Health

A new report is calling for more to be done to improve drinking water quality at the nation’s child care centers.

The Environmental Defense Fund tested water samples from child day care facilities in four states, including Michigan. 

Mosquito control briquettes have been applied to nearly 18,000 catch basins in a Detroit suburb. Warren says it's the first application of the mosquito repellants this year by public works employees. Another application is scheduled for August.

Mosquitoes can breed in catch basins, tire swings, buckets, and anything else that holds standing water.

Warren Mayor James Fouts says the control measures are aimed at protecting residents from West Nile virus and other illnesses that can be contracted from mosquitoes and ticks.

Today on Stateside, how to talk to a friend or family member who you think may be considering suicide. Plus, Detroit reporter Charlie LeDuff talks race, politics, and more in his new book Sh*tshow.

To listen to individual interviews, click here or see below: 

A new report finds Michigan’s suicide rate increased by a third over the last 20 years.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports between 1999 and 2016 Michigan’s suicide rate increased by 33 percent. That’s slightly higher than the 30 percent rate of increase nationally. 

The increase was even higher in more than 20 other states. North Dakota posted a nearly 60 percent increase in suicides during the past two decades. Only Nevada saw its suicide rate decline since 1999.

Four patient-care organizations have come out in opposition to a bill that would create work requirements for Medicaid recipients.

In a written statement, the Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society said three-quarters of Medicaid recipients already work.

“For a variety of reasons a chronically ill person may not be able to meet that work requirement and then they may lose coverage of what, in many cases, is life saving coverage," said Sarah Poole with the American Heart Association. 

There’s a new tool that Michigan cities can use to better understand their health care needs.

The NYU School of Medicine has developed what they call the City Health Dashboard, which looks at 36 key measures and drivers of health.   

Marc Gourevitch is the Dashboard’s principal architect. He says health problems like opioid abuse and obesity are tracked on the dashboard.

“Not only looking at health itself,” says Gourevitch, “but some of the things that cause health, like housing and transportation and air quality. So we try to bring all that together.”

Almost one in seven children living in Highland Park in 2016 had high levels of lead in their blood, according to a new report from the state's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.

The study looked at nine different cities with historically higher-than-average rates of children with elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs), including Highland Park, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Flint and Lansing.

Federal guidelines state that for children under six,  five micrograms per deciliter is considered a high blood lead level, though no amount is considered safe.

A Detroit funeral home has been shut down after inspections found decomposing embalmed bodies, unsanitary conditions, and other violations.

The state's Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) office said Wednesday that the mortuary science license of Cantrell Funeral Home has been summarily suspended. Inspectors found “deplorable, unsanitary conditions” and deemed the funeral home “an imminent threat to the public health and safety”.

Michigan could soon require certain people to work for their Medicaid benefits. 

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow says the federal Department of Veterans Affairs has chosen a site for an expanded health clinic in Traverse City.

The Michigan Democrat says the expansion will cover about 22,000 square feet and help alleviate crowding at the existing clinic. Services provided will include primary care, women's health, disease prevention and telehealth services.

A new facility will also offer mental health, physical therapy and home-based primary care services.

A state investigation into a Kalamazoo nursing home’s plans to remove some residents has uncovered further problems there.

The state investigated the Upjohn Community Care Center after a number of complaints that residents were being forced out to accommodate the facility’s downsizing plans.

That investigation found violated laws protecting nursing home residents from eviction. It also found additional violations for “substandard quality of care.”

Michigan pharmacists are backing federal legislation to remove “gag clauses” that prevent them from telling customers how they can get their prescription drugs cheaper.

Many employer-sponsored health plans and insurance companies use “gag clauses” to prevent pharmacists from telling a patient they would be charged more for a drug under the patient’s plan than if the patient paid out-of-pocket.

How do you know if nursing homes, home health aides, and assisted living communities are treating you or your loved ones properly, and what do you do if they're not?

We'll have that conversation on Stateside soon, but first we need your questions.

Blood lead levels in Flint children are declining, according to a new study.