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INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE OF CHICAGO

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  • 27 Mar 2024 5:38 PM | Deborah Hodges (Administrator)

    When evolving data provided evidence for a potential causal relationship between vaccine receipt and a specific adverse event, the potential risk associated with the vaccine was quantified, other risk factors for the specific adverse event were identified (eg, age, sex), and the risks vs benefits were assessed.1 On January 13, 2023, the FDA and the CDC issued a joint public communication2 about the identification of a preliminary safety signal within the Vaccine Safety Datalink surveillance system for ischemic stroke within 21 days after receipt of a COVID-19 bivalent mRNA vaccine for individuals 65 years of age and older. This public communication2 also specified that the safety signal indicating a potential increased risk of stroke appeared greater when the COVID-19 bivalent mRNA vaccines (also called boosters) were given concomitantly with either a high-dose or adjuvanted influenza vaccine than when given alone. [JAMA Network]

    To further investigate this safety signal, the FDA conducted an analysis and Lu et al3 report the results in this issue of JAMA. The analysis used data from Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years or older and assessed the risk of stroke after receipt of either brand of COVID-19 bivalent mRNA vaccine alone or when given concomitantly with a high-dose or adjuvanted influenza vaccine. Lu et al3 used a self-controlled case series design in which individuals act as their own controls. The temporal association between a transient exposure and an event is evaluated and all time-invariant confounding is eliminated.4 Among more than 5 million recipients of either brand of COVID-19 bivalent mRNA vaccine, the study identified 11 001 (0.20%) with a cerebrovascular outcome (nonhemorrhagic stroke, transient ischemic attack, or hemorrhagic stroke). The study found no increased stroke risk associated with either brand of COVID-19 bivalent mRNA vaccine when administered alone. The results from this large cohort are reassuring and are consistent with those reported from France5 and Israel.6 In addition, no safety signal has been issued by the European Medicines Agency.7

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  • 26 Mar 2024 11:47 AM | Deborah Hodges (Administrator)

    A House committee approved a plan last week intended to help behavioral health providers better recruit and maintain staff. 

    The legislation from Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, would create a support grant program to cover providers' expenses related to recruiting, retaining and compensating licensed mental health and substance use disorder professionals. [Health News Illinois]

    Another provision would reimburse costs associated with American Sign Language and foreign language interpretive services at mental health treatment and substance use disorder treatment programs

    LaPointe told members of the House’s Mental Health & Addiction Committee that providers, specifically those serving Medicaid patients, need support.

    “This bill is one tool in the toolbox to attempt to remedy that by creating a grant program for our providers to better recruit and retain the staff that we need to actually provide the support to people all around the state,” she said. 

    The bill currently states recipients could receive up to $200,000 in grant funding for each mental health or substance use disorder professional employed, engaged or contracted.

    Illinois Association for Behavioral Health CEO Jud DeLoss told committee members they are working on an amendment with clarifying language regarding the grant amount. 

    That includes the dollar amount per position, what type of facilities are eligible, a cap on the number of grants an agency could receive and setting a retention period so an agency could not receive funds if an employee only briefly works there.

    Additionally, DeLoss said they recently learned that funding for ALS and foreign language services may be eligible for Medicaid reimbursement, and they intend to transition the bill's language to that instead of state funding.

    There is an incredible need for the legislation, DeLoss said. Along with the opioid and mental health crises that are driving up demand for services, providers simply have a hard time recruiting and maintaining staff.

    “This would give them the option to use those funds in a very flexible manner to meet the needs of their communities and their patients,” he said.

    The committee signed off on the plan along party lines. Rep. Jackie Haas, R-Kankakee, wanted to hear more from the Department of Human Services, which is tasked with overseeing the grant program.

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  • 25 Mar 2024 11:35 AM | Deborah Hodges (Administrator)

    Nearly 108,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2022, according to final federal figures released Thursday by the CDC. [CDC]

    Over the last two decades, the number of U.S. overdose deaths has risen almost every year and continued to break annual records -- making it the worst overdose epidemic in American history.

    The official number for 2022 was 107,941, the CDC said, which is about 1% higher than the nearly 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021.

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  • 22 Mar 2024 7:16 AM | Deborah Hodges (Administrator)

    The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute in Madison released their 2024 county health assessments — but this time, without an ordinal ranking. [Becker's Hospital Review]

    County Health Rankings & Roadmaps is a program of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. For more than a decade, it ranked counties within each U.S. state ordinally by analyzing more than 90 health factors at the county level. Comprehensive county rankings data was searchable by state, county or ZIP code. 

