WUSF Public Media: Trans Advocates Claim New Patient Consent Form Is Transphobic and Inaccurate

The Florida Medical Board and Osteopathic Medical Board recently released six new informed consent forms that transgender people are required to sign over the next six months to continue gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and surgery. Critics argue that the form is inaccurate, intentionally vague, and full of transphobic language that can scare patients into receiving care and doctors into providing care. (Mirror, 7/24)

Meanwhile in California…

Bay Area News Groups: California Republicans want state to end tax on health savings plans

Republican lawmakers in California want the state to end the tax on health savings accounts. Six Republicans, including Rep. Young Kim, in the California legislative delegation led by Rep. Michelle Steele (R. Seal Beach), wrote to Gov. Gavin Newsom this week calling for an end to the state tax on health savings accounts. (Kang, 7/24)

NPR: Lung injury at countertop manufacturer leads to California safety measures

California will become the first state in the nation to introduce special measures to protect workers who make kitchen and bathroom countertops from a common type of man-made stone known as “quartz.” That’s because a growing number of countertop workers—nearly all Latino men—are suffering from irreversible lung disease from inhaling dangerous dust while cutting and grinding quartz and other stone materials. (Greenfield Voice, 7/24)

Los Angeles Times: UCLA Team Analyzes Illegal Drug Containment

A 21-year-old man handed Ruby Romero a pill under a tent in a dark Los Angeles parking lot. “Can you test them all?” he asked. “I’d rather be safe than sorry,” said Romero, the UCLA project director, as the young man changed into his sandals in the cold evening and began asking questions about ongoing research. He told Romero that bright orange pills in the shape of a rounded triangle were sold to Romero as ecstasy. (Alpert Reyes, 7/24)

Los Angeles Times: Arrested for third time in planned parent-child incendiary plot in Costa Mesa

A Florida man was arrested and identified as the third suspect in a 2022 incendiary bombing of a Costa Mesa family planning clinic, along with a U.S. Marine and another accomplice, according to a federal indictment released Monday. (Winton, 7/24)

Axios: San Francisco’s 988 crisis response line sees 30% surge in calls in first year – Axios San Francisco

San Francisco Suicide Prevention (SFSP) has seen a nearly 30% increase in calls since its new helpline went live last year, the group told Axios. San Francisco’s 30% increase in calls is consistent with increases seen at other Bay Area crisis centers responding to 988 calls, indicating that the new hotline is working as intended, SFSP program director Van Hedwall said in an email. (Dicky and Moreno, 7/24)

More health news from around the country —

Columbus Dispatch: Learning Loss and Mental Health Link to New Highs in Ohio Poverty Rates

A new poverty report from the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies (OACAA) shows that poverty rates in Ohio have increased for the first time in years. The study, produced in collaboration with the Columbus-based Strategic Research Group and released on July 10, found that the state’s poverty rate rose from 12.7% in 2020 to 13.4% in 2021, marking the first annual increase in the number of poor people in more than a decade. (Tucker and Thompson, 7/24)

Chicago Tribune: Prime Minister Johnson aims to reopen mental health clinics, expand 911 response

Proposals to reopen the city’s mental health clinics and expand non-police responses to 911 calls received a symbolic boost Monday at Mayor Brandon Johnson’s long-awaited hearing on the progressive platform signature plaque, which faced obstacles under his previous administration. (Inn and Pratt, 7/24)

Health News Florida: State seeks suspension of judge’s order for children with ‘complex’ condition due to nurse shortage

The state is asking federal judges to suspend rulings aimed at keeping children with complex medical conditions out of nursing homes, saying the shortage of nurses would make it “impossible” to comply with key parts of the ruling. (Sanders, 7/24)

WUSF Public Media: Moffitt’s new $400 million cancer hospital in Tampa is days away from treating patients

Moffitt Cancer Center will open a $400 million inpatient surgical hospital in Tampa on July 31. Moffitt-McKinley Hospital began construction in July 2020 in anticipation of an increase in patient numbers and cancer surgeries over the next decade. Doctors at the new hospital will treat all types of cancer, but will focus on solid tumors that require surgery, said Dr. Patrick Hugh, Moffit’s president and CEO. (Bowman, 7/24)

Houston Chronicle: Houston Health Programs Face Uncertainty as Funding Cuts

Alfred Islas walked into the George R. Brown Convention Center in May in a crisp white shirt and black suit jacket. The 49-year-old grabbed a blue folder full of program certificates and headed to his first career fair. Islas, who was released in 2020 after serving a 30-year sentence starting at the age of 16, was released into an almost alien world, he said. After struggling for three years to find his way forward, in April he turned to the Community Reentry Network program for help. The program is a city initiative aimed at helping former inmates adjust to life beyond prison. (Chen, 7/24)

Associated Press: Guardian Airlines Ends Emergency Helicopter Medical Service to City of North Dakota

Guardian Flights has suspended emergency helicopter service in Williston, and first responders in North Dakota’s sixth-largest city say they are noticing longer wait times for people with time-sensitive injuries who need immediate medical attention. The company’s helicopters were primarily used to pick up patients from emergency sites ranging from farms to oil fields, city fire department deputy chief Corey Johnson told the Bismarck Tribune. (7/24)

Associated Press: Maternity ward in Oregon becomes scene of deadly shooting

A shooting at an Oregon hospital’s maternity ward over the weekend fatally wounded an unarmed security guard, prompting renewed calls Monday to protect health care workers from mounting violence. Gun violence hits supermarkets, churches, synagogues, schools and now birthing centers in America. (Selsky, 7/25)

St. Louis Public Radio: BJC-St. Luke Merger Could Lead to Increased Health Care Costs

A proposed merger between two of Missouri’s largest health care systems could lead to higher medical costs for patients, researchers and health economists say. St. Louis-based BJC Healthcare and Kansas City-based St. Luke’s Health System announced a merger earlier this year, but plan to keep their own headquarters, locations and brands. The Federal Trade Commission must approve the $10 billion merger. (Fentem, 7/25)

Boston Globe: What to do if you swim in water with high levels of bacteria

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced Monday that tests have found that swimming at 60 public beaches in Massachusetts is unsafe and can cause illness. According to the DPH website, that includes 53 sites that exceeded bacterial levels, six warnings about algae and cyanobacteria were issued, and one beach that was closed as a precautionary measure due to “rainfall and bad weather.” Just jumping in on this hot day may seem harmless. (Finukane, 7/24)

Post-St. Louis Dispatch: Diaper Needs Increase Among St. Louis Area Families

A recent survey by the National Diaper Bank Network reports that nearly half (47%) of U.S. families with young children have trouble buying diapers. That percentage is up from 34% when the first survey was conducted in 2010. Officials at the St. Louis Regional Diaper Bank, which distributes free diapers to local agencies that serve families in need, said they were working to maintain the figure. (Muntz, 7/24)

North Carolina Health News: Despite Growing Needs, State Leadership Priorities Stall on North Carolina’s Aging Program

Gov. Roy Cooper is urging state agencies, nonprofits and businesses to commit to a new aging plan, “All Ages, All Stages of North Carolina,” which, if adopted, could make a positive difference for many of North Carolina’s 1.8 million residents age 65 and older. That would be markedly different from the slow progress that Mr. Cooper, a Democrat, and the Republican leadership of the General Assembly have made over the past decade in proposing, establishing and paying for some of the broader services that will benefit the nation. (Goldsmith, 7/25)