CNN: Following California's Gun Laws Could Potentially Save 300,000 Lives in the Next Ten Years
Nearly 300,000 lives could be saved from the nation’s wave of gun violence over the next decade if every US state enacted gun control laws like those held by states such as California and New York, according to a new study announced Friday by a gun violence prevention non-profit group. (Tucker and Jimenez, 1/5)
Firstpost: The Rise of Adolescent Gun Involvement in the US: 17-Year-Old Linked to Iowa School Shooting Raises Concerns
The 17-year-old student at the high school is believed to have acted alone. The motive of the attack was not clear, according to law enforcement officials. Dylan Butler was armed with two firearms – a handgun and shotgun – and a makeshift explosive device when he walked into Perry High School around 7.30 am. He opened fire on the campus minutes before classes resumed. The teenage gunman’s friends told The Associated Press that he was a quiet person who was bullied for years. “He was hurting. He got tired. He got tired of the bullying. He got tired of the harassment. Was it a smart idea to shoot up the school? No. God, no,” said 17-year-old Yesenia Roeder. Her sister Khamya Hall, also 17, echoed similar views alongside their mother Alita. They said that their classmate, who police identified as the shooter, was bullied relentlessly since elementary school. That escalated recently, they said, when his younger sister started getting picked on too. Officials at the school didn’t intervene, they said, and that was “the last straw” for Butler. (1/5)
KFF Health News: Utilizing Medicaid Funds by States to Address Gun Violence
To tackle America’s gun problem, a growing number of states are using Medicaid dollars to pay for community-based programs intended to stop shootings. The idea is to boost resources for violence prevention programs, which have been overwhelmed in some cities by a spike in violent crime since the start of the covid-19 pandemic. An infusion of reliable federal funding, advocates say, could allow these nonprofits to expand their reach to more residents most at risk of being shot — or of shooting someone. (Young, 1/5)
Axios: Low Prices Identified as the Perplexing Cause of America's Drug Shortage
A rash of generic drug shortages across the United States can be partly explained by a somewhat counterintuitive and politically inconvenient factor: The prices are way too low. (Owens, 1/5)
Stat: Evidence from Baby Monitor Videos Supports Long-Suspected Connection Between Seizures and Unexplained Toddler Deaths
The baby monitor didn’t go off. Any sound or motion in the twins’ room was supposed to set off an alarm — but in the wee hours of Nov. 27, 2022, Katie Czajkowski-Fell and Justin Fell weren’t woken up. They’d gotten it because of Hayden’s febrile seizures. These are common, generally nothing to worry about, the doctors said. Toddlers’ immune responses can be more assertive than adults’, burning into action against a world they’re still getting used to, routinely sparking high fevers, potentially irritating the brain. Hayden would likely grow out of them. (Boodman, 1/4)
Los Angeles Times: Lack of Regulation in California's Court-Ordered Parenting Classes
Before they were charged with torturing and murdering their 4-year-old son, Ursula Juarez and Jose Cuatro were ordered by a court to complete classes meant to teach them how to be better parents. For 12 weeks in 2017, court records show, they each attended parenting classes as part of their case plan with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services in an effort to regain custody of their toddler, Noah Cuatro, who was taken by the state after allegations that another child in the home had been abused. (Mays, 1/4)
NBC News: Increasing Flu Cases Persist Among Young Children, Particularly in the Southeast and West Regions
As kids go back to school and families return to a post-holiday routine, flu season is on track to be a rough one in some states, especially in the Southeast and parts of the West, doctors say. Thirty-three states are reporting high to very high case counts of influenza-like illnesses, and there have been about 4,500 flu-related deaths, including those of 20 children, since the 2023-24 season began in October. (Edwards, 1/3)
Forbes: Asthma Patients on Flovent Encounter Issues Due to Medicaid Rebate Rule
Medicaid has a new rebate rule for prescription drugs which underwent substantial price increases in the past. In response, the pharmaceutical firm GSK is withdrawing branded Flovent, an asthma medication, and replacing it with an "authorized generic" at a modestly lower price than the branded product. But because it will have no price history it will not be subject to the Medicaid rule. However, owing to the convoluted drug pricing and reimbursement system in the U.S., the authorized generic Flovent won’t be as broadly covered by pharmacy benefit managers as the branded product was, leaving some patients with an access problem. (Cohen, 1/3)
The Hill: GOP Opposes New Rule Aimed at Safeguarding LGBTQ Foster Children
A new rule requiring child welfare agencies to place LGBTQ children in “environments free of hostility, mistreatment, or abuse” based on the child’s sexual orientation, gender identity or expression is drawing opposition from Republicans. The proposed rule, issued in September by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), also would require caregivers to undergo cultural competency training to ensure LGBTQ youths are placed in homes where their identities are affirmed. (Migdon, 1/3)
CIDRAP: Research Reveals Decrease in Food Insecurity in the US Amidst the Pandemic
Through government programs that included the expansion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), food insecurity among low-income US adults dropped by nearly 5% during the pandemic but rose by 2022, according to a study today in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The findings were based on results from the 2019, 2021, and 2022 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a nationally representative survey from the National Center for Health Statistics; 2020 was excluded due to pandemic-related restrictions on conducting the survey. Adults aged 18 and older were included in the survey, and low-income adults were those with household incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty limit. (Soucheray, 1/2)
CBS News: 2024 California Legislation Eliminates "Retarded" and "Addict" from Official Terminology
Two bills signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom this year will remove outdated terminology in state law language for certain classes of people beginning in January. Assembly Bill 248, also known as the Dignity for All Act, removes the words and phrases "mentally retarded persons," "mentally retarded children," "retardation" and "handicap" from existing laws to eliminate "obsolete terminology," as per the bill's text. Instead, terms like "individuals with disabilities" or "individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities" will be used. (12/30)