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The Latest Breaking News from Public Health Watch

Texas has the highest rate of uninsured children, and it’s getting worse

Issues with Medicaid coverage, including long wait times, abrupt loss of coverage and lack of political will to expand it, have contributed to Texas’ high uninsured rate for children.

The Texas Tribune

New Texas Appellate Court Alarms Environmentalists

The all-GOP 15th Court of Appeals soon will hear disputes involving the state’s environmental regulators. “It’s BYOC—bring your own court—for polluters and powerful interests.”

Texas Observer

New federal safety rules on silica dust aim to protect miners' lungs

Addressing a problem first identified 50 years ago, federal regulators say stricter new rules to limit miners' exposure to silica dust are expected to finally go on the books on Tuesday.

WEKU

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
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Weight-loss drugs aren't a magic bullet. Lifestyle changes are key to lasting health

A doctor argues that the current focus on fighting obesity with drugs like Ozempic ignores the bigger picture: We need a medical system and society that support healthy life habits.

WEKU

The Cancer Factory

Too many U.S. workers still suffer and die from exposure to well-known toxic substances, a Texas investigative reporter’s new book says.

Texas Observer

As coal miners suffer and die from severe black lung, a proposed fix may fall short

For decades, miners have called for limits on highly toxic silica dust, which they're exposed to while mining. An investigation shows its impact and the weakness of proposed rules to protect them.

WEKU

Doctors have their own diagnosis: 'Moral distress' from an inhumane health system

A term coined to evoke the torment felt by soldiers as they process the cruelty of war, it's now used by doctors to describe the guilt and helplessness we feel when patients can't access needed care.

WEKU

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Amid a record heat wave, Texas construction workers lose their right to rest breaks

In June, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law undoing local protections that ensured breaks for laborers who spend their days in scorching heat. The law takes effect Sept. 1.

WEKU

Houston-area chemical fire highlights gaps in Texas environmental enforcement

A fire broke out at a Deer Park Shell plant the day after a public hearing on renewing the permit for ITC, a nearby facility that caught fire in 2019, sparking a Texas Tribune/Public Health Watch investigation that documented failures in state and federal oversight.

The Texas Tribune

For years, the EPA and Texas ignored warning signs at a chemical storage site. Then an inferno erupted.

Regulators repeatedly documented — but did little to address — problems at a Houston-area tank farm. Then on March 17, 2019, a fire blew through a corner of the facility, releasing toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks.

The Texas Tribune

Houston's chemical contamination

"The people there are tired of being studied. We need to take action.”

Salon

Why Texas Republicans still oppose Medicaid expansion

More than two-thirds of Texans support Medicaid expansion. But on the eve of the midterm elections, the subject is still taboo for the state GOP. Why?

The Texas Tribune

A free medical clinic opened in rural East Texas. Thousands poured in for help.

Texas ranks last among states in access to health care and has the highest rate of uninsured people in the country. Two longtime doctors in rural Henderson County created a homegrown safety net to fill the gap.

The Texas Tribune

Stressed out about climate change? 4 ways to tackle both the feelings and the issues

Heat waves, drought, massive storms. The bad news just keeps coming and there's no denying these issues are anxiety-provoking. If you feel that way, you're not alone.

WEKU

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The Texas Tribune

Nearly all unplanned chemical releases in Texas go unpunished

Thousands of “emissions events” from chemical plants each year exceed permitted limits, but only a small fraction result in penalties from the state’s environmental agency.

Texas Observer

There Are ‘No Real Consequences’ for Toxic Emissions Events

In some cases, these “chemical releases” aren’t illegal. In others, state regulators give polluters the benefit of the doubt.

Texas Observer

Koch-Owned Plant Finds Legal Ways to Pollute

A lawsuit claims Port Arthur's Oxbow plant manipulated SO2 emissions.

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