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POLLING
VACCINES: Via Reuters, VERBATIM: “A bipartisan majority of Americans believe vaccines are safe and that children should receive them to attend school, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, illustrating the challenges President Donald Trump‘s administration faces to win broad support for upending decades of health policy. The six-day poll, which closed on Monday, comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has led the U.S. government to drop recommendations for several childhood immunizations and boosted federal support for states providing exemptions to vaccine mandates, such as for school attendance.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4kX6nC8
MORE: Via The Hill, VERBATIM: “Survey respondents were asked if they agreed with a statement saying, ‘children in the United States today are given too many vaccines they do not actually need.’ Eighty-one percent of Democrats disagreed with the response, as did 44 percent of Republicans. However, 55 percent of Republicans agreed with the statement, per the poll results.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4kXMZoB
TRUMP: Via CNN, VERBATIM: “President Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential race after his initial opponent, then-President Joe Biden, withdrew over worries about his age and mental sharpness. But a year-plus into Trump’s four-year term, polls suggest the American people aren’t just increasingly unhappy with his job performance; they’re increasingly concerned about his mental capacity as well. The unease is not at the levels it was with Biden, who was 81 when he dropped out of the race, but it’s growing as an issue for the 79-year-old Trump.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3OKtMe7
Check out all the episodes of Sunday Take on 830 WCCO. CLICK: https://fluence-media.co/3KsuDrZ
MEDICAID SUPPORTS HEALTH CARE FOR ALL OF US: Medicaid keeps Minnesota’s hospitals strong and ensures communities across the state have access to care. Policymakers must protect Medicaid so every Minnesotan — regardless of income or health status — can get the care they need, when they need it. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/3FtrCuH (SPONSORED: Minnesota Hospital Association)
HEALTH IN MINNESOTA
FLU: In its weekly update released this morning, the Minnesota Department of Health reports 176 adult and two pediatric flu-related deaths with 4,797 hospitalizations, 245 school outbreaks, and 106 long-term care outbreaks. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/3Y10bib
WASTEWATER: Via Mankato Free Press, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Department of Health is now publishing weekly wastewater monitoring data for COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, on its website, adding a new public dashboard that officials say can help track disease trends across the state. The data, previously hosted by the University of Minnesota, now appears on the health department’s website and as of Feb. 12 will be updated by 11 a.m. each week, alongside statewide respiratory illness reports.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4chMQdx
SALES TAX: Via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “Minnesota’s largest level-one trauma hospital is in need of a transfusion of money. Leaders with Hennepin Healthcare and Hennepin County went before a Senate Committee Tuesday to ask the state to approve a one cent sales tax for Hennepin County that they say could cover the cost.” QUOTE: “It’s a source of revenue that’s stable,” says Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley. “We can’t rely on property taxes to do it. In fact, we wouldn’t be able to levy high enough to do it, and we can’t put that burden on the backs of property taxpayers. So we are very limited in the amount of revenue or income that comes in.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/401NQev
VACCINES: Via Senate DFL Media, VERBATIM: “In response to escalating federal attacks on vaccine science and deep cuts to our national health infrastructure, Senator Matt Klein, M.D. (DFL – Mendota Heights), has introduced legislation to establish a Minnesota Science-Based Vaccine Advisory Council to ensure access to lifesaving immunizations and protect public health in Minnesota. The proposal comes amid ongoing vaccine misinformation campaigns led by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and sweeping changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that have raised alarms for healthcare providers and state leaders across the country.” Bill: https://fluence-media.co/3OzdzZm
SUICIDES: Via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “In the wake of several suicides of noteworthy people, including former Minnesota Viking Rondale Moore, the daughter of actor/comedian Martin Short, and actor Robert Carradine, mental health providers are using this time to educate, and hopefully prevent it from happening. However, suicide can be hard to talk about. ‘There’s so much shame and taboo and stigma around suicide that people don’t talk about it,’ says David Goehl-Manolis, who is the NAMI Minnesota Suicide Prevention Coordinator.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4l0v5BQ
Support rural health care by strengthening 340B: Policymakers have an opportunity to support rural care providers by strengthening the 340B Drug Pricing Program – a program designed to support health care facilities that provide a high level of services to low-income, underserved communities. Savings from those discounts are used to reinvest in care and stretch limited resources further for patients. To prevent these savings from moving to drug manufacturers’ bottom lines, we need to extend and strengthen the 340B program. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/4s0oGc4 (SPONSORED: Essentia Health)
DC + HEALTH
DEMS’ PLAN: Via Axios, VERBATIM: “Democrats are eyeing aggressive oversight of controversial Trump administration moves on vaccines, Medicaid cuts and drug pricing if they flip control of one or both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections. Why it matters: If Democrats win the House, they would have much greater ability to investigate the Trump administration and its dealings with the health care industry, including through the use of subpoenas.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4s8wF6T
