For American kids, the new school year marks the return of active shooter drills. While events like Columbine and Sandy Hook are flash-points in the debate over gun rights and safety, some experts suggest these drills may do more psychological harm than good. Our priorities are misguided because a far greater firearm threat is the leading cause of death among children and teens: suicide. [MedPage Today]

Since the Columbine High School massacre, the total number of deaths from school shootings is dwarfed by the number of young lives lost to firearm suicide. Estimates suggest upwards of 500 K-12 students have have died in U.S. school shootings since 1999; in contrast, over 3,400 young people (ages 10-24) die by firearm suicide each year in our country. At the individual level it is worse. American children are 20 times more likely to die by firearm suicide at home than in a shooting at school.

This preventable loss of life from suicide and school shootings shares a common thread: easy access to firearms. In fact, 76% of firearms used in school shootings and 79% used in suicides are obtained from the home of a family member. One way to prevent these deaths is secure storage, as promoted by campaigns like Be SMARTand proposed federal legislation like Ethan's Law.

The problem of youth suicide isn't going away: research confirms a rise in suicidal ideation among American teens. A CDC report based on 2023 data showed that nearly 40% of U.S. high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.

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 The U.S. Census Bureau today (9.9.20250 announced that real median household income was $83,730 in 2024, not statistically different from the 2023 estimate of $82,690. The official poverty rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 10.6% in 2024. The following 2024 findings were all not statistically different from 2023. The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rate in 2024 was 12.9%. Meanwhile, 92.0% of the U.S. population had health insurance coverage for all or part of 2024. An estimated 27.1 million or 8.0% of people did not have health insurance at any point during 2024, according to the 2025 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC). 

These findings come from three Census Bureau reports: “Income in the United States: 2024,” “Poverty in the United States: 2024,” and “Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2024.” While the official poverty measure is based on the concept of money income, which is pretax and does not include tax credits, the SPM is a post-tax and transfer poverty measure. The SPM provides an alternative way of measuring poverty in the United States and serves as an additional indicator of economic well-being. The Census Bureau has published poverty estimates using the SPM annually since 2011 in collaboration with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

For consistency with past reports, the income estimates in the “Income in the United States: 2024” report are based on the concept of money income. Appendix B of the income report provides post-tax estimates of median household income and income inequality metrics.

All three reports are based on data from the CPS ASEC. The Current Population Survey (CPS), sponsored jointly by the Census Bureau and BLS, is conducted monthly and is a primary source of labor force statistics for the U.S. population. Supplements are added in most months. The CPS ASEC — conducted in February, March and April — is designed to provide annual, national estimates of income, poverty and health insurance, collecting information about job status, income and health insurance coverage for the prior calendar year.

Although the 2025 CPS ASEC was collected using standard procedures, response rates are still lower than they were before the pandemic. The weighted response rate for the 2025 CPS ASEC was 62.0%, compared to 61.7% for the previous year.

As response rates decline, the risk of bias increases. To reduce the bias, the CPS ASEC program includes adjustments to survey weights for nonresponse and controls them to population totals to ensure the CPS ASEC results are representative of the U.S. population.

Since response rates remain below pre-pandemic levels, examining how respondents differ from nonrespondents is important, as this difference could affect the accuracy of the estimates. For more details on how sample differences and the associated nonresponse bias impact income and official poverty estimates, refer to the Research Matters blog,

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You may be interested- The U.S. Centenarian Population Grew by 50% Between 2010 and 2020>

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine recommendations committee on Friday wrapped two days of meetings that involved votes on a range of recommendations regarding COVID-19, measles and more. {CBS]

The recommendations panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, has undergone changes in recent months, with all new members picked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The ACIP's recommendations are not the final say — they must be reviewed and approved by the CDC director to become official guidance, but CDC directors have almost always accepted the recommendations.

MMRV vaccine recommendations

The panel voted Thursday to change a recommendation on the combined measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) vaccine, supporting separate, not combined, MMR and varicella shots for those under the age of 4. 

More> https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-acip-recap-measles-mmrv-covid-vaccines/

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Gov. JB Pritzker is the latest Illinois official to urge Congress to extend enhanced premium tax credits for marketplace plans.[Health News Illinois]

Pritzker joined 16 other Democratic governors in a letter to the four Congressional leaders, saying lawmakers needed to act soon on the tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year.

