Friday, March 6, 2026
Rep. Spears, Sen. Gu introduce legislation to support mobile community medicine
A common sense approach to home health care
Rep. Tina L. Spears and Sen. Victoria Gu are
introducing legislation to establish sustainable funding and reimbursement
rates for ambulance services to practice community paramedicine and “treatment
in place” programs.
Tina and Victoria are a great team who deliver for Charlestown
Community paramedicine, or mobile integrated health (MIH),
allows emergency medical services agencies to proactively provide preventative
care in a patient’s home, help manage chronic conditions, conduct follow-up
visits and connect residents with the appropriate local health and social
services.
“Treatment in place” refers to when EMS providers treat a
patient outside of a hospital for a more minor medical incident that does not
require transportation to a hospital for care.
Both approaches reduce health care costs and strain on hospital and EMS
resources, but are not currently covered or reimbursed by insurance in
Rhode Island.
“Emergency medical service personnel are already providing important community medicine in Rhode Island, preventing emergency room visits and extended hospital stays in the process. Unfortunately, our reimbursement system still follows the outdated payment model that assumes that ambulance services only provide health care services during visits when they transport a patient to the hospital,” said Representative Spears (D-Dist. 36, Charlestown, New Shoreham, South Kingstown, Westerly).
“By reimbursing ambulance services
for the actual care they provide when treating patients in place and extending
insurance coverage for community paramedicine, we can improve the quality of
care patients receive across Rhode Island, especially in rural areas.”
Said Senator Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South
Kingstown), “Community paramedicine is increasingly used in rural communities
to bridge critical health care gaps caused by geographic isolation, limited
provider availability and transportation barriers. By treating patients where
they are and addressing concerns early, we can reduce emergency room visits,
lower health care costs, and improve overall outcomes. Strengthening this model
supports our EMS providers while keeping residents healthier and safer at
home.”
The bill (2026-H 7485, 2026-S 2685) would ensure that health insurance plans
reimburse ambulance services at the Medicare rate for the care they provide,
whether or not the patient is transported.
A similar version of this bill was introduced last year by
House Judiciary Chairwoman Carol Hagan McEntee, who is a cosponsor of this
year’s bill in the House. Representative Spears and Senator Gu credit
Chairwoman McEntee with bringing this issue to statewide attention.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Cathy and I are really grateful to Charlestown Ambulance and Rescue for all their help. I think it would be wonderful if they were able to provide expanded services with full and fair coverage by Medicare and insurers. It seems to be cost-effective and common sense that they should be able to do more than just transport patients to the hospital. - Will Collette
Tea can improve your health and longevity, but how you drink it matters
Forget canned and bottled - brew it yourself
Maximum Academic Press
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Beyond these well known benefits, tea consumption is also linked to brain protection, reduced muscle loss in older adults, and anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. Together, these findings point to tea as a beverage with broad potential to support long-term health.
At the same time, the review highlights important concerns related to
certain modern tea products, particularly bottled and bubble teas, which may
include artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and other additives.
Tea is produced from the leaves of Camellia sinensis and has been consumed worldwide for centuries. It was first used mainly for medicinal purposes before becoming a widely enjoyed daily drink.
Researchers have long been interested in tea because it contains high levels of polyphenols, especially catechins, which are believed to play a key role in its health effects. The review examines tea's influence on multiple health outcomes using evidence from laboratory research as well as human studies.
While green tea has been studied
extensively, much less is known about the health effects of other varieties,
including black, oolong, and white tea, particularly when comparing their
benefits. The review also considers potential risks tied to additives and
contaminants found in some commercially produced tea beverages.
Charlestown is around 25 miles downwind from the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant
Proximity to nuclear power plants associated with increased cancer mortality
By Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed
by Robert Egan
U.S. counties located closer to operational nuclear power plants (NPPs) have higher rates of cancer mortality than those located farther away, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The study is the first of the 21st century to analyze proximity to NPPs
and cancer mortality across all NPPs and every U.S. county. The researchers
emphasized that the findings are not enough to establish causality but do
highlight the need for further research into nuclear power's health impacts.
