MINNEAPOLIS - Each year, tens of thousands of Americans die and hundreds of thousands more fall seriously ill from antibiotic-resistant infections - and babies, children and seniors are at highest risk. That's why the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming has launched "Moms for Antibiotic Awareness," a grassroots movement of mothers aimed at protecting the effectiveness of antibiotics.
Everly Macario, co-founder of the MRSA Research Center at the University of Chicago, says antibiotic resistance is not an abstract issue, but a life-and-death one.
"Seven years ago on a Friday, I was holding my gorgeous and healthy 1 1/2-year-old son, Simon Sparrow, in my arms. Less than 24 hours later, I was wailing over Simon's dead body from a hospital bed. Simon was ravaged by a bug that no antibiotic could fight."
Moms involved in the campaign are calling on Congress to stop the overuse of antibiotics. Numerous government agencies and health organizations, including the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization and the American Medical Association all have acknowledged definitive links between antibiotic overuse in food production and antibiotic-resistant infections in humans.
Simon's autopsy revealed that he was infected with the MRSA bacteria - Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus - of which not even Macario, who had a Ph.D in public health, had heard of at the time. She has since dedicated her life's work to understanding MRSA and stopping its transmission, which she says is only the tip of the iceberg.
"We are in realistic danger of turning the clock back 100 years - a time when infections could not be treated because antibiotics have not yet been discovered. Think about that when you think about the last time your child got sick, or about the next time your child will get sick."
Tracy Singleton, a Minnesota mom and owner of the Birchwood Café in Minneapolis, says that while it's easy to feel powerless about the rise of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs," mothers already have a lot of power to affect change through their collective buying power, starting with only purchasing meat from sustainable producers.
"You can buy your food direct. You can ask questions. You can get involved with the school lunch program. Any time you go out to eat at a restaurant, ask them where their meat is from. Start asking these kinds of questions, and that will have an impact."
Beyond their power as consumers, Singleton believes moms also have the ability to effect policy change.
"The comfort of an army of moms is that you're not in this alone. The threat is too big for any mom to take this on herself, but if we all come together, then we have the power of all of our voices. Together we can make a difference."
Pew commissioned a survey of American moms - including Republicans, Democrats and Independents - which shows that nearly two-thirds favor more government regulation on industrial farms. The results of that survey are online at saveantibiotics.org.
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Consumer advocates in Maine said the availability of enhanced subsidies have helped record numbers of people get the health care coverage they need.
Nearly 65,000 Mainers enrolled in health plans this year through the state's online marketplace.
Rachel Collamore, consumer assistance program manager at Augusta-based Consumers for Affordable Health Care, said more people are catching problems early and avoiding trips to the emergency room.
"It means that people who might otherwise kind of roll the dice don't have to anymore," Collamore emphasized. "They can get that security by having a health plan that is more likely to meet their budget and more likely to meet their health care needs."
Enhanced subsidies have cut some premiums, on average, by more than 40%.
Collamore noted open enrollment is closed until November but people can still get coverage if they experience certain "qualifying life events" like getting married or losing an employer-based plan.
The enhanced subsidies will expire at the end of the year unless Congress votes to extend them or make them permanent. Without action, the vast majority of marketplace premium payments will increase, and low-income enrollees will face the biggest premium hikes.
Collamore argued it should concern everyone because "healthy neighbors make good neighbors."
"We know that having access to medications that help you manage chronic conditions," Collamore pointed out. "Even just having access to affordable prenatal care; that those are really, really important and that kind of coverage is really out of reach for some many people if they don't have those tax credits."
Collamore added there are a lot of unknowns, but the Consumers for Affordable Health Care hotline is available for Mainers with questions about their coverage. She encouraged people to contact their elected officials to let them know the importance of keeping the enhanced subsidies in place.
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February is American Heart Month and some Minnesota families are sharing their experiences with a sometimes overlooked disease among newborns: congenital heart defects.
Studies show congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect in the U.S., affecting nearly 40,000 babies each year. The American Heart Association said thanks to progress in the world of research and treatments, outcomes have improved. But families still find themselves in delicate situations.
Stephanie Johnson is a Minnesota mother whose son Henry was born with a syndrome restricting oxygen supplies to the body. Henry endured several surgeries and now lives a mostly normal life like kids his age but the worry is not over.
"We also know that the honeymoon period doesn't last forever," Johnson acknowledged. "At some point his heart's gonna get tired and he'll be looking at likely a heart transplant at that point."
Johnson hopes for additional medical breakthroughs but she and health experts noted congenital heart defect research is grossly underfunded. Another complication is government spending cuts sought by the Trump administration and the potential impact on agencies such as the National Institutes of Health. Policy experts say the research arm has already been dealing with flat funding levels.
In the absence of government support, current research heavily relies on awareness campaigns involving families navigating health scares. Johnson is among those trying to get the issue on the public's radar.
"We need to move science forward," Johnson urged. "Creating awareness for this is just incredibly important because awareness leads to funding, and funding leads to hope, and we're hoping for a cure."
Studies indicate congenital heart defects are underdiagnosed because milder symptoms are not always caught at birth. It means the disease is detected later in childhood or when the person becomes an adult.
Minnesota's Mayo Clinic and its HeartWorks program, as well as the Heart Association, are part of a network of health entities pushing for research advancements.
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For Pennsylvanians with disabilities, there may be unexpected side effects to ending so-called Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility policies.
President Donald Trump has opted to eliminate DEIA initiatives in federal agencies and federally funded programs.
His executive order signed in January characterizes DEIA policies as "discriminatory."
But in Pennsylvania, Mallory Hudson - the director of the disability justice program at the Keystone Progress Education Fund - said a memo went out ordering the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to not file any new complaints, motions to intervene, agreed upon remands, amicus briefs, or statements of interest.
"That means that the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division has been instructed not to file any new civil rights cases, right?" said Hudson. "And that includes ADA complaints. So, those are - that is one of the few ways that disabled people can even protect their civil rights."
She adds the Americans with Disabilities Act was first passed in 1990 under President George H.W. Bush, and its legal precedent was based on the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Hudson said another potential concern is the future of the Inflation Reduction Act under the new administration.
She noted that the IRA has allowed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to negotiate drug prices - and many are benefiting from its progress, like a $35 co-pay for insulin.
"Older adults and some folks with disabilities have been able to do that $35 copay, and for folks on disability, that's still a pretty big chunk of change," said Hudson. "But it was better than before - and then, that meant taxpayers were paying the difference."
Lower prices have been negotiated for 10 medications so far, cutting costs for patients and saving taxpayers billions.
It's estimated that if the IRA had been enacted in 2023, it would have slashed prescription drug spending by 22% - or roughly $6 billion.
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