Improving fatal overdose numbers

According to data reported by the US Centers for Disease Control, drug overdose deaths decreased in the period between July 2023 and July 2024 consistently around the country, with reported deaths down by nearly 20% during that period. This has led to much exploration about the factors leading to this welcome change, and even some expressing the temptation to declare victory over the opiate epidemic. It is worth noting however that the number of drug overdose deaths in 2024 will still likely be higher than the overdose rate in 2020 and prior years. So the "reduction" we see in 2024 numbers in fact only signals the potential end of the upturn in national drug overdose rates that started in January 2020. There were still over 100,000 fatal drug overdoses reported in the US in 2024, with the highest numbers coming from California, Florida and Texas.

More>

###

AURORA, Colo. -- States with more maternal-fetal medicine physicians had lower rates of maternal mortality, according to a cross-sectional analysis of nearly 15 million births. [MedPage Today]

States with a low density of these specialists had an adjusted maternal mortality rate of 24.25 per 100,000 live births compared with 16.96 per 100,000 live births for states with a high density (incidence rate ratio 0.70, 95% CI 0.58-0.85), reported Tetsuya Kawakita, MD, MS, of Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, during a presentation at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicineopens in a new tab or window annual meeting.

More>

###

As the dental industry undergoes rapid transformation each year, there are some trends dentists say could harm patient care and business operations.  [Becker's Dental]

Eight dentists recently spoke with Becker's to discuss what they think are the most dangerous trends in dentistry.

Editor's note: These responses were lightly edited for length and clarity.

Question: What are the most dangerous trends in dentistry today?

Robert Baskies, DMD (Phillipsburg, N.J.): Having worked for a few DSOs in the last 10 years, I fear the following: Private equity firms buy the private practices and in many cases streamline the business end of the practices by getting better contacts with dental labs and dental suppliers. This gives the profits that they need to make their investors happy. Private equity firms usually only hold their investments for five to six years and then they sell them to the next private equity firm. There is nothing less to streamline. The next private equity firm can only get profits by cutting ancillary staff, cutting salaries for all employees and/or cutting back on necessary supplies. The staff is unhappy, and they leave. Ultimately, patient care suffers and offices start to close.

More> 

###

Also: It's been five years since covid-19 was declared a public health emergency by the United States, yet it continues to take thousands of lives. Separately, H5N1 avian flu, the Uganda Ebola outbreak, gluten-free ultra-processed foods, and more are in the news. [KFF health News & CIDRAP]

CIDRAP: US Flu Activity Climbs, With More Deaths In Kids The nation's flu activity continued a steady rise last week, with 44 states at the high or very high level and that national test positivity just shy of 30%, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update. Outpatient visits for flulike illness have been above the national baseline for 9 weeks in a row. Of samples that tested positive for flu at public health labs, nearly all were influenza A, and subtyped influenza A samples were about evenly split between the H3N2 and 2009 H1N1 strains. (Schnirring, 1/31).

More>

###

Illinois was ranked as the state with the best dental health for the second year in a row, according to personal finance site WalletHub.[Becker's Dental]

Arkansas finished at the bottom of the rankings for the second straight year, with a total score of 31.54 out of 100. 

The site compared all 50 states and Washington, D.C., across two main categories: dental habits and health and oral health. In total, 25 different metrics were utilized to produce the rankings.

WalletHub published the rankings Jan. 30.

Here are the 10 states with the best and worst dental health in 2025, along with their scores out of 100:

Top 10:

1. Illinois: 74.93
2. Minnesota: 73.57
3. Wisconsin: 73.23
4. Michigan: 71.73
5. Connecticut: 71.2
6. Idaho: 71.02
7. North Dakota: 68.98
8. Washington, D.C.: 67.22
9. Massachusetts: 66.92
10. Ohio: 65.98

Bottom 10:

1. Arkansas: 31.54
2. Mississippi: 33.73
3. West Virginia: 33.81
4. Texas: 38.05
5. Louisiana: 40.27
6. Montana: 40.41
7. Alaska: 41.24
8. Kentucky: 42.57
9. Alabama: 42.65
10. Florida: 44.35

###

The Department of Public Health said Wednesday that 12 organizations will receive $4.5 million in total to address inequities in birth outcomes. [Health News Illinois]

The grants, part of the Gov. JB Pritzker’s birth equity initiative that passed last year, range from $100,000 to $700,000. While organizations will use the funds differently, the goal is to support “innovative, community-based efforts” that can reduce inequities in historically underserved communities, according to IDPH. 

