Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Flint Residents Are Being Asked To Trust A Government That Betrayed Them
As Flint moves on from its water crisis, residents still lack faith in elected leaders who didn鈥檛 do enough to prevent lead from poisoning the city鈥檚 water supply back in 2014. For months now, however, the water has registered normal lead levels and families can drink their water without fear. (4/15)
About a week ago, I was having a bad day. My neck was killing me, I had a migraine, my WiFi was down, and I had spent聽over an hour working with customer service to resolve the issue. Drained, I decided to wash my dishes, eat some lunch and take a nap. I went to the kitchen sink, flicked the switch on my PUR water filter and turned on the faucet. Nothing came out. My water had been shut off. (Tunde Olaniran, 4/16)
Four years ago, the city of Flint changed its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Almost immediately, foul-smelling, discolored water began coming out of city taps.聽For almost two years, the mostly low-income and black residents were left to cook, drink, and bathe in water that was contaminated with lead.聽The crisis led to criminal charges leveled聽at more than a dozen state and city officials, thousands of children with dangerous levels of lead in their bloodstreams, and the collapse of confidence between residents and their government.聽Now,聽at the fourth anniversary of the water crisis,聽state and city officials say the crisis has ended and聽Flint鈥檚 water is safe to drink.聽But residents聽aren鈥檛 buying it.聽(Nathalie Baptiste, 4/16)