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In the last four to five months, Judy Politzer, a nurse practitioner who works at a community health center in South Philadelphia, began noticing an increase in sexually transmitted diseases among patients, especially those over age 50. “I started noticing that I had to call a lot more people about their test results and have them come in and get treated with their partners,” said Politzer, who treated a syphilis infection for the first time in years during the pandemic. “I usually only have to call two people, and I was calling four or five. It just seemed like a noticeable increase.” (Ao, 4/23)

It has long been known that elevated lead exposure in children can damage their nervous systems and cause learning disabilities, stunted growth, hearing loss, low IQ, increased aggression, and impaired formation and function of blood cells. What hasn’t been known until now is that nearly one in 10 licensed child care centers in North Carolina have tested above the state’s poison hazard threshold for lead in at least one of their faucets used for drinking or cooking. (Barnes, 4/26)

Maryland officials announced they'll review cases of deaths in police custody overseen by retired state chief medical examiner David Fowler, who testified in Derek Chauvin's trial that George Floyd's cause of death was "undetermined." As Chauvin was convicted last Tuesday on murder and manslaughter charges in Floyd's death, D.C.'s former chief medical examiner Roger Mitchell wrote a letter signed by over 450 other doctors calling for a review into in-custody deaths during Fowler's tenure. (Falconer, 4/25)

KHN: ‘Red Flag’ Gun Laws Get Another Look After Indiana, Colorado Shootings 

On New Year’s Eve 2017, sheriff’s deputies in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch responded to a domestic disturbance. Before the night was over, four officers had been shot and Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy Zackari Parrish III was dead. The gunman was a 37-year-old man with a history of psychotic episodes whose family had previously tried to take his guns away but found themselves without legal recourse to do so. (Aschwanden, 4/26)

After an often-emotional debate, the Florida House on Friday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would prevent doctors from performing abortions that women seek because of tests showing that fetuses will have disabilities. The Republican-controlled House voted 74-44, largely along party lines, to approve the bill (HB 1221), sponsored by Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach. The bill addresses what it describes as “disability abortions,” which would involve situations in which physicians know pregnant women are seeking abortions because fetuses will have disabilities. (4/25)

After a week of largely out-of-sight budget negotiations, Florida lawmakers have ironed out many major spending differences and are on track to wrap up the 2021 regular legislative session on time. House and Senate budget chiefs on Friday night publicly accepted compromises on spending on health care, education and prisons. Some of the key decisions included backing off hundreds of millions of dollars in proposed Medicaid cuts for hospitals and nursing homes that have spent the past year dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. (Sexton, 4/25)