FOOD ACCESS: From Route1 and UCare via Instagram, VERBATIM: “At the foundation of @route1mn’s mission is our dual focus on increasing #foodaccess while also increasing #economicdevelopment for #EmergingFarmers across #Minnesota and eventually, across our great nation. Since our early days, our partners at @ucarehealthplan have embraced this vision and supported the work in a variety of ways including volunteer days out at the farm and a bi-weekly employee CSA filled with produce grown by local #MinnesotaFarmers. Today, we had the amazing opportunity to participate in their employee health expo. The expo focused on all aspects of employee health: mental health, physical health, and social health/employee engagement through their ERG’s.” POST: https://fluence-media.co/3HabQ98 (SPONSORED: UCare)
All Fluence tipsheets are now available to read and share online at our website, The Daily Agenda:
PHARMACIES: Via Axios, VERBATIM: “With thousands of their brick-and-mortar stores closing and online vendors proliferating, big pharmacy chains like CVS and Walgreens are seeing their reputations slide, according to the annual Axios Harris Poll 100. Why it matters: The souring consumer sentiment comes as pharmacy giants mount major turnaround plans in the hopes they can overcome slumping in-store sales, overexpansion and backlash from putting more products under lock and key and shortening pharmacy hours.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4dSD7cB
MEASLES: Via Reuters, VERBATIM: “Americans worry about the Trump administration's ability to contain an ongoing outbreak of measles, while the vast majority of them believe that vaccines for the disease are safe, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. Just 31% of respondents in the two-day poll, which closed on Tuesday, agreed with a statement that the administration is handling the measles outbreak responsibly, while 40% disagreed and the rest were unsure or did not answer the question.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4dCHVT6
VACCINES: Via UofM CIDRAP, VERBATIM: “A new Annenberg Poll shows that 87% of Americans say the benefit of childhood measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination outweighs the risk, and 67% say they know that MMR vaccines don't cause autism. 2025 may see the highest measles case count in the United States since the disease was officially eliminated in 2000. With more than 1,000 cases identified, and many more likely unreported, the virus is taking hold in unvaccinated and under-vaccinated communities. The Annenberg Poll surveyed 1,653 US adults from April 15 to 28, 2025, on measles knowledge and attitudes toward vaccines.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ZCgtyW
MORE: Via Annenberg, VERBATIM: “Most Americans can identify common ways measles spreads.”
“Two-thirds (66%) correctly say that measles can be spread by touching a contaminated surface and then touching one’s nose, mouth, or eyes, a significant increase from last April when 59% indicated this as a means of spreading measles. Slightly fewer Americans (63%) correctly say that measles can be spread by coughing or sneezing, no statistical difference from last year.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3HaXqFK
IMMIGRANTS: Via KFF, VERBATIM: “A new KFF poll of immigrants finds that six in 10 lawfully present immigrants say they worry about the possibility that they or a family member could be detained or deported, contributing to feelings of increased stress, anxiety, and other health problems . . . The new poll shows that immigrants’ worries about detention or deportation have risen sharply since 2023, even among lawfully present immigrants and naturalized citizens. Four in ten immigrants overall (41%) now say they worry about the possibility that they or a family member could be detained or deported, up 15 percentage points from 2023 (26%).” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3F88vXC
Check out all the episodes of Sunday Take on 830 WCCO. CLICK: https://fluence-media.co/3KsuDrZ
BUDGET BILL: Via The Hill, VERBATIM: “Just like the House, some of the biggest, and most contradictory, tension in the Senate surrounds Medicaid. Several Republican senators have forceful objections to changes to the federal insurance program included in the House-passed bill. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and at least three others are threatening to oppose Medicaid reforms that would cut benefits. While it’s unclear as of yet what changes constitute a benefit ‘cut’ and where they will draw a line, senators are taking a close look at limits in the bill on states’ ability to use health care provider taxes to collect more federal Medicaid funding.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Fr5rpx
MORE: Via CBS News, VERBATIM: “House Speaker Mike Johnson, who shepherded President Trump's ‘one big, beautiful bill’ through Congress, said Sunday that the Medicaid work requirements — which could affect his home state of Louisiana — have a ‘moral component’ to them because people on Medicaid who "refuse" to work are ‘defrauding the system.’” JOHNSON: "If you are able to work and you refuse to do so, you are defrauding the system," Johnson said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." "You're cheating the system. And no one in the country believes that that's right. So there's a moral component to what we're doing. And when you make young men work, it's good for them, it's good for their dignity, it's good for their self-worth, and it's good for the community that they live in." WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4kaDwJt
MORE: Via KFF, VERBATIM: “KFF is tracking Medicaid and other health care provisions in the 2025 federal budget bill, including new Medicaid work and verification requirements and a reduction in the expansion match rate for states that use their own funds to cover undocumented immigrants.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4lSpUnz
AUTISM: Via Sahan Journal, VERBATIM: “As part of their mission to help parents whose kids have been recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, the Somali Parents Autism Network offers several trainings, including a course called Autism 101.
