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☆ Fact Check-Claims of ICD-10 codes used to track unvaccinated individuals missing context
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The codes in an individual’s medical record, like all personal health information, are protected by U.S. privacy law and could only be analyzed at the group or population level uncoupled from individual identities, medical experts told Reuters. Yet users are sharing news of the 2022 update as evidence that governmental agencies will now be tracking unvaccinated individuals who go to the hospital or see a doctor as part of a “surveillance program,” with comments implying that users think they will be personally identified. All medical providers covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have used the codes since at least 2015, according to the CDC (here), (www.cdc.gov/nchs/icd/icd10.htm ). Reuters Fact Check debunked a similar claim about ICD-10 code Z28.20 used to place unvaccinated individuals in education camps (here). ICD-10 codes are not new, and the COVID-underimmunized codes added in 2022 are not used to track individuals for reasons other than monitoring vaccination status to assess vaccine efficacy and analyze mortality data.

☆ Elon Musk said he fears a single world government could lead to the 'collapse' of civilization while speaking at a World Government Summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk spoke at the World Government Summit via video link on Wednesday. He warned that a "single world government" could lead to the collapse of civilization. "If we are too much of a single civilization, the whole thing may collapse," he said. "If we are too much of a single civilization, the whole thing may collapse," Musk said. At Wednesday's conference, Musk also encouraged politicians to "speak authentically" on social media, and said he plans to find a new Twitter CEO by the end of the year.

The Biden administration is proposing to allow people to check off Hispanic or Latino as their race. Currently people of such origin are included in the white category, something people in the MENA category have advocated to be changed for three decades, the proposal states. "The nation does periodically examine how it asks about race and ethnicity and the ways we report out those findings can be important," Mark Hugo Lopez, director of race and ethnicity research for Pew Research Center, said Thursday. The Census Bureau defines Hispanic or Latino as an ethnicity, not a race. For example, people could check white and then check boxes for Italian, German or other countries of origin and also check American Indian or Hispanic or Latino and then check Mexican or Mexican American or Puerto Rican and others.

The U.S. teen birth rate hit a record low in 2019, the NCHS report shows, with fewer than 1.7 births per 100 teen girls ages 15 to 19. The overall fertility rate in the U.S. declined from 2015 to 2020, additional NCHS data shows, reaching a low of fewer than 6 births per 100 women ages 15 to 44. Guzzo said birth rates never fully recovered after the Great Recession, likely due to factors such as student loan debt, high housing prices and a shortage of full-time jobs. Fertility rates vary by region, though: States in the central U.S. have higher rates than in other parts of the country. "It could be that the overturning of Roe v. Wade will act against the continued decline in birth rate," he said.

Austin Johnson in August 2019 when his eyes and skin had turned yellow from liver disease caused by years of heavy drinking. Courtesy Austin JohnsonCirrhosis or severe liver disease used to be something that mostly struck people in middle age, or older. “We’re definitely seeing younger and younger patients coming in with what we previously thought was advanced liver disease seen in patients only in their middle age, 50s and 60s,” said Mellinger. Since 2018, Mellinger, and doctors at the Michigan Alcohol Improvement program provide psychiatrists and addiction specialists to patients with liver disease. The yellow color in his skin and eyes — a symptom of severe liver disease — has disappeared.

☆ Growing obesity crisis in U.S. prompts CDC to expand body mass index charts for severely overweight kids
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released new body mass index charts for children in response to the growing obesity crisis in the U.S. More than 4.5 million children and teenagers had severe obesity in 2018, according to the CDC. The BMI charts from 2000 will still be used for children who are not obese, according to CDC. By 2018, 19.3% of kids were obese and 6.1% were severely obese, according to National Center for Health Statistics. Severe obesity is a BMI that is 120% higher than the 95th percentile.

☆ Long Covid has contributed to more than 3,500 deaths in the U.S. since start of pandemic, CDC says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The analysts then looked more closely at these death certificates to identify language indicating long Covid played a role in the death. As a result, the analysts chose common terms for the condition including "chronic Covid," "long Covid," "long haul Covid," "long hauler Covid" and "post Covid" among others. Long Covid deaths peaked at 3.8% of all Covid fatalities in April 2022, according to the report. Seniors ages 75 and older accounted for about 57% of the 2,490 long Covid deaths with detailed demographic information. Long Covid can range widely from mild to debilitating symptoms impacting multiple organ systems that prevent people from returning to work.