The research is published in Nature Communications.
Numerous studies on the potential link between NPPs and
cancer have been conducted around the world, with conflicting results. In the
U.S., these studies have been rare and limited in their scope, focused on a
single NPP and its surrounding community.
To expand the evidence base, the researchers conducted a national assessment of NPPs and cancer mortality between 2000 and 2018 using "continuous proximity." They used advanced statistical modeling that captured the cumulative impact of all nearby NPPs, rather than just one.
The locations and dates of operation of U.S. NPPs—as well as some nearby in Canada—were obtained from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and county-level data on cancer mortality were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The researchers controlled for potential confounders in each county, including educational attainment, median household income, racial composition, average temperature and relative humidity, smoking prevalence, BMI, and proximity to the nearest hospital.
The study found that U.S. counties located closer to nuclear
power plants experienced higher cancer mortality rates, even after accounting
for socioeconomic, environmental, and health care factors.
The researchers estimated that over the course of the study
period, roughly 115,000 cancer deaths across the U.S. (or about 6,400 deaths
per year) were attributable to proximity to NPPs. The association was strongest
among older adults.
Thursday, March 5, 2026
Trump’s election “reforms” are his way of disrupting the 2026 election
A fraudulent approach to a nonexistent problem
He reassigned the Director of National Intelligence—statutorily funded to guard Americans from foreign threats—to oversee the seizure of Americans’ confidential voter data in Georgia.
He issued an executive
order, laughable for its breadth, mandating new voter registration and
rules nationwide. He is urging Republicans to both gerrymander and “nationalize”
federal elections, with growing threats to surround polling
places with armed ICE goons. After ICE killed two protesters in
Minnesota, he tried to leverage
the violence to get his hands on the state’s voter rolls (Nice state
you got there).
Where brute force and intimidation won’t work, Trump is
pushing the Department of Justice to fight
for confidential voter data through the courts.
It’s not going so well.
Special alert for MAGA dudes
Getting sick from COVID may impair male fertility, but vaccination shows no negative effect
The review, led by a team at the Department of Reproductive
Medical Center at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, assessed the effects of
COVID infection and COVID vaccination on fertility and ART outcomes by
analyzing data from 14 studies with 40 different fertility and ART
outcomes.
Impaired male fertility persists 3 months after infection
Among men, the data suggests, COVID infection is associated
with reductions in semen quality, including lower semen volume and
concentration, and total sperm count, viability, and motility. COVID infection
was also associated with elevated levels of the hormones estradiol and
prolactin in men, though it did not appear to significantly affect testosterone
levels.
These negative fertility outcomes in men persisted after infection. “Notably, even after recovery (over 90 days), sperm concentration and motility remained lower compared to uninfected individuals,” they write.
New study shows some plant-based diets may raise heart disease risk
When plant foods are ultra-processed, the advantage disappears—and can even backfire
INRAE - National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment
To explore how nutrition relates to cardiovascular health in
more detail, scientists from INRAE, Inserm, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, and
Cnam examined more than whether foods came from plant or animal sources. Their
assessment also incorporated the nutritional makeup of foods, including factors
such as carbohydrate, fat, and antioxidant vitamin and mineral content, along
with the level of industrial processing involved.
Universal vaccine to treat colds, flu and COVID developed – and a new study suggests it just might work
Can it get past Bobby Jr. and his anti-vaxxers?
Vaccines have traditionally worked by teaching the immune system to recognise a specific virus or bacterium – in effect, showing it a wanted poster for a single suspect. But what if one vaccine could protect against dozens of different infections at once? Researchers have now developed a potential candidate for such a vaccine, and a new study in mice, published in the journal Science, has given promising results. 
Cocaine seems to be the only thing Bobby Jr.
wants up is nose
What is this new vaccine, and how does it work?
Most vaccines work by introducing the immune system to a specific pathogen – a weakened version of it, or a key protein from its surface – so that the body can recognize and fight it if encountered later.
