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Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Cameron Hood, Newsletter EditorJonathan Lambert
Public Health Reporter
Welcome to Grid Health, bringing you stories on the intersections of health and politics, technology, climate change, misinformation and more. In this week’s issue:  
👋 I want to hear from you: If you’ve got thoughts about what else we should be covering, or questions about health in the news, send me them. 📩 

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FROM THE HEALTH DESK

State legislative sessions are in full swing, and in at least 40 states, conservative lawmakers have introduced legislation targeting transgender rights. 

More than 300 bills that would restrict transgender freedoms are up for debate in state houses this year, as my colleagues, Politics Reporter Sophie Tatum and Data Visualization Reporter Anna Deen, write.  

Many of those seek to limit access to transgender healthcare. Already this year Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota and Mississippi banned gender-affirming care for minors, moves that the American Academy of Pediatrics warn could significantly harm the well-being of transgender youths, who are at a
higher risk of mental health problems and suicide. 

Most major U.S. medical societies endorse such care, which can include puberty-blocking medication or hormone therapy for adolescents, as an appropriate model for treatment that can have profound benefits. A 2020 study of 21,000 trans people found that
risk of suicide dropped by roughly 70 percent when transgender youths took medication to help align their gender identity and body. Such benefits can wane if care is barred until adulthood. 

Bills that ostensibly have nothing to do with healthcare have ripple effects that impact health. Restricting how schools address gender identity or banning transgender athletes from participating in sports in a way that aligns with their gender identity can stigmatize gender nonconformity. That stigmatization is harmful in and of itself, and can have a chilling effect on gender-affirming care more generally. 

“When lawmakers discuss bills banning transgender and nonbinary youth from accessing medical care, playing school sports or using restrooms, it sends a message that even from an early age, transgender and nonbinary people are different and unwelcome,” Jay Brown, a senior vice president at the Human Rights Campaign, told Tatum and Deen. 

🩺 Read their full story.

EXCLUSIVE: INSIDE THE OHIO TRAIN DERAILMENT’S AFTERMATH

Questions are still swirling about the health and environment risks from the Feb. 3 derailment of a train in East Palestine, Ohio. Documents Grid obtained from the EPA under the Freedom of Information Act shed more light on the chaotic early response. 

Call logs from a hotline the EPA set up for affected residents show that more than 250 people – including a congressmember’s staff, scientists and the public – reached out for help, as Climate Reporter Dave Levitan writes.   

The call log includes dozens of people worried about themselves or family members, records many reports of chemical sheens or residues in ponds or pastures, and demonstrates that several experts and others urgently wondered why no one was testing for dangerous dioxins — weeks before the EPA mandated such testing. Even the offices of elected officials checked in, struggling to find information on testing or other issues weeks after the derailment. 

As Dave
wrote in a separate story on the disaster, the cleanup of vinyl chloride and other toxic chemicals that spilled and burned is ongoing — and likely won’t stop for quite some time. Experts told Dave that the disaster response could continue for years. 

☎️
Read his full story on the EPA call logs

MORE FROM GRID

💠 Pedestrian deaths are rising: U.S. traffic deaths are leveling off, but pedestrian deaths account for a growing share of all traffic-related fatalities, Anna reports, and the trend is likely to continue. There are several factors that affect your level of risk, including how urban your environment is and what your neighborhood’s income level is.

💠
Russian war crimes: The Department of Defense is reportedly blocking the White House from sharing evidence of Russian atrocities with the International Criminal Court, even though the U.S. has accused Russia of committing “crimes against humanity” during the conflict. The Pentagon’s concern is that an ICC prosecution against Russia, which, like the U.S., is not a member of the court, could set a precedent for the future prosecution of U.S. service members. As Global Security Reporter Joshua Keating writes, it’s just the latest twist in the long, contentious relationship between the United States and the world’s premier human rights court.

💠
Biden budget winners and losers: President Joe Biden released his 2024 budget request last week, and my colleagues and I broke down the winners and losers – including the covid response, Medicaid expansion, drug pricing and the fight against child hunger. With Republicans in the House majority, Biden’s budget will not be enacted as proposed, but it signals the White House’s policy priorities as Biden moves deeper into the second half of his term in office. 

DATA DIAGNOSIS

Democratic and Republican congressional leaders have said that Social Security and Medicare will not be part of any fight over the debt ceiling, but a bipartisan group of senators and some conservative Republicans have toyed with changes to Social Security that could increase the full retirement age to 70, Domestic Economics Reporter Matthew Zeitlin and Data Visualization Reporter Anna Deen write.  

🎂 At age 70 today, American men can expect to live almost 15 more years, while women can expect another 17 years of life. But there are
major disparities among racial and ethnic groups. Asian women can expect on their 70th birthday to celebrate a 90th birthday, while Black, white, and American Indian/Alaska Native men won’t expect to see 85.  

Life expectancy at birth is just over 76 years, according to the latest National Center for Health Statistics data, down from 77 years thanks to, among other causes, covid-19. But the relevant statistic when evaluating a change in the retirement age is life expectancy at retirement age. The life expectancy for people who have already reached 70 tells us how many years of benefits a retiree is likely to expect. 

The data shows that increases in the retirement age to qualify for Social Security disproportionately hurt some demographic groups. 

📈
Read the full story.

WHAT WE’RE READING

👋 Thanks for reading. Until next week, take care. –Jon

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Cameron Hood, Lauren Morello and Lillian Barkley also contributed to this edition.
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