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Colorado is among several states that ensure schools have access to the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone for free or at reduced cost. But most districts hadn鈥檛 signed up by the start of the school year for a state distribution program amid stigma around the lifesaving treatment.
Tattoos are more popular than ever. About a third of Americans have at least one. A scientist-entrepreneur, together with a celebrity tattoo artist, believes that ink could be doing a lot more.
A new state law aims to keep the doors open at schools that accept students with intensive needs. One preteen in rural Colorado shows how the current system leaves some students bouncing between institutions far from home.
Some people say it鈥檚 reasonable for densely populated areas to receive more settlement funds, since they serve more of those affected. But others worry this overlooks rural communities disproportionately harmed by opioid addiction.
States, tribes, and local governments are figuring out how best to spend billions of dollars from an opioid lawsuit settlement. One option they鈥檙e considering is funding peer support specialists, who guide people recovering from addiction as they do it themselves.
Hospitals, boosted by private equity-backed staffing companies, have embraced a new idea: the obstetrics emergency department. Often, it is just a triage room in the labor-and-delivery area, but it bills like the main emergency department.
In an industry obsessed with consumer satisfaction national patient surveys still don鈥檛 get at an important question: Are hospitals delivering culturally competent care?
Hispanic residents have long been among the least likely to have health insurance 鈥 in Colorado and across the country 鈥 in part because of unauthorized immigrants. The state is expanding coverage to some of them, although the change runs up against lingering fears about the use of public benefits.
Physicians have long believed it鈥檚 good medicine to consider race in health care. But recently, rather than perpetuate the myth that race governs how bodies function, a more nuanced approach has emerged: acknowledging that racial health disparities often reflect the effects of generations of systemic racism, such as lack of access to stable housing or nutritious food.
Colorado is among about 15 states that have met federal goals to reduce infant mortality, an important indicator of overall population health. Breaking down the data by race and ethnicity, though, makes clear that major gaps remain.
The Supreme Court is expected to overturn or weaken 鈥淩oe v. Wade.鈥 If that happens, Colorado may become an abortion-access island, nearly surrounded by a sea of anti-abortion states. The state is bracing for impact, and advocates are trying to shore up its abortion defenses.
Doctors and scientists are debating whether a little-known measure in covid testing should be used to distinguish who is infectious from who isn鈥檛. The NFL adopted the practice, but laboratory professionals caution against its use.
Say you鈥檙e on Day 6 鈥 or 8 or 10 鈥 of a symptomatic covid infection, and a rapid antigen test comes back positive. Could the test just be detecting bits and pieces of dead virus? If you鈥檙e a petri dish, sure. But if you鈥檙e a human, chances are you鈥檙e still infectious. Virologists weigh in.
In tough labor negotiations across the nation, here's what nurses don鈥檛 want: 鈥渁ppreciation that is lip service,鈥 鈥渕arketing campaigns鈥 and 鈥渟hiny new buildings.鈥 And this year might well prove to be a turning point in efforts to organize health care鈥檚 essential workers.
National paid sick leave provisions for covid expired, and an uncertain covid winter is around the corner. Colorado, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh are among the places trying to fill the gap, but many employees still face financial pressure to go to work while sick.
With kids back in school, business is picking back up for professional nitpickers. But how are kids getting head lice if they鈥檙e physically distancing in the classroom?
鈥淥bstetrical emergency departments鈥 are a new feature in some hospitals that can inflate medical bills for even the easiest, healthiest births. Just ask the parents of Baby Gus.
The availability of covid testing and turnaround times for results still vary widely around the country, some 19 months since the pandemic was declared a national crisis. A jumbled testing system, technician burnout and squirrely spikes in demand are all part of the problem.
San Juan County, Colorado, is one of the most vaccinated counties in the U.S. Leaders across the country continue to expound on the vaccine as the path forward in the pandemic. But San Juan鈥檚 experience the past few weeks with its first covid hospitalizations shows that, even with an extremely vaccinated population, masks are still necessary.
Students in many places are starting the new school year with their masks off 鈥 even in one Colorado county that was one of the nation鈥檚 first delta variant hot spots.
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