The rate of sepsis in Houston surged 63% after Texas banned abortion. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where hospital leaders empowered doctors to intervene before patients’ conditions worsened, it rose 29%. (Published May 2025)

Why Hospital Policies Matter in States That Ban Abortion

Our first-of-its-kind data analysis found that a seismic split emerged in how medical institutions in Texas' two largest metro areas, Houston and Dallas, treated miscarrying patients — and in their ou...

propublica.org

We’ve update our Medicaid enrollment tracker and the news for children isn’t good. Since January 2025 there has been a shocking drop of 2.3 million kids enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP. This means the child uninsured rate is likely going up.

I feel sick

Andy Kostka@afkostka.bsky.social · yesterday

Adley Rutschman of the Boston Red Sox

We spend more on health care than any other country yet still reward treatment more than prevention and keeping people healthy. This new @nam.edu report identifies 12 levers to better align financing with prevention, outcomes, and population health. doi.org/10.31478/202...

Anchoring Health Financing on Better Outcomes: System Drivers and Opportunities for Reform

The National Academy of Medicine convened an expert working group to review the landscape of health system financial incentives, identify key drivers of misalignment, and take stock of policy and prog...

doi.org

In June, the FDA convened an advisory committee to discuss whether seven selected peptides should be permitted for legal sale. @drjoshs.bsky.social explains what's happening and what it may mean for consumers and patients. 🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/the-peptide-...

To help prevent heat-related deaths, the French government has asked postal workers to check in on older people.

As France’s Elders Swelter in the Heat, Postal Workers Come to the Rescue

To help prevent heat-related deaths, the French government has asked postal workers to check in on older people.

nyti.ms

It is appalling that the State of Tennessee is poised to pull hundreds of children off of ventilators, stop their chemotherapy, etc. as a result of an apparently unintended consequence of state immigration law. Learn what's happening in this podcast @ameracadpeds.bsky.social

Public Health On Call Podcast@publichealthpod.bsky.social · last wk.

Children in TN who need essential medical treatments but have no means to pay for them turn to the Children’s Special Services program. As a result of a new state law, hundreds of families were told to withdraw from the program or risk being reported to immigration officials. 🎧 t.jh.edu/nJwnfZ

New: Bipartisan hepatitis C legislation introduced in the House by Reps. Miller-Meeks, DeGette, Johnson, and Bacon. Senate version led by Sen. Cassidy and Sen. Van Hollen. The bill would cure >1 million Americans of a lethal infection and save taxpayers $$$. millermeeks.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

The vitamin K shot provides reliable, long-lasting protection with a single dose. One shot at birth offers the best protection during a baby's most vulnerable first months of life. Learn more about the importance of vitamin K at birth: www.aap.org/en/news-room...

Washington law requires the state medical board to notify the media when an investigation into a doctor leads to formal charges. A review by @kuow.org and ProPublica found the board often waits to do so for months while the doctor continues to practice.

Washington Law Says to Alert the Public When Doctors Are Accused of Misconduct. It Can Take Months.

In the case of Mark Mulholland, who was repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct, the board waited six weeks to announce that it had filed charges. He was allowed to keep seeing patients during that ti...

propublica.org

Reading about the incredible career and tragic early death of Dr. Maura Gillison, l remembered she was the senior resident on my first rotation of medical school. She knew everything, cared deeply for our patients, and taught us with kindness. cancerletter.com/obituary/202...

Maura Gillison, who identified the role of HPV in head and neck cancer, changing the standard of care, dies at 61 - The Cancer Letter

Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist and molecular epidemiologist whose work changed the standard of care for head and neck cancer by distinguishing human papillomavirus-positive from HPV-...

cancerletter.com

Both Justice Roberts and Justice Jackson cited Professor Martha Jones’ fantastic book, Birthright Citizens. Re-upping our podcast with her from last year @publichealthpod.bsky.social podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/850-the-hist...

Public Health On Call: 850 - The History of Birthright Citizenship in the U.S.

About this episode: In 1868, the 14th Amendment established birthright citizenship in the United States. In this episode: a look at the court cases, historical events, and people that shaped one of th...

podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu

Waving our public health flags (please don't try this at home)

Thank you so much for all of your happy birthday wishes. Honestly, I don’t really feel 100. I feel pretty good. I feel like I’m only 98!

This is perhaps the most impressive #medical study I have seen in years: www.nature.com/articles/s41... It will save a lot of lives.

An ECG biomarker for sudden cardiac death discovered with deep learning - Nature

A deep-learning model trained on electrocardiogram (ECG) waveforms identifies an easily visible biomarker that predicts sudden cardiac death more accurately than the current clinical state of the art.

nature.com

NEW at @thebulwark.com Ron DeSantis wanted to erase Pride symbols all across Florida Miami Beach said no f***ing way www.thebulwark.com/p/how-a-flor...