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    You may be interested in this section, What Shapes Health & Equity?>

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  • 21 Mar 2024 7:39 AM | Deborah Hodges (Administrator)

    Climate change is happening now. Nine of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred in the past decade and were accompanied by extreme heat waves, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, and severe flooding. Primarily due to greenhouse gases released via combustion of fossil fuels, global average temperatures between 2011 and 2020 increased to 1.1 °C (approximately 1.9 °F) above preindustrial levels and are estimated to increase to 1.5 °C (approximately 2.7 °F) by 2040.1 

    Local manifestations of the warming earth, such as shorter winters, changes in precipitation, and increased frequency of extreme weather events, will cause worldwide changes in pathogens, vectors, and the behavior of animal reservoirs and people. These changes may alter infectious disease epidemiology in the US and internationally as traditionally accepted regions of disease acquisition lose relevance, seasonal associations change, and new pathogens emerge. Awareness of changes in the geographic range, seasonality, and frequency of transmission of infectious diseases because of climate change is important to help clinicians diagnose, treat, and prevent infectious diseases in patients (Table). [JAMA Network]

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  • 20 Mar 2024 5:27 PM | Deborah Hodges (Administrator)

    About 7% of US adults report having or having had symptoms of long COVID such as fatigue, heart palpitations and/or dizziness. These are three of the 12 symptoms identified as part of the National Institute of Health's RECOVER initiative that can be reliably used to classify someone as having long COVID. [Medscape]


    While there is no standard federally approved treatment for long COVID, physicians can recommend several strategies to their patients to help them recover.

    The good news is that many people experience improvements in their symptoms over time by adopting these strategies, said Andrew Schamess, MD, an internal medicine physician at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and director of its Post-COVID. 

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  • 19 Mar 2024 1:39 PM | Deborah Hodges (Administrator)

    Two out of three very young children in Chicago were exposed to at least trace amounts of lead in their home tap water, a study found, highlighting the need for City Hall to speed up replacements of brain-damaging lead pipes. [Chicago Sun-Times]

    A study by Johns Hopkins and Stanford researchers, published Monday in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, used artificial intelligence to estimate the extent of exposure of children across the city to water from home faucets containing lead.

    In all, 129,000 children, 68% of those 5 or younger had lead in their home drinking water, the study found.

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  • 18 Mar 2024 9:38 AM | Deborah Hodges (Administrator)

    President Biden on Monday will sign an executive order aimed at expanding research and improving government initiatives on women’s health, a move that will coincide with a White House Women’s History Month reception. [The Hill]

    The president’s executive order will “ensure women’s health is integrated and prioritized across the federal research portfolio and budget,” the White House said, with a focus on the administration’s Initiative on Women’s Health Research. 

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  • 18 Mar 2024 12:48 AM | Deborah Hodges (Administrator)

    The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced tougher limits on a cancer-causing gas used to sterilize medical equipment, a move aimed at helping disadvantaged communities across the country reduce their exposure to a toxic pollutant. [Washington  Post]

    Some environmental and public health advocates criticized the final rule as too weak, saying it would not adequately protect low-income and minority communities that are disproportionately affected. At the same time, the medical device industry warned that the rule could disrupt the supply of safe medical equipment at hospitals and clinics nationwide.

    Ethylene oxide pollutes disadvantaged communities but is key to sterilizing medical equipment 

    in hospitals and clinics nationwide


    The rule targets emissions of ethylene oxide, an odorless, colorless gas that has been linked to several types of cancer, particularly lymphoma and leukemia. It illustrates the tensions between two of the Biden administration’s signature priorities: promoting environmental justice and bolstering domestic supply chains.

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  • 15 Mar 2024 2:24 PM | Deborah Hodges (Administrator)

    A workgroup would explore ways to reduce burdens facing the behavioral health workforce under a plan approved Thursday by a House committee. [Health News Illinois]

    The bill, sponsored by Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, would create a workgroup inside the office of the chief behavioral health officer. The officer or their designee could appoint up to 15 members.

    They would be tasked to review policies and regulations to identify “inefficiencies, duplicate or unnecessary requirements” as well as other administrative burdens that prevent workers from providing services, according to the plan.

    A report highlighting short- and long-term policy recommendations would be due to the General Assembly within a year after the group’s first meeting.

    LaPointe told colleagues on the House’s Mental Health & Addiction Committee that hearings held earlier this spring related to the behavioral health workforce made clear that administrative burden is negatively affecting providers.

    “We are at an acute moment where we have an intense workforce shortage," she said. "Anything we can do to reduce those barriers is what we want to do."

    Tyler Smith, director of policy and government affairs for the Community Behavioral Healthcare Association, said workers often have to deal with a “vast and uncoordinated array of requirements.” That can include repeatedly submitting the same data to access their critical care providers.

    Smith said the proposal would make the “industry better for customers, clinicians and clients."

    A forthcoming amendment would allow the workforce’s chair to appoint a nonprofit organization to provide administrative support for the group. It would also establish an immediate effective date for the bill.

    The plan unanimously passed the committee.

    The committee also unanimously approved a plan by Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, related to network adequacy and so-called “ghost networks.”

    Her plan would task insurers with auditing at least 25 percent of their provider directories for accuracy at least once a year and to make any necessary corrections. Plans would also have to provide information to allow customers to dispute charges for out-of-network providers or facilities that were incorrectly listed as in-network.

    Consumers would be able to file a complaint with the Department of Insurance if charged for out-of-network services incorrectly listed as in-network.

    The Department of Insurance would also have to “randomly” audit at least 10 percent of plans each year.

    Croke said there is some overlap with Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposed sweeping insurance reform, but her proposal gets into finer details on the issue, which can be more difficult in an omnibus package. Specifically, a coming amendment to the plan will insert a mechanism where patients can recoup costs.

    “I think that there is some level of bipartisan support when it comes to this particular issue,” Croke said.

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