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A troubling spike in sleep-related infant deaths
Catherine Pearson, The New York Times, Jan. 27
Rates of sudden unexpected infant death in the United States increased by nearly 12 percent from 2020 to 2022, according to a new study. The study raised questions about why rates of sleep-related death remain notably higher among Black, Native American and Pacific Islander babies than white and Asian babies. While the study does not explain why there is an uptick in sleep-related infant deaths, some experts suggest it might be linked to the surge of covid and other respiratory illnesses, maternal opioid use and the influence of social media on unsafe sleeping practices.
Heart disease remains leading cause of death in US, new report finds
Mary Kekatos, ABC News, Jan. 27
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. A new report found that a person in the U.S. dies of cardiovascular disease every 34 seconds, or nearly 2,500 people every day. It also found racial and ethnic disparities, with Black Americans having the highest prevalence of cardiovascular disease. Between 2017 and 2020, 59% of non-Hispanic Black females and 58.9% of non-Hispanic Black males had some form of the disease. Experts believe risk factors for cardiovascular disease are expected to rise over the next several years.
Since 988 launch, mental health crisis services have faltered
Theresa Gaffney, STAT News, Jan. 29
In July 2022, 988 launched as the number anyone across the country could dial in a mental health crisis. A key objective of the nationwide rollout was to strengthen an underfunded, patchwork system that left many people alone in a time of crisis. More than two years later, calls to the national hotline have increased but fewer psychiatric facilities are offering emergency walk-in services, mobile crisis response units, and suicide prevention services. Publicly funded facilities and those that accepted Medicaid or private insurance were all more likely to offer crisis services compared with their counterparts.
A program to close insurance gaps for Native Americans has gone largely unused
Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez, KFF Health News, Jan. 24
Dale Rice was uninsured when he had to have surgery for an infection. Years later he still owes the hospital more than $20,000 and still gets calls from collection agencies. Rice said he fell through a gap in the tribal health care system because he lives 1,500 miles from the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation home area in eastern Kansas, where he’s an enrolled member. While he was able to receive primary care where he lives in Nevada, structural barriers in the federal Indian Health Service left him without coverage for specialty care. A new program allows tribes to buy health insurance through the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace, however experts say it is not widespread.
Scourge of flavored tobacco products disproportionately hits CT youth and minorities, report finds
Sujata Srinivasan, Connecticut Public Radio, Jan. 30
Connecticut received two failing grades in the latest “State of Tobacco” report from the American Lung Association. The Fs were given for not ending the sale of all flavored tobacco products and for not adequately funding state tobacco prevention programs. Experts said the tobacco industry targets advertising toward Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ communities, negatively impacting health outcomes. Flavored tobacco products are also a huge draw for children and youth. Connecticut invested more than $12 million in tobacco prevention programs over the last two years, but lawmakers did not approve the continuation of that funding for 2025.