What makes the Santa Ana winds so destructive?
Every year between fall and spring, Southern Californians experience gusts of dry wind that can cause runny noses or watery eyes — and sometimes powerful enough to halt traffic or topple trees. The Santa Ana winds, as they’re known, are a naturally occurring phenomenon made possible by the geography in the western U.S. They become particularly dangerous when combined with other climate conditions such as drought, which increases the risk of wildfires like the ones currently raging in the Los Angeles area.
Lead pollution in ancient Rome may have dropped average IQ by up to 3 points, study finds
Lead pollution likely dropped the average IQ in ancient Rome by 2.5 to 3 points, a study found. The research is based on an analysis of lead concentrations in ice cores extracted from Greenland. The findings offer evidence that lead may have contributed to Rome’s downfall, a question historians and experts have debated for decades.
Biden administration finalizes rule to strike medical debt from credit reports
U.S. consumers will no longer have medical debt appear on their credit reports under a new rule the Biden administration finalized Tuesday. The change, which administration officials had proposed over the summer and is set to take effect in March, means some $49 billion in medical bills will be struck from the credit reports of about 15 million Americans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said lenders would also be prohibited from using medical information in their lending decisions. “People who get sick shouldn’t have their financial future upended,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “The CFPB’s final rule will close a special carveout that has allowed debt collectors to abuse the credit reporting system to coerce people into paying medical bills they may not even owe.”
More than 15,000 doctors sign letter urging Senate to reject RFK Jr. as health secretary
More than 15,000 doctors have signed a letter urging senators to vote against confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of health and human services. “The health and well-being of 336 million Americans depend on leadership at HHS that prioritizes science, evidence-based medicine, and strengthening the integrity of our public health system,” the letter reads. “RFK Jr. is not only unqualified to lead this essential agency — he is actively dangerous.” The letter was posted online by the Committee to Protect Health Care, a physicians advocacy group. Beyond his well-documented anti-vaccine views and advocacy, the letter cites other conspiracy theories Kennedy has actively spread, including baseless claims about a link between school shootings and antidepressants and his promotion of disproven treatments for Covid-19.
Weight loss drugs like Ozempic may be up for Medicare price negotiations — will Trump support it?
Medicare’s drug pricing negotiations — the first of their kind in the United States, passed under President Joe Biden — face an uncertain future in the incoming Trump administration. The deliberations, as mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, are meant to help people on Medicare afford their medications by allowing the government program to directly haggle over prices with drugmakers. Last year, Medicare reached agreements to lower prices on 10 drugs. The program is supposed to release a list of 15 more prescription drugs selected for the next round of negotiations by Feb. 1. Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, may top the list of medications. Other possible candidates include the breast cancer drug Ibrance, Trelegy, an asthma treatment, and Tradjenta, for diabetes.