Prescription opioids (aka painkillers) like morphine, OxyContin, Percocet, and Vicodin (to name just a few) peaked in 2012, with 81.3 prescriptions per 100 persons. The rate of prescriptions has since fallen, but the United States still represents 80% of world opioid prescriptions (via 2015 data), and has high rates of opioid prescriptions among people under theContinue reading “A Prescribed Epidemic”
Category Archives: public health
What is Reproductive Coercion?
Reproductive Coercion is getting some surprise attention this week after actors Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder went on Dr Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy Podcast and related their pregnancy story with a few red flags. (Note: Dr. Berlin is a prenatal chiropractor, chiropractors are not medical doctors.) I’ve linked the podcast so you can listen for yourselfContinue reading “What is Reproductive Coercion?”
Mapping Abortion Access
This visual representation of abortion access in the USA from The Pudding is really fantastic and informative –albeit depressing. Since 1973, abortion has been legal (up to the third trimester of pregnancy) following the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that asserted that pregnancy termination is part of a pregnant person’s right to privacy.Continue reading “Mapping Abortion Access”
Links Roundup: The Wellness Industry
Maybe I’m the target demo, but wellness seems pretty inescapable right now. In the context of the “wellness industry” that is primarily marketed toward women, wellness is not just personal health but also a kind of moral superiority. The idea of wellness that is sold by Goop, fitness influencers and celebrity chefs on Instagram is aContinue reading “Links Roundup: The Wellness Industry”
Healthy Outdoor Spaces & Environmental Pollution
For people living in large, urban areas like Greater Philadelphia, access to nice outdoor spaces is really important for human health. So… what happens when those outdoor spaces are polluted?
PSAs Two Ways: Zika Virus
I saw this bus-shelter PSA about the Zika virus recently and thought it was interesting for a couple reasons. It’s an ad about the sexual transmission of Zika, but does not mention actual sexual transmission. There are kind of a lot of instructions (1. Love your partner. 2. Wait to get pregnant. 3. IfContinue reading “PSAs Two Ways: Zika Virus”
Racism is a Public Health Issue
“Racism is a system of structuring opportunity and assigning value based on the social interpretation of how one looks (which is what we call “race”, that unfairly disadvantages some individuals and communities, unfairly advantages other individuals and communities, and saps the strength of the whole society through the waste of human resources.” —APHA Past PresidentContinue reading “Racism is a Public Health Issue”
Links Roundup: Opioid Addiction
Opioid abuse is a growing epidemic in the United States, and frequently makes headlines. I think it’s particularly hard to get nuanced stories about the opioid epidemic because drug use is highly stigmatized and many journalists, even sympathetic ones, frequently write stories pumped with *shocking* details and descriptions, which is less humanizing than what they’reContinue reading “Links Roundup: Opioid Addiction”
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