“We’re grateful to our community-based grantees who are assisting pregnant women and families to drive healthier births, improve long-term health outcomes and create more culturally responsive care infrastructure,” Pritzker said in a statement.

A 2023 IDPH report found Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related medical conditions than white women.

Other state efforts include a new law that tasks insurers with covering all pregnancy, postpartum and newborn care provided by perinatal doulas and licensed certified professional midwives.

See the full list of recipients here.

###

As President Donald Trump's picks to lead federal health agencies await confirmation hearings, there are now acting directors in place at HHS and its key sub-agencies. [MedPage Today]

Here is what is known about who is currently running the show at these sprawling and influential entities.

HHS Acting Secretary: Dorothy Fink, MD

Fink is deputy assistant secretary for women's health and director of the Office on Women's Health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS. She is board certified  in endocrinology, internal medicine, and pediatrics.

More>

###

According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, 67 active TB cases and 79 latent cases have been reported since the beginning of 2024 in Wyandotte and Johnson counties. Separately, a rare strain of bird flu has been detected at a farm in California’s Merced County. [KFF Health News & CIDRAP]

CIDRAP: Kansas Tuberculosis Outbreak Now Largest In USA tuberculosis (TB) outbreak in Kansas City has become the largest documented TB outbreak on record in the United States. Data on the outbreak from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) show that 67 active TB cases and 79 latent cases have been reported since the beginning of 2024 in Wyandotte and Johnson counties, which are part of the greater Kansas City area. Most of the cases have been in Wyandotte County. KDHE says it has been working with local health departments in response to the outbreak and is following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure patients are receiving proper treatment. (Dall, 1/27)

More>

###

The Chicago Department of Public Health has launched an awareness campaign for the state’s expansion of Medicaid coverage through 12 months postpartum. [Health News Illinois]

The effort, backed by the state’s Departments of Public Health and Healthcare and Family Services, includes a new website and work with community partners to ensure Chicagoans know about available health services.

“At CDPH, we aim to educate and inform qualifying residents of the full context of coverage that is available to them through Medicaid,” Chicago health Commissioner Dr. Olusimbo Ige said in a statement.

The push is the latest effort by state leaders to address Illinois’ maternal health crisis. A 2023 IDPH report found Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related medical conditions than white women.

IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said the state’s Healthy Illinois 2028 plan has maternal and infant health as one of its key priorities. 

“This extension of Medicaid coverage through one year after delivery promises to bring measurable improvements in the health of postpartum Illinoisans and their families,” he said.

###

A few years before the covid-19 pandemic, Dale Rice lost a toe to infection. [KFF Health News] 

- This story also ran on States Newsroom. It can be republished for free.

But because he was uninsured at the time, the surgery at a Reno, Nevada, hospital led to years of anguish. He said he owes the hospital more than $20,000 for the procedure and still gets calls from collection agencies.

“It can cause a lot of anxiety,” Rice said. “I can’t give you what I don’t have.”

Rice, 62, was born and has spent his life in Nevada. He said he fell through a gap in the tribal health care system because he lives 1,500 miles from the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation home area in eastern Kansas, where he’s an enrolled member.

He receives primary care at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony tribal health clinic in Nevada, but structural barriers in the federal Indian Health Service left him without coverage for specialty care outside of the clinic. Rice might have been eligible for specialty services referred by his tribe’s health system in Kansas, but he lives too far from the tribe’s delivery area to utilize the tribal health program that helps pay for services outside of the IHS.

“I shouldn’t need to move to Kansas City to be fully covered,” Rice said.

More>