How a Florida City Saved Its Pride Symbol from MAGA Erasure

Ron DeSantis met his match in a coalition of LGBTQ activists and straight city commissioners who refused to be bullied.

thebulwark.com

I agree with @scottgottliebmd.bsky.social here on the path to fixing FDA. It starts with recognizing how FDA really works. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Making the FDA Great Again

This JAMA Forum discusses staffing and policy changes at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the past year.

jamanetwork.com

The number of children receiving SNAP has dropped by more than 776,000 after Trump changes to the program: www.propublica.org/article/snap...

More Than 770,000 Children Are No Longer Receiving SNAP Benefits After Trump Changes Federal Food Program

Republican backers of Trump’s signature domestic policy bill repeatedly claimed that revisions to the food benefits program wouldn’t affect the most vulnerable. But reports from a dozen states show ch...

propublica.org

I am so sad to read about the passing of Joni Holifield. She gave so many young people in Baltimore a reason to believe. Her memory should inspire us all. app.thebaltimorebanner.com/PV7SAX32FJDI...

The @nejm.org comes out swinging against OMB's new proposed rule putting all federal grant making including science under political control. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

The OMB and the Politicization of Science | NEJM

The Editors highlight three aspects of OMB’s recently proposed rule changes as particularly striking: that decisions on research funding would be made by political appointees, that funding could be...

nejm.org

What would it take for the HHS both to have a strong and ambitious leader *and* to operate effectively? My thoughts in @jamahealthforum.com -- jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Making HHS Great to Advance Health in the US

This JAMA Forum discusses spending, recent cuts to funding and programs, and sweeping goals of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the subagencies it oversees.

jamanetwork.com

If Michael Cannon and Liz Fowler agree on something in health policy … it’s worth a listen. Check out their conversation on the @publichealthpod.bsky.social podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/an-unlikely-...

Public Health On Call Podcast@publichealthpod.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Health policy experts @mfcannon.bsky.social and Elizabeth Fowler could not disagree more about the Affordable Care Act. Yet they're working together to tackle what they see as a root cause of unaffordability. 🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/an-unlikely-...

An annual report from the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition assesses attacks on healthcare facilities and workers. As drone warfare surges and state forces increasingly perpetrate attacks, what are the implications for humanitarian law? 🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/violence-aga...

One factor in the recent homicide decline was the Biden admin's clampdown on gun trafficking. Now, the Trump admin is pulling back on several fronts, raising odds that the flow of illegal guns will rise, with ill effects down the line. My latest @propublica.org: www.propublica.org/article/how-...

“No One Is Watching”: How Trump Reversed Biden’s Crackdown on Gun Trafficking

After Biden clamped down on the flow of illegal guns, Trump has referred fewer ATF trafficking charges for prosecution, eased up on irresponsible gun shops and shifted hundreds of ATF agents to immigr...

propublica.org

"This is the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the front line is completely overwhelmed." A devastating portrait -- and urgent call for help -- from @declanwalsh.bsky.social and Arlette Bashizi www.nytimes.com/2026/05/30/w...

Inside the Ebola Epicenter, the Virus Rages With Little to Stop It

nytimes.com

"Essential reading for anyone committed to healing in the digital age" Thanks to Dr. Dava Wilson for her review of our book Information Sick! Read the review: www.socialworker.com/feature-arti... Get the book: www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...

Five Baltimore City Health Commissioners walk into an auditorium to swap stories about the past and present of advancing health in Charm City ... and beyond. From @publichealthpod.bsky.social johnshopkinssph.libsyn.com/1057-five-ba...

Public Health On Call: 1057 - Five Baltimore Health Commissioners Walk into an Auditorium

About this episode: In the city of Baltimore, the health department works to prevent overdose, reduce violence, provide vaccinations, inspect restaurants, and so much more. In this episode: ...

johnshopkinssph.libsyn.com

NIH has allocated just 33% of its normal budget this year, putting critical medical breakthroughs at risk. Johns Hopkins President Ron Daniels and University of Kansas Chancellor Dr. Douglas Girod are calling on the government to release it before the damage becomes permanent. https://bit.ly/4f3GuzR

President Daniels in WSJ op-ed: Get the federal science money flowing

JHU president, University of Kansas chancellor urge federal agencies to release congressionally appropriated funds to fuel America's research engine

hub.jhu.edu

A new home for the @cspinet.org database of vaccine-related actions in the Trump Administration... thestraightshotdatabase.org Search by agency, type of action, and headline.

A combination of a rare virus strain and existing conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are making this Ebola outbreak difficult to contain. Infectious disease epidemiologist Emily Gurley describes the situation on Public Health On Call 🔗 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/1056-an-ebol...