1. Children’s Health
2.  

New Alternative Available for EpiPen Users: San Diego-based ARS Pharmaceuticals has developed a potentially ground-breaking needle-free alternative for people who suffer severe allergies: an epinephrine nasal spray. Neffy, a name that’s intentionally easy to say and sounds kid-friendly, was recently approved by the FDA. Read more from The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Study Suggests 2 Hours Outdoors Daily May Help Reduce Vision Problems in Children, Says The Washington Post

Children should spend up to two hours a day outside to reduce their risk of myopia, or nearsightedness, according to a new consensus report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. At least one of those hours should take place during the school day, the report says. Myopia is a condition in which distant objects are blurry but close-up objects look clear. The National Academies report cites research indicating a significant rise in myopia worldwide. (McMahan, 10/7)

California Healthline: Extended-Stay Hotels, an Increasingly Popular Option for Low-Income Families, May Pose Health Risks for Children

Extended-stay hotels are often a last resort for low-income families trying to avoid homelessness. But hotel living can lead to — or exacerbate — various physical and mental health issues for children, say advocates for families and researchers who study homelessness. (Miller and Rayasam, 10/11)

Newsweek: Study Finds Differences in Neurons of Children with Autism

Children with autism have different brains than children without autism, down to the structure and density of their neurons, according to a study by the University of Rochester Medical Center, New York, published in Autism Research in September. "People with a diagnosis of autism often have other things they have to deal with, such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD," said first author Dr. Zachary Christensen, of the University of Rochester's School of Medicine and Dentistry, in a statement. (Willmoth, 10/10)

1. Mental Health
2.  

CalMatters: Southern California Mental Health Workers Plan Strike at Kaiser Permanente

California mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente are preparing to strike for the second time in a little more than two years, citing stressful working conditions, lack of pensions and inadequate pay —with resultant impacts on patient care. The National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents nearly 2,400 Kaiser Permanente behavioral health workers in Southern California, on Thursday officially advised the health care giant that its members will begin an open-ended strike on Oct. 21. (Wiener, 10/11)

USA Today: CDC Reports Racism in Schools Negatively Affects Mental Health
Students who experienced racism said their mental health also deteriorated, a new study showed. In 2023, nearly a third of high school students across the U.S. said they'd experienced racism in school, which Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers who published the findings defined as unfair treatment due to a person's race or ethnicity. Students of color reported they'd had two to three times more racist experiences than white students who said they'd had. (Cuevas, 10/10)

Reuters: New Study Estimates Over 15 Million U.S. Adults Have ADHD

Roughly 15.5 million U.S. adults have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and most of them struggle with gaining access to treatment for the condition, according to data from a U.S. study released on Thursday. Only about one-third of those reporting a diagnosis of ADHD said they had received a prescription for a stimulant drug used to treat it in the previous year, researchers reported in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Singh, 10/10)

USA Today: Majority of High School Students Report Experiencing Childhood Trauma

A new study found that 3 in 4 high school students experienced at least one potentially traumatic event involving violence, abuse or exposure to mental health or substance use problems. And, notably, 1 in 5 high school students said they experienced at least four of these potentially traumatic events.Health experts call these events adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, and they've been shown to increase the risk of developing chronic health problems and mental health issues in adulthood. (Rodriguez, 10/9)

Roll Call: Survey Shows Most Adults Impacted by Suicide, Call for Increased Prevention Efforts

Nearly all U.S. adults agree that more action can be taken to reduce suicide deaths, with about three-fifths also reporting they have been personally affected by suicide, according to national survey data released Wednesday. Sixty-one percent of adults said they know someone who has considered, attempted or died by suicide, according to the 2024 Public Perception of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Poll, conducted by The Harris Poll. The biennial survey found that number has consistently risen, from 53 percent in 2018 to 55 percent in 2020 and 59 percent in 2022. (Raman, 10/9)

1. Health Industry
2.  

CIDRAP: IV Fluid Shortages, Exacerbated by Hurricane Helene, Expected to Persist Despite Increased Allocations
Shortages of intravenous (IV) fluids, worsened by Hurricane Helene damage at Baxter's Marion, North Carolina, manufacturing plant, are expected to continue for months, although allocations to customers and distributors have increased, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a letter to hospitals yesterday. (Van Beusekom, 10/10)

Modern Healthcare: Premier Reports IV Fluid Shortage Impacting 88% of Providers
Almost 90% of providers are experiencing an IV fluid shortage due to the temporary closure of Baxter's North Carolina plant, according to a survey from group purchasing organization Premier. The survey conducted Monday and Tuesday found 88% of 257 providers surveyed said they were receiving less than half their requested IV fluid orders. The Baxter plant in Marion, North Carolina, which produces 60% of the IV solutions used daily, was shut down Sept. 29 due to Hurricane Helene and sustained damage. (DeSilva, 10/10)

