🦃 President Biden pardoned two turkeys today as part of the annual Thanksgiving tradition. Chocolate and Chip will live at North Carolina State University and hopefully never have to hear corny jokes at their expense again.
On today’s health news, House Democrats denounced anti-trans threats that have been made against children’s hospitals and called on the Justice Department to respond.
Welcome to night health care, where we follow the latest developments in policies and news concerning your health. For The Hill, we are Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi. Did someone forward this newsletter to you?
House Dems urge response to threats of violence
Dozens of House Democrats are calling on the Justice Department to counter threats of online violence directed at several children’s hospitals across the country.
In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Democrats asked the DOJ to outline steps the agency is taking to address threats of anti-transgender violence and provide additional guidance to health care providers on how to protect their staff and patients from these threats. .
“Online posts from social media accounts spreading misinformation about transgender and non-binary people have had real consequences for health care providers across the country and for their patients,” the Democrats wrote.
The lawmakers’ letter comes as hospitals have cut services and tightened security in recent months due to threats and harassment.
- Earlier this year, a woman was indicted for issuing a bomb threat against Boston Children’s Hospital and its employees after false allegations of child abuse were spread against the hospital by right-wing extremists on the social networks.
- The hospital received its third bomb threat last week.
- Medical institutions in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and others across the country have all reported similar threats, including harassing emails, phone calls and protests that have sparked fears among staff, youth transgender patients and their families.
Learn more here.
Governor pardons some marijuana convictions
Oregon Governor Kate Brown (D) announced on Monday that she was pardoning previous offenses for simple possession of marijuana, removing more than 47,000 convictions from individual records.
The decision will affect up to 45,000 people in Oregon and reverse $14 million in fines and fees, according to a statement from Brown.
- “No one deserves to forever have to deal with the consequences of a conviction for simple possession of marijuana – a crime that is no longer on the books in Oregon,” the governor said.
- “Oregonians should never face housing insecurity, job barriers, and education barriers for doing something that is now completely legal, and has been doing it for years,” a- she added.
Eligibility: Brown’s pardon will be applied to electronically available records of Oregon convictions for conviction of one ounce or less of marijuana. Eligible convictions must have occurred before 2016 in which the individual was over the age of 21 and no victim was involved.
Brown’s action comes about six weeks after President Biden announced he was pardoning all federal offenses for simple possession of marijuana. He also cited the obstacles that a marijuana-related conviction presents in a person’s life when explaining his decision.
Not all boarded: Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office (right) said he would not ‘take criminal justice advice’ from Biden, and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (right) said emphatically that he was “not considering” a pardon for possession of marijuana.
Learn more here.
2020-21 NFL SEASON ASSOCIATED WITH COVID SPIKES: RESEARCH
NFL games fans attended during the 2020-21 season have been linked to increased rates of COVID-19 cases in the counties where they were played and in those surrounding stadiums.
Findings from a new study, published in JAMA Network Open, show that spikes were larger when games had more than 20,000 participants, while those with fewer than 5,000 fans were not associated with higher case rates. higher.
The results suggest that “large events should be treated with extreme caution during public health events where vaccines, on-site testing, and various countermeasures are not readily available to the public,” the authors wrote.
- A total of 269 home games were included in the analysis. Researchers measured rates of COVID-19 cases seven, 14 and 21 days after each game and compared rates of games with and without in-person attendance.
- Over a million fans attended the games. Games with more than
20,000 fans were associated with peak COVID-19 infection rates 2.23 times higher than those with lower attendance.
Learn more here.
CERVICAL CANCER IN MILLENNIUM WOMEN ON THE RISE
Cervical cancer rates among millennial women rose 2.5% each year from 2012 to 2019, reversing years of declining incidence in this age group, according to news reports. data.
After declines from 2001 to 2012, the incidence of cervical cancer rose to 11.60 per 100,000 women aged 30 to 34 in 2019, according to study results published in JAMA.
- “For two years we have been trying to understand why the continued decline in cervical cancer stopped in 2012 and why we have reached a critical juncture,” said co-author Ashish Deshmukh of Medical University of South Carolina in a statement. .
- “What is very surprising is that the [millennial] rates increased in non-Hispanic white women, Hispanic women, and other ethnic groups, but not in non-Hispanic black women,” Deshmukh added.
More than 227,000 cases of cervical cancer were recorded between 2001 and 2019.
The majority of cervical cancer cases are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted infection.
Between 2001 and 2019, cervical cancer rates continued to decline in younger and older age groups, and incidence declined overall. The rates remained relatively stable for women aged 35 to 54.
Learn more here.
1 in 7 did not discuss vaccines with the child’s doctor
Some parents have avoided talking about their children’s vaccines altogether during the pandemic, new research shows.
One in 7 parents in the United States say they have not discussed vaccines with their child’s doctor since the start of the pandemic, according to a new survey.
- Researchers from CS Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan conducted a survey of 2,023 people with children between the ages of a few months and 18 years old between August and September of this year.
- But the report is based on responses given by 1,483 parents with at least one child between the ages of 6 and 18.
- The survey found that 82% of parents have had discussions with their doctor about the vaccines their children need for school.
Not enough: And while that number means most parents do speak with a health care provider about at least some of their children’s vaccinations, some experts find it concerning.
Rupali Limaye, deputy director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told The Hill she was surprised the number was “not a little higher.”
“That’s one of the things when visiting a well child that a provider should discuss with a parent,” Limaye, who was not involved in the development of the survey or report, told About vaccines.
Learn more here.
WHAT WE READ
- Patient mistrust and lack of access hamper federal efforts to overhaul family planning (Kaiser Health News)
- Top pharma halted Twitter ad buying after Lilly spoofed insulin (Endpoints)
- Time is running out on the congressional mental health agenda (National Journal)
STATE BY STATE
- Minnesota health systems ‘sound alarm’ over RSV (KARE)
- California mentally ill inmates are three times more likely to be mixed (CalMatters)
- Massachusetts colleges continue to encourage, even demand, the latest COVID reminder as the holidays approach (WBUR)
That’s all for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s healthcare page for the latest news and coverage. Until tomorrow.
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