This vaccine takes a fundamentally different approach. Rather than targeting any one bug, it contains molecules that mimic the signals the body naturally produces when it is under attack from a virus or bacterium. The effect is to put certain immune cells into a prolonged state of high alert, ready to respond rapidly to a wide range of threats, rather than being trained to spot just one.
However, the consequences to dialing up the immune system beyond its normal state won’t be known until human trials are conducted.
Why is it given as a nasal spray rather than an injection?
The nose, throat and lungs are lined with what scientists call mucosal surfaces – the moist tissues that act as the body’s main point of contact with the outside world, and its first barrier against infection. The immune system in these tissues responds more powerfully when a vaccine is delivered directly to them, rather than into a muscle in the arm.
That principle already underlies the routine flu vaccine given to young children in the UK, which comes as a nasal spray. Research has also shown that COVID vaccines can block infection more effectively in animals when delivered this way, rather than by injection. Spraying the new vaccine into the nose allows it to reach immune cells deep in the lungs.
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Trump somehow got worse on public health after covid
He's incapable of learning lessons and actively resists it.
The FDA’s official reason was that the trial of the vaccine
had been inadequate. But since Moderna had already discussed trial design with
officials, this is pretty obviously an excuse meant to provide cover for
Kennedy’s longstanding gibbering anti-vax quackery.
This is bad news for Americans who would like to avoid the
(sometimes deadly) flu virus. But the implications are much wider than that.
At the end of January, even before the latest RFK-engineered
setback, Moderna’s CEO Stéphane Bancel said that the company was planning to
pull back on crucial investments in late-stage mRNA vaccine trials.
“You cannot make a return on investment if you don’t have
access to the US market,” he explained.
What this means is that RFK’s position as Trump’s chief
snake-oil death dealer could affect global development of new vaccines for
shingles, herpes, and the Epstein-Barr virus, the latter of which has been
linked to some cancers.
The Trump administration is a disaster not just for public
health in the US, but worldwide. There has been a great deal of discussion of
the ways in which Trump’s reckless foreign policy has put global security at
risk with his threats to Greenland, Canada, Europe, and general violent
unpredictability.
But US abandonment of public health leadership may well be
even more consequential. It will quite possibly lead to tens of millions of
needless deaths over the next decades.
MIT scientists find a way to rejuvenate the immune system as we age
It's based on mRNA technology hated by Bobby Kennedy Jr. and defunded by Trump
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 |
| While Trump could benefit, he and Bobby Jr. OPPOSE mRNA |
As people get older, the immune system often becomes less
effective. Populations of T cells shrink, and the remaining cells may respond
more slowly to germs. That slowdown can leave older adults more vulnerable to
many kinds of infections.
To address this age related decline, scientists from MIT and
the Broad Institute developed a method to temporarily reprogram liver cells in
a way that strengthens T cell performance. The goal is to make up for the
reduced output of the thymus, the organ where T cells normally mature.
In the study, the team used mRNA to deliver three important
factors that support T cell survival. With this approach, they were able to
rejuvenate the immune systems of mice. Older mice that received the treatment
produced larger and more varied T cell populations after vaccination, and they
also showed improved responses to cancer immunotherapy.
The researchers say that if this strategy can be adapted for
patients, it could help people stay healthier as they age.
"BPA-Free" doesn't mean safe
Scientists question the safety of BPA-free packaging
McGill University
Some triggered unusual fat buildup and disrupted genes linked to cell
repair and growth. The results raise concerns that BPA replacements may be just
as troubling as the chemical they replaced.
Chemicals used as replacements for bisphenol A (BPA) in food
packaging may have concerning effects on human ovarian cells, according to
researchers at McGill University.
In a new study, scientists analyzed several substances
commonly found in price stickers attached to packaged meat, fish, cheese, and
fresh produce. Their experiments revealed early warning signs of possible
toxicity linked to these chemicals.
The results, published in the journal Toxicological
Sciences, raise new questions about whether BPA-free packaging is truly
safer and whether existing regulations provide enough protection for consumers.
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