SOTU: Via NPR, VERBATIM: “President Trump said last month that he wants to ‘make health care into a Republican issue’ heading into the midterm elections. But his remarks at Tuesday’s State of the Union skipped over many health-related topics he has previously highlighted, from abortion restrictions to medical breakthroughs. ‘It just was not a health care speech by any stretch of the imagination,’ says Katie Keith, director for the Center for Health Policy and the Law at Georgetown Law. The White House defended the attention paid to health topics in Trump’s remarks. In a statement to NPR, spokesman Kush Desai wrote that Trump ‘extensively talked about his health care agenda” and added that “health care affordability and the broader MAHA agenda were and remain top priorities for the entire Administration.’” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4aYmpHH
NOMINEE: Via NPR, VERBATIM: “President Trump’s surgeon general nominee Dr. Casey Means testified before Senate committee on Wednesday in her bid to be confirmed as the nation’s top doctor. The hearing was a long time coming for Means — a wellness influencer, entrepreneur and author — who had to delay the confirmation hearing in late October because she was pregnant and went into labor. During her testimony, Means praised Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s leadership and echoed many of the talking points of his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda, while sidestepping pointed questions about the administration’s controversial actions on vaccines and other issues.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/40wBYkR
INNOVATION
NEXTGEN: Via Lakeland PBS, VERBATIM: “Northwest Technical College in Bemidji is pumping up a new cardiac sonography degree program for their students to learn all about the heart. Last Thursday, the college held an information night to show prospective students what they can expect. ‘[We’re giving] information, a little hands-on to see what what one of the sonography machines looks like and what it would feel like to to run that machine,’ explained NTC Dean of Allied Health Nicholle Bieberdorf. The program will start this fall and is being run in partnership with Sanford Health of Bemidji. It was created just as much to become a space for prospective students to learn as it was to help out the local struggling health care community.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4aSpskx
BP: Via MDH, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is calling on Minnesotans to use this February, American Heart Month, to start regularly monitoring their blood pressure. High blood pressure is often called the ‘silent killer’ because many remain unaware of their condition until serious complications arise. About 1 in 3, or almost 1.4 million, Minnesotans report having high blood pressure.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/46xr0z8
NALOXONE: Via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “Expanded access to naloxone (brand name Narcan), the opioid overdose reversal medication, is making a difference in Minnesota. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the state saw a significant decline in opioid overdose deaths in 2024 and 2025, with naloxone playing a critical role in this positive trend. Access is key, according to Allie Carey, director of programs at the Steve Rummler Hope Network, headquartered in St. Paul and serving Washington County.” CAREY: “We want to make sure naloxone is in the spaces where life is happening. So, we want libraries, we want businesses, we want coffee shops and restaurants. We want places where people are going to feel comfortable accessing this resource.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4aRTZPd
LIST: Mayo Clinic tops Newsweek’s list of the World’s Best Hospitals. It’s the only Minnesota hospital in the top 250. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/3OC5wuK
CANADA: Via KFF Health News, VERBATIM: “Last month, Justin and Amy Miller packed their vehicles with three kids, two dogs, a pet bearded dragon, and whatever belongings they could fit, then drove 2,000 miles from Wisconsin to British Columbia to leave President Donald Trump’s America . . . The Millers are part of a new surge of American nurses, doctors, and other health care workers moving to Canada, and specifically British Columbia, where more than 1,000 U.S.-trained nurses have been approved to work since April. As the Trump administration enacts increasingly authoritarian policies and decimates funding for public health, insurance, and medical research, many nurses have felt the draw of Canada’s progressive politics, friendly reputation, and universal health care system.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4rCAvVY
PFAS: Via CNN, VERBATIM: “The ‘forever chemicals’ known as PFAS appear to be aging men faster in their 50s and early 60s, a new study found. Called forever chemicals due to the years it takes for them to break down, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances are present in the blood of an estimated 98% of Americans, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Epigenetic aging — a measurement of one’s biological age instead of chronological age — was most advanced in men, according to the study.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ZUQmDk
STUDY: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “A multi-institutional study led by Mayo Clinic and published in Cell Reports Medicine reports that pairing a next-generation immunotherapy with standard hormone therapy before surgery may help overcome a long-standing barrier in early-stage prostate cancer treatment.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40yzAtQ
TRAUX: Via Twin Cities Business, VERBATIM: “Truax Patient Services, a Bemidji-based privately held pharmacy, underwent a transition of leadership in October following a majority acquisition by a group of investors. Chris Knutson, previously the co-founder of the Edina-based TeamGenius tech startup, took over as CEO.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4b1zqQO
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
BLOBS: Via Scripps Research Institute, VERBATIM: “Biomolecular condensates were long believed to be simple liquid blobs inside cells. Researchers have now uncovered that some are actually supported by fine protein filaments forming an internal scaffold. When this structure is disrupted, cells fail to grow and divide properly. The discovery suggests scientists may one day design drugs that target condensate architecture to fight cancer and neurodegenerative disease.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4aS3r59
OATMEAL: Via University of Bonn, VERBATIM: “Eating nothing but oatmeal for just two days might sound extreme, but it delivered a striking payoff in a new clinical trial. People with metabolic syndrome who followed a short, calorie-reduced oat-based plan saw their harmful LDL cholesterol drop by 10%, along with modest weight loss and lower blood pressure. Even more surprising, the cholesterol benefits were still visible six weeks later.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4qXS3ec
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