☆ Fact Check-Viral video promotes baseless vaccine depopulation theory
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +14 min

However, there is no evidence that mortality rates have surged or that stillbirths have increased as a result of COVID-19 vaccines. News reports about cardiac arrests and unexpected deaths are then shown on screen and are baselessly attributed to COVID-19 vaccines. There have been 55 deaths involving COVID-19 vaccines causing adverse effects in England between March 2020 and October 2022. While stillbirth rates remain constant, global birth or fertility rates, including in the U.S., have been declining for decades (here, here, here, here). The film does not provide evidence that the global elite are depopulating the world through COVID-19 vaccines.

☆ Drug and alcohol deaths increasing among US adults 65 and older, CDC data shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

In 2020, more than 5,000 adults 65 and older in the United States died of a drug overdose. Though drug overdose death rates for older adults tend to be lower than for other age groups – and made up just 0.2% of total deaths among adults 65 and older in 2020 – such deaths have been climbing. Between 2000 and 2020, the rates rose from 2.4 to 8.8 deaths per 100,000 people among adults 65 and older. Between 2000 and 2020, drug overdose deaths increased more among men than women, rising from 2.7 to 12.3 deaths per 100,000 men compared with 2.3 to 5.8 per 100,000 women. “Because of ageism, we typically do not think of older adults as having a substance use disorder nor do we think of older adults for being at-risk for a drug overdose.

☆ Drug overdose deaths among seniors have more than tripled in two decades
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Deaths from drug and alcohol use are rising among America's seniors. Drug overdose deaths more than tripled among people age 65 and older during the past two decades while deaths from alcohol abuse increased more than 18% from 2019 to 2020, according to data published Wednesday by the National Center for Health Statistics. While some drug deaths among seniors are from accidental misuse of drugs, many are suicides from overdosing on opioids, Kuerbis said. Drug overdose deaths were highest among Black seniors. Alcohol deaths were highest among American Indian seniors followed by Hispanics, white Americans, Black Americans and Asian Americans, according to the data.

☆ US home births reached highest level in 30 years in 2021
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Carma Hassan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

This follows a 22% increase in home births between 2019 and 2020, “corresponding with the initial surge of COVID-19 cases in the United States,” the report says. Home births increased 21% for Black women, 15% for Hispanic women and 10% for White women in 2021. Among the 30 states that reported more births at home, West Virginia had the highest increase: 49% between 2020 and 2021. Despite the rise, home births still remain rare, accounting for 1.26% of all births in the US, according to the report. The pediatrician group generally doesn’t recommend planned home births, but it does recognize a woman’s right to choose one.

☆ Rate of babies born preterm in US climbs to 10.5%, March of Dimes report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The US preterm birth rate peaked in 2006 at 12.8%, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics. States with the highest and lowest ratesThe new March of Dimes report also highlighted state-by-state differences in the rate of babies born prematurely across the country. The report grades a preterm birth rate less than or equal to 7.7% as an A and a preterm birth rate greater than or equal to 11.5% as an F.The national preterm birth rate of 10.5% is graded as a D+. No state has achieved an A rate, and only one has a state-level preterm birth rate that would be graded as an A-: Vermont, which has the lowest preterm birth rate in the US at 8%. Henderson also said that preterm birth is one of the top causes of infant deaths and disproportionately affects babies born to women of color.

☆ Alcohol-Related Deaths Soared During the First Year of the Pandemic, CDC Study Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Talal Ansari | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The rate of alcohol-related deaths has steadily increased over the past two decades. Alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. rose during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new federal report. The report, published Friday by the National Center for Health Statistics, examined deaths caused by alcohol by sex and age groups for 2020, when the spread of Covid-19 upended everyday life. Studies have shown the level of binge drinking increased during this period.