“If Congress acts quickly, states can lock in lower premiums and spare families a wave of sticker shock this fall,” the governors said. “If not, the damage will be felt for years.”

The deadline for government funding has put the tax credits in the limelight as Democrats seek to pressure Republicans into extending subsidies that have helped expand health insurance coverage.

Some Republicans have shown openness to an extension by year’s end, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., saying he is open to discussing legislation to extend the subsidies if it is not part of a government funding deal.  

Get Covered Illinois Director Morgan Winters joined other state-based health insurance marketplace leaders earlier this month to ask Congress to support an extension.

A recent analysis found most Illinois insurers will seek double-digit rate increases on next year’s exchange, with officials pointing to rising healthcare costs and the expiration of temporary subsidies.

The average requested rate change in Illinois ranges from 9.3 percent sought by MercyCare HMO to 38.6 percent pursued by Centene’s Celtic Insurance Company.

KFF reported that the median proposed premium increase nationwide is 18 percent, about 11 percentage points higher than last year and the largest change insurers have asked for since 2018.

The Illinois Department of Insurance said preliminary estimates would place the average rate increase at approximately 10 percentage points lower if the tax credits are reinstated.

“Families shouldn’t have to choose between having healthcare and putting food on the table,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Republicans in Congress had no issue cutting taxes for billionaires, so they should have no issue extending tax relief for their own constituents who will suffer if they expire. This shouldn’t be a partisan issue – it’s common sense.”

KFF data show that 330,216 Illinoisans received enhanced tax credits last year, saving an average of $548 monthly on premiums.

Nearly 466,000 Illinoisans enrolled in health plans during the 2025 open enrollment period.

Illinois is set to launch its state-based marketplace for the coming plan year. Open enrollment begins in November and runs through January 15.

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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched an effort to advance research on whole-person health and create an integrated knowledge network of healthy physiological function. Whole person health involves looking at the whole person—not just separate organs or body systems—and considering multiple factors that promote health. For example, a multicomponent lifestyle intervention including healthy diet, physical activity and stress management may improve multiple and interconnected aspects of health including cardiovascular (e.g. blood pressure), metabolic (e.g. glucose metabolism) and musculoskeletal function (e.g. muscle strength).[NIH]

“Biomedical research is largely organized around the study of specific organs and diseases. In contrast, we do much less research on health itself, which is an integrated process involving the whole person,” said Helene M. Langevin, M.D., director of NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, which leads the NIH-wide program.

The five-year research initiative will proceed in several stages, drawing from existing scientific knowledge to develop a complete, working model of healthy human physiology. It will build on the NIH Human Reference Atlas and the Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP) to connect the complex anatomy and function of the body’s different organs and systems into a single “map.”

Future stages of the project will link common clinical measures, such as blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol, to major physiological functions. This initiative will also populate the framework with existing human data and ultimately build and test an interactive model of whole-person health.

“By organizing healthy physiological function into a whole-body knowledge network, researchers will be able to explore scientific questions about health in a new way,” said Dr. Langevin. “With our ability to acquire new scientific data at an increasingly dizzying speed, the importance of integrating and connecting new data to what we already know is greater than ever. The Whole Person Reference Physiome will lay a foundation for understanding the factors that drive declines in health and mechanistic pathways to health restoration.”

More information about the research program is available on the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) website, here: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/NHCW3mdunUCF3ULUAvilYQ/project-details/11224772#description.

NCCIH conducts and supports rigorous scientific investigation into the fundamental science, safety, and effectiveness of complementary and integrative health approaches, as well as their roles in improving health and health care in a whole-person health framework. News releases, fact sheets and other NCCIH-related materials are available on the NCCIH website.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases.

For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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Vending machines containing free Narcan will be placed at five CTA stations with the aim of expanding access to the life-saving medication used to reverse an opioid overdose, Cook County officials announced Monday. [WTTW]

The vending machines will be located at the 47th Street Red Line station, Wilson Red and Purple Line station, Jefferson Park Blue Line station, Harlem/Lake Green Line station and the Central Park Pink Line station. 

The locations were selected based on heightened opioid-related emergency medical responses and input from surrounding communities and various community stakeholders, according to Chicago Transit Authority Acting President Nora Leerhsen.

The six-month pilot initiative is a partnership with the CTA and Cook County Health. Officials and community leaders gathered Monday for a news conference at the 47th Street Red Line station, where one of the vending machines is installed.

