Health Care
|
Health Care
|
|
|
War in Iran causes Baltimore to cut fluoride levels |
The ongoing war in Iran has disrupted the national fluoride supply chain, leading to Baltimore announcing Monday that it will be temporarily reducing the concentration of fluoride in its municipal water supply.
|
“Fluoride levels will be lowered from approximately 0.7 milligrams per liter to 0.4 milligrams per liter at its Ashburton and Montebello filtration plants,” the Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) said in a statement.
“There are no required minimum fluoride levels. Drinking water will remain safe and meet all federal and state water quality standards. This reduction does not affect the overall safety or quality of the water as fluoride is not regulatory required additive.”
The department cited “broader national supply chain disruptions, driven in part by ongoing conflict in the Middle East” as reason for this measure.
As the Associated Press reported, Israel is a top exporter of fluorosilicic acid, the additive commonly used for municipal water fluoridation in the U.S.
There is no federal requirement regarding water fluoridation though the U.S. Public Health Service makes recommendation on what concentration municipalities should aim for. The current recommendation is 0.7 mg/L.
“This is an adjustment driven solely by supply availability,” DPW Director Matthew Garbark said in a statement. “We remain committed to providing safe, high-quality drinking water.”
|
Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
|
|
|
How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:
|
Fertility rate drops to new record low: CDC
|
|
|
The U.S. general fertility rate fell by 1 percent in 2025, reaching a new record low for another consecutive year according to latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The general fertility rate, which covers women between the ages of 15 and 44, was about 53.1 births per 1,000 females with roughly 3,606,400 recorded last year. The U.S. fertility rate has been trending downward for several decades, having fallen by 14 percent between 1990 and 2023.
|
|
|
|
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reportedly delayed the publication of its report detailing the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine at the behest of its acting director. Acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya delayed the report because of concerns about its methodology, The Washington Post reported Thursday. The report was focused on the vaccine’s effectiveness in dialing down the number of hospitalizations …
|
|
|
|
Senior White House adviser Calley Means said Thursday that “conversations are ongoing” amid doubts over whether his sister, surgeon general nominee Casey Means, has enough votes in the Senate for confirmation. Calley Means was asked during an appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill” whether the White House still expected Casey Means to be the next surgeon general after President Trump recently indicated he was open to withdrawing …
|
|
|
|
Upcoming news themes and events we're watching:
|
- Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will have a marathon of congressional hearings this week to defend the White House’s budget request, appearing before the House Ways & Means Committee and the Appropriations Committee on Thursday. He will then appear before the House Committee on Education & Workforce on Friday.
- The House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee will hold a field hearing on Tuesday in Bradenton, Fla. on modernizing healthcare practices.
- The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will hold a hearing Thursday lowering drug prices.
|
|
|
Rising premiums are outpacing inflation |
When insurer practices drive up costs, families feel it in their monthly premiums. Without reform, healthcare costs could continue rising faster than inflation—putting care further out of reach for millions of Americans. Learn more
|
|
|
Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
|
Judge rules that HUD effort to change criteria for homeless funding is unlawful
|
A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s effort to dramatically change the criteria to get tens of millions of dollars in funding to aid homeless people was unlawful. Several nonprofits filed a lawsuit last year accusing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of changing the rules …
|
|
|
Local and state headlines on health care:
|
- Judge blocks state's attempt to ban smokable hemp products, for now (NBC 5 DFW)
- House passes Ballad Health monopoly appeal, heeds some of the FTC’s advice (Tennessee Lookout)
- Testing of brown waters in Hawaii shows potential health risks (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
|
|
|
Health news we've flagged from other outlets:
|
- Hospitals roll out chatbots, looking to reclaim their role in patients’ health conversations (Stat)
- Fluoride in drinking water has no effect on IQ or brain function, long-term study shows (NBC News)
- CDC reports emergence of extensively drug-resistant shigella (Food Safety Magazine)
|
|
|
Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill:
|
|
|
|
You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!
|
400 N Capitol Street NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20001
|
Copyright © 1998 - 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
If you believe this has been sent to you in error, please safely unsubscribe.
No comments:
Post a Comment