The training teaches parents about their child’s needs going forward, and debunks myths and misconceptions about the disorder. One of those myths is a claim that autism is caused by routine childhood immunizations, like the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4kWvVhV
HEARING LOSS: Via MinnPost, VERBATIM: “Like most parents, Mallory Shlaffman hadn’t heard of congenital cytomegalovirus until her child screened positive for it. Her daughter, Laura, born in 2018, was tested for what’s known as CMV because she was born below the 10th percentile for weight. Back then, only babies meeting certain criteria received screenings for the virus, which can cause health problems that range from hearing loss to seizures to impaired vision . . . Minnesota is a pioneer when it comes to CMV testing, becoming in 2023 the first state to begin monitoring for it in newborn screening panels. Since then, more families like the Schlaffmans are finding out about it earlier, with 387 cases identified in 56 counties since universal screenings began, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/45rA5JN
MEDTRONIC: Via Twin Cities Business, VERBATIM: “Medtronic this week said it plans to cleave off its diabetes business into a separate, publicly traded company. The new, yet-to-be-named company would be headquartered in California and have about 8,000 employees around the globe, according to a news release issued Wednesday. In an investor presentation explaining the rationale for the move, company officials noted that the diabetes business unit represented just 8% of Medtronic’s total revenue in its most recent fiscal year.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3SVjGWC
FASTWAVE: Via Minne Inno, VERBATIM: “This week I sat down with serial entrepreneur Scott Nelson, the co-founder and CEO of fast-growing medtech company Fastwave Medical. For the past 20 years, Nelson built his career in the medtech space, moving from sales manager at medical device corporations such as Boston Scientific and Medtronic, to multiple-time founder and podcaster. After launching in 2021, Fastwave has raised nearly $50 million and has a waitlist of investors with reserved spots to invest in the company’s next round.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3SnaKZX
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)
BIDEN: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “Some Americans say they don’t understand how former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. could have only recently learned that he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had already spread to his bones. How could the former commander in chief, a man with access to high-quality medical care, not have known earlier that he had such a serious condition? Many prostate cancers are detected using a test called a PSA, and Mr. Biden’s last known PSA was in 2014, according to a spokesman, Chris Meagher. Guidelines from professional organizations that advise doctors and public health officials recommend against screening for men over age 70. Mr. Biden is 82.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/44WGs80
SKIN CANCER: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S. More than 6 million adults are treated for it each year, says Dr. Michael Colgan, a Mayo Clinic Health System dermatologist in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer. In 2025, an estimated 104,960 cases of invasive melanoma will be diagnosed in the U.S., and an estimated 8,430 people will die of melanoma, according to the American Cancer Society. When detected early, however, the five-year survival rate for melanoma is 99%.” READ/INFOGRAPHIC: https://fluence-media.co/4kdzyju
VAPING: Via MDH, VERBATIM: “More than 650 Minnesota students from 47 schools stepped up to fight youth vaping in this year’s Escape the Vape Video Challenge, now in its fifth year . . . Minnesota students led the charge against youth vaping, submitting more than 300 creative, peer-driven, 30-second videos. Public voting opened on March 15, and closed April 14. Nearly 1,500 votes were cast to choose the winners for each division. Each first-place winning video will be awarded a $500 cash prize. Their schools will also each receive $250.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3SjFVp9
MORE: Via Escape the Vape, the winning videos. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4dEWxl6
COVID: Via NPR, VERBATIM: “The companies that make COVID-19 vaccines should update the shots again to target a variant closer to the strains currently on the rise, a committee of independent advisers to the Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended Thursday. Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and Novavax should target strains related to the JN.1 variant with their vaccines for next fall and winter because that strain is closer to the new variants of the virus that are circulating, the advisers voted after a day-long meeting.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/43sYPyL