Becker's Hospital Review: A New Era of Nursing Transformation on the Horizon
Nursing is in a "transformational era," leaders told Becker's. From developments in AI and virtual nursing, to shifts in workforce needs and demand, they say the changes are a matter of when, not if. Here, [Jesus Cepero of Stanford (Calif.) Medicine Children's Health and three other] leaders discuss what changes they expect to see in the next five years. (Taylor, 10/9)

The New York Times: U.S. Accelerates Efforts to Replace IV Fluid Supplies Following Hurricane Helene
U.S. officials approved airlifts of IV fluids from overseas manufacturing plants on Wednesday to ease shortages caused by Hurricane Helene that have forced hospitals to begin postponing surgeries as a way to ration supplies for the most fragile patients. ... On Tuesday, workers at B. Braun, makers of a fourth of the nation’s IV fluids, loaded trucks at the company’s plant in Daytona Beach with the medical bags and drove them north through the night to what they hoped would be a safer location. (Jewett, 10/9)

1. Women’s Health
2.  

Reuters: UNICEF Reports One in Eight Girls and Women Experience Rape or Sexual Assault Before Turning 18
More than 370 million girls and women alive today, or one in every eight worldwide, experienced rape or sexual assault before the age of 18, the United Nations children's agency said on Wednesday. The number rises to 650 million, or one in five, when taking into account "non-contact" forms of sexual violence, such as online or verbal abuse, UNICEF reported, in what it called the first global survey of the problem. (10/10)

1. LA Care Health Plan
2.  

Los Angeles Times: California Officials Reveal Settlements with L.A. Care Health Plan Regarding Fines
California officials announced Tuesday that they had reached settlements totaling $55 million with L.A. Care, a publicly operated health plan serving Medi-Cal patients in Los Angeles County. L.A. Care had been facing $55 million in fines for what one state official had described in 2022 as “deep-rooted, systemic failures that threaten the health and safety of its members.” State regulators said such failures were jeopardizing timely access to medical care for vulnerable patients. (Alpert Reyes, 10/8)

1. AI
2.  

Becker's Hospital Review: UCSF Study Finds ChatGPT Overprescribes Emergency Treatments
ChatGPT is more likely to overprescribe medications and imaging and is less effective than a resident in emergency department care, a University of California San Francisco study found. The study, published Oct. 8 in Nature Communications, compiled a set of 1,000 of UCSF Health's ED visits with the same ratio of "yes" to "no" responses for decision on admission, radiology and antibiotics. Researchers entered the physician's notes on each patient's symptoms and examination findings into ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4. (Taylor, 10/8)

Modern Healthcare: Microsoft and Epic Team Up on AI Tool to Alleviate Nursing Burnout
Microsoft is adding new artificial intelligence tools for healthcare customers, the big tech company announced Thursday. The company said it has partnered with electronic health record vendor Epic Systems along with several health systems to build an ambient AI solution that will allow nurses to efficiently document in the electronic health record. It was important for the company to create a solution that’s differentiated from the numerous physician-centric AI documentation tools, said Mary Varghese Presti, vice president of portfolio evolution and incubation at Microsoft Health and Life Sciences, during a briefing with reporters. (Perna, 10/10)

1. LGBTQ+ Health
2.  

The New York Times: First National Survey Reveals 3% of American High School Students Identify as Transgender
About 3.3 percent of high school students identify as transgender and another 2.2 percent are questioning their gender identity, according to the first nationally representative survey on these groups, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday. Transgender and gender-questioning teenagers reported alarmingly higher rates of bullying at school, persistent sadness and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, according to the survey, which was carried out in 2023. (Ghorayshi, 10/8)

NPR: Report Finds High Rates of Trauma and Other Mental Health Issues Among LGBTQ+ Women
A leading national survey finds that 22% of LGBTQ+ women respondents have attempted suicide, and 66% reported seeking treatment for trauma. “The trauma burden in this community is enormous,” said Jaime Grant, one of the researchers who conducted the survey. (Roldan, 10/8)

Los Angeles Blade: Gender-Affirming Care: Combating Unsafe Body Enhancement Practices
The use of silicone injections and other unconventional fillers like cooking oils, have gained traction within the transgender community as a method for body enhancement. These substances — often used in non-medical settings — are offered as cheaper, quicker alternatives to professional, medically supervised, gender-affirming procedures. While these treatments may seem like a lifeline for some people, their consequences are far more complex. Imagine living a life wearing a suit that doesn’t quite belong to you, explained Dr. Natalia Zhikhareva, better known as Dr. Z, a gender psychologist based in Los Angeles. (10/7)