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Morning Briefing

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Tuesday, Feb 21 2017

Full Issue

Decrease In Teen Suicide Attempts Linked To Same-Sex Marriage Laws

Laws that have the greatest impact on gay adults may make gay kids feel "more hopeful for the future," the study's lead author said. In other public health news, a nutrition pilot program, homeopathic remedies, the anti-vaccination movement and genomic medicine.

Fewer U.S. teens attempted suicide in states where same-sex marriage was聽legal聽in the years leading up to聽the 2015 Supreme Court ruling upholding聽gay marriage, according to聽a new study. Analyzing聽data from 1999 to 2015, researchers found a 7% reduction in suicide attempts among high school students in the 32 states that legalized same-sex marriage. (Solis, 2/20)

Tom聽Shicowich "really, really, really liked Coca-Cola" before he began a new nutrition program targeting his Type 2 diabetes and weight. Being on a "very tight budget,"聽he couldn't afford the fruit and vegetables he cut up for a living at his part-time grocery store job.聽Dinner was often聽a pizza or fast food meal he picked up on the way home. Six months after getting聽free healthy groceries every week through聽the Geisinger hospital聽near his rural Pennsylvania home, Shicowich has cut his blood sugar level from nearly 11 to close to a normal level of 7. (O'Donnell, 2/17)

A review of FDA records obtained by STAT under the Freedom of Information Act paint a far grimmer picture: Babies who were given Hyland鈥檚 teething products turned blue and died. Babies had repeated seizures. Babies became delirious. Babies were airlifted to the hospital, where emergency room staff tried to figure out what had caused their legs and arms to start twitching.聽 聽Over a 10-year period, from 2006 and 2016, the FDA collected reports of 鈥渁dverse events鈥 in more than 370 children who had used聽Hyland鈥檚 homeopathic teething tablets or gel, a similar product that is applied directly to a baby鈥檚 gums. Agency records show eight cases in which babies were reported to have died after taking Hyland鈥檚 products, though the FDA says the question of whether those products caused the deaths is still under review. (Kaplan, 2/21)

The group of 40 people gathered at a popular burger and fish taco restaurant in San Antonio listened eagerly to the latest news about the anti-vaccine fight taking place in the Texas legislature. Some mothers in the group had stopped immunizing their young children because of doubts about vaccine safety. Heads nodded as the woman giving the statehouse update warned that vaccine advocates wanted to 鈥渃hip away鈥 at parents鈥 right to choose. But she also had encouraging news. 鈥淲e have 30 champions in that statehouse,鈥 boasted Jackie Schlegel, executive director of Texans for Vaccine Choice. 鈥淟ast session, we had two.鈥 Now they also have one in the White House. (Sun, 2/20)

After decades of work and ballyhoo, it's finally happening. Patients, as a regular part of their care, are getting their DNA sequenced, seeing it matched against known genetically related conditions and having their medications checked for genetic suitability. During the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society convention this week in Orlando, Fla., Inova, several other healthcare delivery organizations and their technology partners will tout their pioneering work in clinically applied genomics. Presentations at the show include both full-day and half-day symposia on precision medicine as well as multiple stand-alone educational sessions. (Conn, 2/18)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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