TOYS: From UCare via Instagram, VERBATIM: “Our #PeoplePower volunteers are spreading holiday cheers by wrapping toys for this holiday season. 700 toys will be given away this Saturday, Dec 14 from 11am to 2pm at HmongTown Marketplace in St Paul.” PHOTOS: https://fluence-media.co/4f6MXGJ (SPONSORED: UCare)
HEALTHCARE: Via U.S. News & World Report, VERBATIM: “The majority of U.S. adults say it is the government’s responsibility to ensure all Americans have health care coverage, according to a new survey from Gallup that comes on the heels of the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO that sparked an ongoing manhunt for the suspected shooter and a larger conversation about the difficulties of dealing with the health care system in the U.S. The survey, which was conducted in November before the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week, found that the percentage of Americans who believe it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have health care coverage increased from 59% last year to 62%.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4f90ZHH
MORE: Via Gallup, VERBATIM: “Americans' positive rating of the quality of healthcare in the U.S. is now at its lowest point in Gallup’s trend dating back to 2001. The current 44% of U.S. adults who say the quality of healthcare is excellent (11%) or good (33%) is down by a total of 10 percentage points since 2020 after steadily eroding each year.”
“As has been the case throughout the 24-year trend, Americans rate healthcare coverage in the U.S. even more negatively than they rate quality.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4fbpLqP
FEES: Via Medical Xpress, VERBATIM: “More than half of Americans (52%) worry about affording the cost of often hidden health care fees, increasingly pervasive charges that could add hundreds or even thousands of dollars to their medical bills, a new West Health-Gallup poll finds. Hospitals typically add these fees on top of charges for routine medical services like lab tests or physical examinations provided at outpatient centers, clinics, and medical offices that they own.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3OVwn1z
LONELINESS: Via UPI, VERBATIM: “Fewer older U.S. residents feel as lonely and isolated as they did during the COVID-19 pandemic, but many still feel alone, a new poll reveals. The National Poll on Healthy Aging, published Monday in JAMA, shows that more than one-third of people ages 50 to 80 feel lonely, and almost nearly as many feel isolated.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3VyhPc7
SUBSTANCE USE: Via The Guardian, VERBATIM: “New polling data from the Legal Action Center shows that more Americans than ever think substance use should be treated as a health issue, rather than a criminal justice issue. But many state and federal laws continue to criminalize substance use – more than half of states still treat drug possession as a felony.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3VyJ3iS
Check out all the episodes of Sunday Take on 830 WCCO. CLICK: https://fluence-media.co/3KsuDrZ
RFK JR: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “More than 75 Nobel Prize winners have signed a letter urging senators not to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
The letter, obtained by The New York Times, marks the first time in recent memory that Nobel laureates have banded together against a Cabinet choice, according to Richard Roberts, winner of the 1993 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine, who helped draft the letter. The group tries to stay out of politics whenever possible, he said.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3VtA16L
VITAMINS: Via The Wall Street Journal, VERBATIM: “President-elect Donald Trump’s top political appointees want you to buy supplements. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Trump’s pick for surgeon general, sells her own line of vitamins. Kash Patel, Trump’s choice to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, recommended pills on Truth Social in February that he said could ‘rid your body of the harms’ from Covid-19 vaccines. Mehmet Oz, the TV personality whom Trump named to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, promotes supplements sold by online retailer iHerb . . . Doctors and public-health experts said close ties between Trump’s nominees and supplement makers could give more leeway to an industry that is lightly regulated and sells products that are largely unproven.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49DnF1F
WEIGHT: From Andy Steiner via MinnPost, VERBATIM: “When Covid restrictions eased and [Nancy Manther] was able to go back to the doctor for a checkup, she told clinic staff that she had just completed treatment for anorexia and didn’t want to see her weight. ‘I stood backwards on the scale,’ she said. Clinic staffers were good about accommodating this request, Manther recalled, ‘except when they gave me the after-visit summary, and my weight and BMI were printed right at the top’ . . . So Manther fired off an email to Sameer Badlani, MD, executive vice president and chief strategy and digital officer at Fairview Health Services, telling him about her experience and requesting that the health system somehow adjust their policies . . . Badlani took Manther’s request seriously and pulled together teams of M Health Fairview employees to address her concern. The change happened surprisingly quickly.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3BcDn7j
AI: Via NPR, VERBATIM: “A child in Texas was 9 years old when she first used the chatbot service Character.AI. It exposed her to ‘hypersexualized content,’ causing her to develop ‘sexualized behaviors prematurely.’ A chatbot on the app gleefully described self-harm to another young user, telling a 17-year-old ‘it felt good.’ The same teenager was told by a Character.AI chatbot that it sympathized with children who murder their parents after the teen complained to the bot about his limited screen time . . . These allegations are included in a new federal product liability lawsuit against Google-backed company Character.AI, filed by the parents of two young Texas users, claiming the bots abused their children.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ZNYrKw
SHOOTING: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “For years, patients in the U.S. health care system have grown frustrated with a bureaucracy they don’t understand. Doctors are included in an insurer’s network one year but not the next. Getting someone on the phone to help can be next to impossible. Coverage of care and prescriptions is often unceremoniously denied. This week’s fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has unleashed a wave of public feeling — exasperation, anger, resentment, helplessness — from Americans sharing personal stories of interactions with insurance companies, often seen as faceless corporate giants.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ZMqmuu
From morning take…
UNITEDHEALTH: via WCCO-TV, VERBATIM: “UnitedHealth Group is hoping Monday's apprehension of a person of interest in the killing of Brian Thompson, CEO of its insurance wing, will bring some comfort to those who knew him. STATEMENT: ‘Our hope is that today's apprehension brings some relief to Brian's family, friends, colleagues and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy. We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them on this investigation.’ … On Monday, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania and is being questioned in connection with the killing of Thompson. … Mangione was spotted at a McDonald's in Altoona, PA Monday morning by someone who'd seen photos of the person of interest in the case. Local authorities responded and arrested him.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4fiIqkE
RESEARCH: From Allison Satake via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “The bloodstream is teeming with plasma proteins that can increase and decrease depending on what is happening in the body. As a result, these proteins can serve as valuable biomarkers for health. Mayo Clinic researchers have found that a specific plasma protein, called IL-23R, increases with age. The finding reveals a connection between a cellular aging process, called senescence, and specific plasma proteins in the blood that increase with age and decrease in response to therapeutics targeting senescent cells.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3D96Qzy
VACCINATIONS: From MDH via X, VERBATIM: “Vaccines shield children against harmful diseases. Visit http://health.mn.gov/shots to learn more about free or low-cost shots for your child through the Minnesota Vaccines for Children (MnVFC) program.” TWEET: https://fluence-media.co/3OMrdVI
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
CANCER: From Center for Genomic Regulation via Science Daily, VERBATIM: “Different types of cancer have unique molecular 'fingerprints' which are detectable in early stages of the disease and can be picked up with near-perfect accuracy by small, portable scanners in just a few hours, according to a study published today in the journal Molecular Cell. The discovery by researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona sets the foundation for creating new, non-invasive diagnostic tests that detect different types of cancer faster and earlier than currently possible.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49wD57S
TREATMENT: From Kelley Luckstein via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “A new treatment is showing promise for people with high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM). This precancerous condition can progress to active multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. High-risk SMM carries a higher likelihood of progression.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49usIkW
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