patients — it’s the seemingly ever-increasing electronic messages. (Simone Bernstein and Jessica Gold, 8/28)

Music can have a profound effect on us. It can improve our physical and mental health by helping to reduce blood pressure, alleviate stress and lead to a release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that affects our mood and sense of happiness, research shows. As a music therapist working in a hospital, I use music to help reduce anxiety in patients. A review of 19 randomized controlled trials showed “an overall decrease in self-reported anxiety” among healthy individuals after listening to music, and a study I participated in found that a music therapy session resulted in positive outcomes for some patients. (Raymond Leone, 8/25)

Politicians have become particularly skittish about what ought to be common-sense steps to protect basic public health. The Pasteur Act, for instance, would address the antibiotic resistance crisis that threatens our entire system of medical care, but it’s been stalled in Congress for years. Funding for federal pandemic preparedness programs comes up for reauthorization in September, but its passage is in doubt. (Richard Conniff, 8/28)

As a new school year begins, parents are trying to figure out where their children stand after the dramatic learning losses of the coronavirus pandemic. School boards and lawmakers are deciding how to spend their remaining federal recovery funds — which must be designated by next fall — and where to concentrate their efforts. (Alyssa Rosenberg, 8/28)

I was physically destroyed the first time I rode my bike home from Costco lugging a trailer full of groceries. The 11-mile round trip left me with dead legs, a sore back and the sneaking suspicion I had made a mistake. A month earlier, my 23-year-old minivan broke down for the last time. Rather than replace it, I decided a new “car-free” reality would encourage a healthier lifestyle. My aching muscles questioned the viability of this plan. (Andrew Leonard, 8/26)

Connecticut hospitals work every day to deliver exceptional, accessible quality care for everyone who walks through their doors, regardless of ability to pay. Connecticut hospitals not only deliver remarkable care in times of crisis – addressing severe trauma, helping victims of violence, providing groundbreaking treatment to save lives, and maintaining emergency preparedness – they are also working to address health disparities worsened by the pandemic and to provide a wide range of services that extend beyond hospital walls to support community wellbeing and address social influencers of health, such as housing needs, food insecurity, transportation, and employment. (Jennifer Jackson, 8/28)