Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted, a Republican, drank the tap water to prove it was safe, Hill said, but said local residents could switch to bottled water if they remain concerned about the health risks. health after toxic train derailment. In New York, news of Mayor Eric Adams’ new mental health plan.
The Hill: Lieutenant Governor of Ohio to Residents of Eastern Palestine: “If You Feel Unsafe, You Should Drink Bottled Water” “If you feel unsafe, you should drink bottled water,” Husted said on “CNN This Morning.” “I was there, talked to the mayor, the fire chief, the police chief, all the first responders who are right there at the scene. The fire station is literally steps away from the railway itself. And they were concerned about misinformation about their water. (Sforza, 2/23)
Politician: Hot Wheels: Feds Release Preliminary Report on Toxic Train Crash No one died in the disaster and there were no serious injuries, but the fire and the Biden administration’s response have become a political flashpoint. More than a thousand people have been evacuated; Local residents and officials remain concerned about the long-term health effects of chemicals that were poured into a creek and released into the air during the fire. (Lee, 2/23)
On developments in New York —
Politico: Adams’ Mental Health Agenda to Focus on Harm Reduction and Non-Traditional Approaches platform adolescent mental health care and strengthen harm reduction services in neighborhoods such as the South Bronx and Upper Manhattan. (Kaufman, 2/23)
Politician: Only half of New York City children received timely services for developmental delays, according to report Only half of New York City children under three received timely early intervention services for developmental delays, according to new report analyses. (Touré, 2/23)
In other health related news from around the country –
Reuters: Ransomware gang leaked online health records of Los Angeles students The medical records of nearly 2,000 current and former Los Angeles school students were released on the dark web following a ransomware attack last year, it has the school district said in a statement Wednesday. records,” which could include mental health, attendance, disciplinary and academic achievements, were stolen in a September 2022 cyberattack, Jack Kelanic, a senior IT administrator for the district, told Reuters after a news site on education has posted redacted copies of alleged student mental health records online.(Smalley, 2/23)
Reuters: First Zantac trial over cancer risk in California postponed by months The first scheduled trial over claims that GSK Plc’s (GSK.L) heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, which was due to begin on Monday, is been postponed, probably by several months. (Pierson, 2/23)
The Texas Tribune: Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan Releases Top Legislative Priorities for 2023 House Speaker Dade Phelan on Thursday unveiled four of his priority bills for the legislative session, which included Democratic goals like extending the Medicaid eligibility for new mothers for one year and the exemption of feminine hygiene products and diapers from sales tax, in a nod to the bipartisan tone she has set for the courtroom. (Barragan, 2/23)
North Carolina Health News: Medicaid expansion could help uninsured ex-offenders The memory of a patient who visited Prospect Hill Community Health Center in 2015 for a doctor’s appointment remained with family physician Evan Ashkin for all these years. He was a black man in his thirties who had been taken to see Ashkin by a concerned aunt. The patient had been incarcerated for several years and the visit was his first connection to health care since his release two years earlier. (Crumpler, 2/24)
Politician: Air quality concerns prompt a freeze on New Mexico’s oil and gas permits emission limits. If state regulators grant the group’s request, that could at least temporarily curb the boom in energy development in the state, which ranks among the nation’s leaders in both oil and gas production. (Reilly, 2/23)
Kansas City Star: Kansas Senate passes bill limiting power of public health officials The Kansas Senate voted Thursday to pass a bill that would limit the power of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to enforce and adopt rules and regulations to prevent the spread of disease. The KDHE secretary would only be able to recommend rules and regulations. (Barackman, 2/23)
Connecticut public: CT emergency rooms are overcrowded. Lawmakers want to study it A temporary facility set up to handle overcrowding in emergency departments remains in place nearly two years later at Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. It’s the result of an overcrowding problem and is affecting hospitals across Connecticut, doctors say. (Srinivasan, 2/23)
Reuters: Tennessee takes lead in Republican effort to limit drag performances Tennessee, like other states, already has public indecency and obscenity laws that prohibit excessively violent or sexual performances in front of minors, regardless of the gender of the performer. Drag performances typically do not involve nudity or stripping. (Allen, 2/23)
AP: Indiana House Advances Bill That Could Override Trans Students Indiana House Republicans Thursday advanced bill that would require public school teachers to inform parents of students’ social transitions and pronoun changes – a bill that some fears would erode student and teacher confidence and force children to come out prematurely to their parents. Republicans — who say the bill expands parents’ ability to decide how to raise their children — pushed the bill forward while all Democrats voted against. (Rodgers, 2/23)
AP: Utah lawmakers eye on proposed magic mushroom therapy A pilot program in Utah that would have allowed thousands of patients to consume psychedelic mushrooms for therapeutic use failed to advance in the state Senate Wednesday, ending its chances of approval as lawmakers prepare to update for the year next week. The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services neither advanced nor rejected the measure, with Republican leaders proposing more time to consider the matter. (Metz, 2/23)
The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Department of Health to Close State Center COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination Site The COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination Site at Baltimore State Center Complex to Close After Saturday as Maryland Department of Health reduces the services offered during the almost three years of the pandemic. The Madison Park site, the state’s only vaccination and testing site in Baltimore, has completed more than 40,000 COVID tests and more than 12,000 vaccinations in the past 16 months, according to a press release from MDH announcing the closure. (Belson, 2/22)
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