More stringent standards for public health intervention based on blood lead levels in children are among the new public health laws and rules that took effect this month. [Health News Illinois] 

A new regulation requires children residing in a high-risk ZIP code to be automatically tested at 12, 24 and 36 months. Children younger than 6 years old must be assessed for lead exposure through a pediatrician-administered questionnaire.

Blood tests that come back with lead levels exceeding 3.5 micrograms per deciliter will require a public health intervention that includes a home inspection to determine the source of the lead contamination. 

A public health nurse will also visit and educate the family on ways to protect children from the harmful effects of lead.

“We appreciate the leadership of Gov. JB Pritzker, the Illinois General Assembly and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules in advancing solutions that protect our residents and make our Illinois communities healthier,” Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a statement.

The provision was one of several highlighted by the agency. Other laws taking effect this month will:

-Require nursing homes that undergo ownership changes to develop a plan of care for residents.

-Add clinics and other healthcare providers affiliated with hospitals to reporting requirements for cases of patient abuse by staff. 

-Require assisted living facilities to submit plans for construction or renovations for approval by the Department of Public Health.

-Prohibit the advertisement or promotion of electronic cigarettes that are designed to look like another, non-smoking product.

-Expand programs that distribute free fentanyl test strips to help individuals detect the presence of opioids.

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This week, KFF Health News’ “What the Health?” presents a conversation with Francis Collins, former National Institutes of Health director and White House science adviser. [KFF Health News]

Collins, the longest-serving presidentially appointed head of the nation’s crown jewel of biomedical research, spoke last month with KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner. He has a new book out, called “The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust.”

In this interview, Collins discusses what may lie ahead for NIH in the coming Trump administration; how he and other science leaders failed to communicate to the public during the covid-19 pandemic; and his work with the group Braver Angels, which aims to facilitate conversations among people who disagree on policy issues.

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This year, MedPage Today reported on a slew of developments for artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. In this report, we examine what lies ahead for healthcare AI in the new year. [MedPageToday}

In November, a newly-assembled FDA advisory committee held a 2-day meeting to develop guidance for the agency on questions around generative AI-enabled medical devices. The Digital Health Advisory Committee advocated developing a regulatory approach that focuses on premarket performance evaluation and risk management as well as continuous performance monitoring after these devices are on the market.

However, the committee stopped short of offering specific recommendations, suggesting that regulatory changes are not in the immediate future for healthcare AI.

"There is a level of caution and thoughtfulness that I'm hearing more from the regulatory community recently," Brian Anderson, MD, chief executive officer of the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI), told Medpage Today, adding that "it's getting the cart in front of the horse, if you create a robust regulatory process that's not informed by where private sector innovators are going."

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A recent study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health found that when primary care clinics added suicide care practices to routine visits, suicide attempts dropped by 25% in the 3 months after the visit. The findings highlight how impactful it can be for primary care clinics to take an active role in preventing suicide and help empower health systems to integrate those practices into clinical care.

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A Look Back on 2024 Through U.S. Census Bureau Data | Census Bureau data document how we're changing as a country, from how and where we live to economic shifts, increased diversity, and how disasters affect communities. A Look Back on 2024 Through U.S. Census Bureau Data. 

Continue reading to learn more about:

-The rising cost of child care services
-The nation's fastest-growing metro areas
-The largest annual spike in public school spending in over 20 years
-Broadband access in tribal areas
-How to measure disasters' impact on supply chains
-The effect of power outages on households

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A growing number of emergency room visits are related to mental health emergencies, and hospitals are adapting to keep up. [Becker's Behavioral Health] 

One adaptation aims to carve out a therapeutic space amid a crowded and chaotic emergency department for patients experiencing a mental health crisis. 

EmPATH — emergency psychiatric assessment, treatment, and healing — units, look more like a living room than an ER. Though they run differently from hospital to hospital, the units feature reclining chairs, rather than beds, in a shared space, or milieu. Nursing stations are open, rather than shrouded in plexiglass. 