MORE: Via KFF Health News, VERBATIM: “Vaccine opponents and skeptics in charge of federal health agencies — starting at the top with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — are restricting access to covid shots that were a signature accomplishment of President Donald Trump’s first term and cost taxpayers about $13 billion to develop, produce, and distribute. The agencies are narrowing vaccination recommendations, pushing drugmakers to perform costly clinical studies, and taking other steps that will result in fewer people getting protection from a virus that still kills hundreds each week in the U.S.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4knMiUs
MORE: Via UofM CIDRAP, VERBATIM: “The Vaccine Integrity Project (VIP), a panel of leading public health and policy experts, published a viewpoint on the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) decision this week to issue new, more restrictive, COVID-19 vaccine recommendations via an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ZyD2EE
REPORT: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, set forth their vision on Thursday for how to ‘make America healthy again’ with the release of an expansive report on a crisis of chronic disease in children. The report lays the blame on ultraprocessed foods, chemical exposures, stress, lack of physical activity and excessive use of prescription drugs, including antidepressants.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Hcv5Pb
MORE: Via Politico, VERBATIM: “Laced throughout the report from Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again Commission are accusations against doctors — for reportedly being influenced by the pharmaceutical industry to overprescribe certain medications and for failing to treat the root causes of disease. The report, released Thursday, calls out the American Medical Association, the country’s leading physicians’ group, by name for adopting a policy the report claims discourages providers from deviating from standard practices and scientists from studying adverse vaccine reactions. The surprise focus on physicians — softened in the report by calling them ‘well-intended’ — comes after weeks of furious lobbying by the food, pharmaceutical and farming industries who feared being demonized by the review.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3FsiB5y
ESSENTIA HEALTH INVESTS IN TWIN PORTS NURSES: Total payroll for Essentia Health Duluth-Superior nurses is $164 million, with $53 million paid in salary increases over the past 3 years. Essentia Health has also increased clinical support staff by 10% over the past 3 years, providing additional support for those nurses. Over half of Duluth area nurses have been with us for over 5 years and enjoy exceptional work-life balance. To join our team at Essentia Health, search for openings HERE: https://fluence-media.co/3FzLe0i (SPONSORED: Essentia Health)
NUMBERS: Via UofM CIDRAP, VERBATIM: “Excess deaths in the United States kept rising even after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 1.5 million in 2022 and 2023 that would have been prevented had US death rates matched those of peer countries, estimates a Boston University (BU)-led study today in JAMA Health Forum. The data show a continuation of a decades-old trend toward increasing US excess deaths, mainly among working-age adults, largely driven by drug overdoses, gun violence, auto accidents, and preventable cardiometabolic causes, the researchers say.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/45uoaLo
DROWNINGS: Via CNN, VERBATIM: “An estimated 4,000 fatal unintentional drownings happen every year in the United States — an average of 11 drowning deaths per day — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drowning is the leading cause of death in children ages 1 to 4, and after motor vehicle accidents, it is the second leading cause of death attributed to unintentional injuries among kids ages 5 to 14.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3SILFch
BEER: Via Fortune, VERBATIM: “‘Forever chemicals,’ or PFAS—the group of more than 9,000 potentially hazardous synthetic compounds linked to cancer and other health problems—have been found lurking in everything from non-stick pans and candy to butter and processed meats. Oh—and in about half of tap water systems nationwide. So why should your favorite brewski be immune? After testing beers brewed in different areas of the country, researchers with the American Chemical Society have discovered the highest levels of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in those from regions with known PFAS-contaminated water sources.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4kuWieo
RESEARCH: Via CBS News, VERBATIM: “New research is showing just how much alcohol has impacted cancer mortality rates in the past three decades. In the analysis, released Thursday ahead of being presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2025 conference in Chicago, researchers found alcohol-associated cancer deaths in the United States doubled from 1990 to 2021, rising from 11,896 to 23,207. The authors also found mortality rates were significantly higher in males and those above age 55.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/45qHBEM