“The vending machines will provide a low barrier, no cost and anonymous way for anyone to obtain naloxone, whether it’s for themselves, a loved one or a stranger,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said. “This is not about judgment or stigma. It’s about ensuring that everyone has the tools they need to respond to an emergency.”

Cook County Health is using $100,000 in American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, federal funds to cover the cost of vending machine installation and maintenance, according to Cook County Health CEO Dr. Erik Mikaitis.

“To those dealing with an opioid use disorder, it is our hope that the availability of naloxone in CTA stations serves as a reminder that you are seen, that you are cared about, that there is treatment, that there is hope and that you are absolutely not alone,” Cook County Health Chief Behavioral Health Officer Dr. Thomas Nutter said.

In August, repurposed newsstands containing free Narcan launched in Uptown in partnership with the Chicago Department of Public Health and 46th Ward Ald. Angela Clay’s office.

In 2023, CDPH and CTA launched a pilot vending machine program to provide free Narcan at the 95th/Dan Ryan Red Line station. Vending machines were also installed at Harold Washington Library, Uptown Library, Garfield Community Service Center and the Roseland Community Triage Center.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new vaccine advisory committee meets this week, with votes expected on whether to change recommendations on shots against COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox.

[ AP ] 

The exact questions to be voted on Thursday and Friday in Atlanta are unclear. Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to questions seeking details to a newly posted agenda, although the department announced five additional appointments to the committee Monday.

Some public health experts are worried that the votes will — at a minimum — raise unwarranted new questions about vaccines in the minds of parents.

Perhaps even more consequential would be a vote that restricts a government program from paying for vaccines for low-income families.

“I’m tightening my seat belt,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccines expert.

The panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how already-approved vaccines should be used. CDC directors have almost always accepted those recommendations, which are widely heeded by doctors and guide vaccination programs.

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Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed an executive order intended to ensure Illinoisans have access to necessary vaccines this fall, regardless of changes in federal policy. [Health News Illinois]

The order tasks the Department of Public Health to develop contingency plans to maintain access to vaccines for eligible children “if federal disruptions threaten inventory.”

State-regulated insurers will be required to cover vaccines based on IDPH recommendations. That includes seasonal and routine child and adult vaccines.

Agency Director Dr. Sameer Vohra will issue a standing order to allow eligible providers in pharmacies and other clinical settings to administer vaccines recommended by the agency.

“With confusing and conflicting guidelines from the federal government, the (order) ensures Illinois residents have the credible, transparent, and science-based guidance they need to make vaccine decisions for themselves and their family,” he said. “We will work with every partner — from pharmacies to schools to rural clinics — to ensure access to critical vaccines to keep our Illinois residents and their families protected.”

IDPH said it has also strengthened its Immunization Advisory Committee to issue fall respiratory vaccination recommendations, adding experts in infectious diseases, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, family medicine, public health practice and epidemiology.

The group is slated to meet on Sept. 22, and the IDPH said it will use those recommendations to provide public guidance to help the state’s providers and reidents make decisions regarding vaccinations during the fall respiratory season.

Pritzker said in a statement that the order is necessary due to recent upheaval with federal health agencies.

That includes the dismissal of top leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration changing approval for some uses of the COVID-19 vaccines and the firing of all members of the independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices board.

Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has appointed new members to the board, many of whom have expressed skepticism about vaccine safety and efficiency.

“When the federal government abandons its responsibility, Illinois will step up,” Pritzker said. “We will follow the science, listen to medical experts and do everything in our power to enable families to receive the care they need.”

A Washington Post report said the Trump administration plans to link COVID-19 vaccines to the deaths of 25 children, a move that has alarmed career scientists who say coronavirus vaccines have been extensively studied, including in children, and that dangers of the virus itself are being underplayed.

The federal immunization board is set to meet next week to consider new coronavirus vaccine recommendations, which affect access to the shots and whether they’re free.

Several Illinois healthcare groups praised the executive order, saying it will protect residents.

“We have seen firsthand how serious, and sometimes tragic, the effects of vaccine-preventable illnesses can be on children and their families,” said Dr. Michelle Barnes, president of the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “We are grateful to Gov. Pritzker and IDPH for protecting access to vaccines and allowing pediatricians across the state to continue to follow science-based recommendations to keep Illinois children healthy.”

Garth Reynolds, executive director of the Illinois Pharmacists Association, said the order will allow pharmacists to continue to meet their patients’ immunization needs. 

