Health Links

"From the Editor: We've tried to replicate parts of the CDC Center for Disease Control and Prevention's presentation of their Drowning Prevention information but urge you to go to their pages in effort to gain a organized way to compile as much information as you can. Tam Martinides Gray, Editor '...Drowning is a serious public health problem. Drowning can happen in seconds and is often silent. It can lead to long-term disability. Drowning is preventable... The Lifesaving Society designates the third week in July (July 16-22, 2023) as National Drowning Prevention Week (NDPW) to focus community and media attention on the drowning problem and drowning prevention.'" more »

"The American Academy of Pediatrics warns that gun violence also carries long-term physical and mental health consequences. The data does not surprise Stephanie Chao, MD, pediatric surgeon and trauma medical director at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and assistant professor of the Surgery Division of Pediatric Surgery at Stanford Medicine. She recently appeared on A Little More Conversation with news podcaster Ben O’Hara-Byrne to discuss what it’s like for pediatric surgeons to treat young victims of gun violence. In the podcast, Dr. Chao says that firearm injuries in young patients are not generally from school or gang-related shootings, but from incidents in the home." more »

"The reported amount of unpaid medical bills among older adults increased by 20 percent between 2019 and 2020, from $44.8 billion to $53.8 billion. Yet older adults reported fewer doctor visits and lower out-of-pocket expenses in 2020 than in 2019. Older adults face a complex billing system with a high likelihood of errors and inaccurate bills. Complaints submitted to the CFPB involving Medicare commonly cite inaccurate billing as a source of unpaid medical bills in collections. Consumers who reported having multiple sources of insurance were especially likely to note problems with inaccurate billing." more »

"A Yale Medicine doctor explains that naloxone is sold by several companies, and it can be injected into a muscle, under the skin, or into a vein. The nasal spray, which comes in a generic form and is sold under a few brand names, including Narcan, is a pre-filled device that should be sprayed into one nostril." The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Narcan (as a nasal spray) for over-the-counter use, which means a prescription is not required and people will be able to buy it in pharmacies, stores, and perhaps even from vending machines later this summer."   more »