TAURINE: Via The Hill, VERBATIM: “A recent study links taurine, an amino acid made by the body and an ingredient found in several types of food, to the growth of blood and bone marrow cancers like leukemia. The research team, headed by Jeevisha Bajaj at the University of Rochester’s Wilmot Cancer Institute, discovered that taurine is made by certain normal cells in the bone marrow, which is where myeloid cancers start and grow. Because leukemia cells cannot produce taurine on their own, they depend on other genes to obtain it and transport it to the cancer cells.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/43yX6Iw
PAINKILLER: From Duke University via Science Daily, VERBATIM: “An experimental drug developed at Duke University School of Medicine could offer powerful pain relief without the dangerous side effects of opioids. The drug, called SBI-810, is part of a new generation of compounds designed to target a receptor on the nerves and spinal cord. While opioids flood multiple cellular pathways indiscriminately, SBI-810, a non-opioid treatment, takes a more focused approach, activating only a specific pain-relief pathway that avoids the euphoric ‘high’ linked to addiction.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4kuo8HE
FRESH15: The latest season of Fresh15 includes interviews with new Minnesota House members. So far, five new members have shared their goals, background and fun facts before they take office in a historic session this January.
Rep. Kari Rehrauer
Rep. Wayne Johnson
Rep. Julie Greene
Rep. Keith Allen
Rep. Peter Johnson
Follow on your favorite podcast platform, or at www.TheDailyAgenda.com/Podcasts. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Telecom Alliance)
IMMIGRANTS: Via KFF Health News, VERBATIM: “President Donald Trump’s signature budget legislation would punish 14 states [including Minnesota] that offer health coverage to people in the U.S. without authorization. The states, most of them Democratic-led, provide insurance to some low-income immigrants — often children — regardless of their legal status. Advocates argue the policy is both humane and ultimately cost-saving. But the federal legislation, which Republicans have titled the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ would slash federal Medicaid reimbursements to those states by billions of dollars a year in total unless they roll back the benefits.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4kfun2t
PRICES: Via Becker’s Hospital Review, VERBATIM: “CMS updated its hospital price transparency guidance May 22, requiring hospitals to post the actual prices of items and services, not estimates. The update comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order Feb. 25 aimed at boosting healthcare price transparency. In the updated guidance, CMS said hospitals must display payer-specific standard charges as dollar amounts in their machine-readable files (MRFs) whenever calculable.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3FrqMz1
WALGREENS: Via Twin Cities Business, VERBATIM: “Walgreens is continuing its national rollout of micro-fulfillment centers—or, facilities that use automation to fill prescriptions. Its first in Minnesota opened Tuesday. In a Brooklyn Park business center off Highway 169, pneumatic tubes, robotic arms, and conveyor belts are set to fill, cap, and bag millions of prescriptions for shipping out to 145 Walgreens retail stores across the state, along with 55 stores throughout the Midwest. The goal: free up in-store pharmacists, so they can focus more on patient care and less on routine refills.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4dw2i4a
MAYO: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “Mayo Clinic is adding a second patient information office in Ecuador. The new staff in Guayaquil will assist patients traveling to Mayo Clinic for care and help insurance companies, referring physicians and others connect with Mayo. Mayo Clinic's first office in Ecuador opened in Quito in 2009. Mayo now has patient information offices in 15 countries, including several locations in Latin America.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4dwWFmm
DOCUMENTARY: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “Stacy Caldwell is using her voice to raise awareness about breast cancer—not just for herself, but for millions of women. The stage 4 cancer survivor is one of 10 women featured in ‘One in Eight,’ a new documentary premiering August 10 in Hopkins.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4jl6PaY
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
WEIGHT LOSS: From NYU via Science Daily, VERBATIM: “Mice genetically engineered to lack the ability to make the amino acid cysteine, and fed a cysteine-free diet, lost 30 percent of their body weight in just one week, a new study shows. Published online May 21 in Nature, the work found that cysteine depletion disrupts the normal metabolic pathways used by mammalian cells to convert food into energy, forcing the animals to rapidly burn fat stores in a futile attempt to meet energy demands.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Fr0A7M
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