“Patient access to timely, trusted, and convenient vaccination services is paramount to protecting public health,” he said.

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Chicago’s average life expectancy bounced back to 78.7 years in 2023, nearly hitting its prepandemic peak — though large gaps remain between races and neighborhoods, according to the city health department. [Chicago Tribune]

City health officials attributed the overall improvement to a drop in COVID-19 deaths, after leaving the worst years of the pandemic behind, as well as fewer people dying early from chronic diseases. 

(Photo credit: Alyssa Pointer/Chicago Tribune)

The highest average life expectancy ever recorded in Chicago was 78.8 years in 2019, according to the health department. In 2020, that number plummeted to 75.2 as Chicago and the nation grappled with the devastation of COVID-19.

“Nearly eliminating COVID-19 deaths, once the largest driver of the racial life expectancy gap, has been key,” said Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Olusimbo “Simbo” Ige, in a news release. Ige also cited a reduction in deaths from heart disease, diabetes, cancer and homicide, especially among Black Chicagoans.

The new data comes after the city health department announced a plan late last year aimed at addressing life expectancy gaps in Chicago.

Large disparities have long existed between the life expectancies of Black Chicagoans and other city residents — gaps that city health officials have attributed to long-term disinvestment in predominantly Black neighborhoods and systemic racism. Factors such as access to health care, education, nutritious food, neighborhood safety, environmental conditions, employment, physical activity and stable housing can contribute to life expectancy.

The situation improved slightly in 2023, with the gap between Black and white Chicagoans narrowing from 11.4 years to 10.6 years.

In 2023, Black Chicagoans had an average life expectancy of 71.8 years; white Chicagoans had an average life expectancy of 81.3 years; Latino Chicagoans had an average life expectancy of 82.7 years; and Asian and Pacific Islander Chicagoans had an average life expectancy of 86.8 years.

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today announced the seizure of 4.7 million units of unauthorized e-cigarette products with an estimated retail value of $86.5 million – the largest-ever seizure of this kind. The seizures were part of a joint federal operation in Chicago to examine incoming shipments and prevent illegal e-cigarettes from entering the country.

Almost all the illegal shipments uncovered by the operation originated in China. FDA and CBP personnel determined that many of these shipments contained vague and misleading product descriptions with incorrect values, in an apparent attempt to evade duties and the review of products for import safety concerns.

"We will never allow foreign actors to threaten the health of America's children," said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. "Today we took decisive action to protect kids from illegal vape products. Thank you to President Trump and Attorney General Bondi for their leadership in helping us shut down this black market."

"The FDA and our federal partners are taking strong actions to shore up America's borders and stop the flow of illegal vaping products into our country," said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H. "Americans – especially our children – should not be using potentially dangerous, addicting products that have been snuck into the U.S. If a product has not been authorized by the FDA, CBP will seize, detain or destroy it."

This enforcement action is part of the FDA's broader aggressive strategy against childhood vaping. Additional activities include ending the practice of "port shopping," by which illegal products repeatedly try to enter the United States; addressing the distribution networks of illegal e-cigarette products; educating parents about dangers of vaping; and working with store owners nationwide to prevent the sale of illegal products.

The seizures represent coordinated compliance and enforcement efforts by multiple federal agencies working together to stop the distribution and sale of illegal e-cigarettes. Prior to this operation, the joint FDA and CBP team conducted investigative work to identify potentially non-compliant incoming shipments. The team was also able to successfully improve the efficiency of the review and processing, building off previous operations.

In total this year, the FDA and CBP have stopped more than 6 million unauthorized e-cigarettes worth over $120 million from entering the country.

All e-cigarette products seized in this operation lacked the mandatory premarket authorization orders from the FDA and therefore cannot be legally marketed or distributed in the U.S. To date, the FDA has authorized 39 e-cigarette products and devices; these are the only e-cigarette products that can be legally marketed and sold in the U.S. To find a list of tobacco products that may be legally marketed and sold in the U.S., visit the FDA's Searchable Tobacco Products Database.

In addition to the product seizures, the FDA contacted 37 importers and import entry filers regarding their actions. These firms were responsible for importing these illegal e-cigarettes and were advised that it is a federal crime to make false statements or entries to the U.S. government. The FDA reminded the firms of their responsibility to ensure the products they import comply with U.S. requirements and that their import entries must contain complete and accurate information moving forward. The FDA requested the firms to respond to the letters within 30 days with the requested information.

News Release>

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