Alcohol-related deaths rose by 26% from 2019 to 2020, a new report published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds. From 2000 through 2018, age-adjusted alcohol-related deaths rose yearly, but never at a rate higher than 7%. Overall, alcohol-related death rates are higher among men than women; in 2020, there were 19.2 deaths per 100,000 men, compared with 7.5 per 100,000 women. The researchers found that alcohol-related deaths were most common among middle-aged adults. Overall, alcohol deaths among women rose by 27% from 2019 to 2020.

☆ Long Covid is affecting women more than men, national survey finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Long Covid is more common among women than men, according to federal data. Long Covid was defined as experiencing symptoms for three months or more after infection. Women were also more likely to suffer from more severe long Covid, the survey found. Overall, more than 14% of U.S. adults had long Covid at some point during the pandemic, the survey found. Seven percent of U.S. adults currently have long Covid, according to the data.

☆ Men Died From Covid-19 at Much Higher Rate Than Women in Pandemic’s First Year
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Talal Ansari | Jennifer Calfas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

More than 1.06 million Covid-19 deaths have been recorded in the U.S. since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins. Men died of complications from Covid-19 at a higher rate than women in both rural and urban parts of the U.S. during the first year of the pandemic, according to a new federal report. The report, published Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics, examined Covid-19 deaths by sex and age groups for 2020, when the virus became the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. and before vaccines against it became widely available.

☆ Men Died From Covid-19 at Much Higher Rate Than Women During the First Year of Pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Talal Ansari | Jennifer Calfas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Covid-19 became the third leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020, and according to a new report, death rates from the virus were at least 50% higher for men compared with women that year. Men died of complications from Covid-19 at a higher rate than women in both rural and urban parts of the U.S. during the first year of the pandemic, according to a new federal report. The report, published Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics, examined Covid-19 deaths by sex and age group for 2020, when the virus became the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. and before vaccines against it became widely available.

☆ Black infants born through assisted reproductive technology at significantly higher risk of death than White infants born through same means, study suggests
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Jacqueline Howard Raenu Charles | Jacqueline Howard | Raenu Charles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —It has been well-known in research that Black babies are about twice as likely to die as White babies before their first birthday. But when conceived by assisted reproductive technology, neonatal mortality was more than four-fold higher among babies of Black women. Assisted reproductive technology, which is used to treat infertility, includes infertility treatments that involve eggs and sperm. Those rates were four-fold higher in infants of Black versus White mothers who used assisted reproductive technology, such as IVF. Black women are about three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The recommendation from the independent panel of experts applies to children who aren't showing any signs or symptoms of a mental health problem. The health panel's new guidance represents a final set of recommendations for mental health screening for children. The problem, however, is that there is a dearth of mental health professionals trained to help such children. A second report found that emergency room visits related to children’s mental health rose dramatically in 2020, compared with 2019. But Pbert said that true mental health problems in children can result in excessive behavior changes.

☆ CVS, Walmart reach $147.5 mln opioid settlement with West Virginia -attorney general
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

People walk by a CVS pharmacy store in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S., November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew KellyRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterSept 20 (Reuters) - CVS Health Corp (CVS.N) and Walmart Inc (WMT.N) have agreed to pay $147.5 million to settle West Virginia's claims over their alleged roles in the state's opioid crisis, state attorney general Patrick Morrisey said Tuesday. West Virginia had been prepared to proceed to trial on Sept. 26 against those two companies and Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA.O). Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterWalgreens has not settled, and a trial has been rescheduled for June 2023. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Dietrich Knauth; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Opioid Crisis Fast Facts
▼ + stars: | 2017-09-18 | by ( Cnn Editorial Research | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

March 29, 2017 - Trump signs an executive order calling for the establishment of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. April 9, 2018 - The US surgeon general issues an advisory recommending that Americans carry the opioid overdose-reversing drug, naloxone. The settlement will be used to fund addiction research and help cities and counties with the opioid crisis. Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million for its role in the state’s opioid crisis. November 15, 2022 - Walmart agrees to the framework of a $3.1 billion settlement, which resolves allegations from multiple states’ attorneys general that the company failed to regulate opioid prescriptions contributing to the nationwide opioid crisis.

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