March for Science 2018: Passionate advocates push the cause for research across the globe (USA Today)

Saturday Apr 14th, 2018

Thousands on the National Mall on Saturday marched past the Environmental Protection Agency and to the U.S. Capitol to advocate for science to play a larger role in society — and stressed how research already ripples through a slew of issues from guns to immigration.

Leana Wen, commissioner of health in Baltimore City, spoke to the crowd about the realities of the opioid epidemic in her urban center today. Society needs to change how it views addiction, she stressed, adding "science shows us addiction is a disease, not a moral failing."

To meet demand, Wen said she needs to ration medicine that treats patients who overdose. She also called for increased funding from the federal government. In October, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency.

"Where is the funding? We are begging for resources," Wen added.

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The number of Baltimore children with lead poisoning fell 19 percent in 2017, even as more children were tested for exposure to the powerful neurotoxin.

Statewide, the number of Maryland children found to have elevated levels of lead in their blood held steady even as the number of children tested increased by 10 percent, according to a Maryland Department of the Environment report released Tuesday.

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Trump declared an emergency over opioids. A new report finds it led to very little. (Vox)

To much fanfare last year, President Donald Trump ordered his administration to declare a public health emergency over the opioid epidemic. “As Americans, we cannot allow this to continue,” Trump said at the time. “It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction.”

When I’ve asked experts about these approaches, it’s not that any of them are bad. It’s that they fall short. For instance, Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore (and soon-to-be president of Planned Parenthood), said that the Support for Patients and Communities Act “is simply tinkering around the edges.”

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