Inova Fairfax (Va.) Hospital is home to one of the newest EmPath units, which opened in November. Sonja Flood, director of Inova Behavioral Health, told Becker's the unit features 14 recliners, dim lighting, televisions and quiet spaces for patients who need to decompress away from others on the unit. 

The environment is key to the EmPATH unit, she said, and the hospital put a lot of thought into designing the space. 

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WASHINGTON — A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides a comprehensive assessment of the literature on science misinformation, its origins and impact, and strategies for mitigating its spread and potential harms. [National Academies]

While misinformation about science can originate from wide-ranging sources — such as corporations, governments and politicians, alternative health and science industries, entertainment media, news media, nongovernmental organizations, science organizations, individual scientists and medical professionals, and ordinary citizens — its influence varies, says the report. For example, science misinformation is more influential when it reaches large audiences, such as on search engines and social media. The report says search engines and social media platforms should foreground evidence-based science information that is clear and easy to understand for different audiences, working closely with nonprofit, nonpartisan professional science societies and organizations to identify such information.

To provide clarity and to focus its analysis, the committee that wrote the report defined misinformation about science as “information that asserts or implies claims that are inconsistent with the weight of accepted scientific evidence at the time (reflecting both quality and quantity of evidence).” Claims that are determined to be misinformation about science can evolve over time as new evidence accumulates and scientific knowledge advances. Moreover, the committee considered disinformation about science to be a subcategory of misinformation that is spread by agents who are aware they are circulating false information.

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The healthcare profession has done an admirable job controlling infectious epidemics and pandemics, such as AIDS and COVID-19 (special shout-out to Operation Warp Speed for the creation of COVID vaccines in record time). Now, we need to move on to social media epidemics. [MedPage Today]

I believe the epidemic of social media has the potential to be as dangerous as infectious epidemics. Mental health should be treated with the same urgency as physical health. The time has arrived for physicians to take an active role in recognizing the dangers of social media, especially for youth, and to have discussions with young patients and their parents about the impact of social media on the growth and development of children.

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Black men born from 1951 through 1970 have the greatest risk of dying of overdoses and always have, even in their 20s,30s, and 40s. That's true in Chicago, Baltimore, Washington and some other cities, an investigation by the Sun-Times, The New York Times, The Baltimore Banner, Big Local News at Stanford University and other organizations found.  [Chicago Sun-Times]

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The life expectancy for Chicagoans has risen to a level higher than was seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, but disparities remain, according to a report released this week by the city’s Department of Public Health. [Health News Illinois]

Life expectancy in Chicago rose to 77.2 years in 2022, just 1.6 years below the 2019 level.

However, the life expectancy for Black Chicagoans was 69.8 years, about 11.4 years less than non-Black city residents. Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, as well as homicide and opioid overdoses remain the primary factors driving the gap.

Life expectancy is lower in several south and west sides communities. For residents of the West Garfield Park neighborhood, it's 62 years.

"The recent data has prompted us to reflect on how to best direct our resources and tailor our efforts to make progress toward closing this gap,” CDPH Commissioner Dr. Olusimbo ‘Simbo’ Ige said in a statement. “We will align CDPH’s priorities and programs to address the primary factors driving the widening racial life expectancy gap in the most impacted communities."

The life expectancy among the Latinx population was 81.4 years in 2022, while ​​Asian and Pacific Islander Chicagoans lived on average 85.5 years. The life expectancy for white city residents was 80.3 years. 

The strategic plan lays out seven action steps to address the contributing factors to the life expectancy gap for Black Chicagoans, with a specific focus on addressing outcomes in five Chicago neighborhoods on the south and west sides where lower life expectancy is concentrated. That includes supporting programs that address social determinants that lead to chronic conditions.

The report calls for shifting focus away from white health outcomes as the standard or goal and instead focusing on “reaching health equity for all people”

"Our focus is on improving the health and well-being of all Chicagoans, through effective collaboration and data-driven strategies,” Ige said. “CDPH is committed to prioritizing the health of communities most affected by declining life expectancy."

The agency will allow public review and input on the plan into early next year.

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