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A cautionary tale about pharmaceutical research, women in the safety profession and firefighters who face a danger from within were among the stories featured this week on ISHN.com.

Eliminating exposure to asbestos and addressing the effect of climate change on mental health were two of the fourteen new policy statements adopted by the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) Governing Council at its 2019 Annual Meeting and Expo in Philadelphia this week. The ambitious agenda includes topics ranging from environmental justice to drinking water safety and attacks on health workers.

For the first time since 2012, the national injury rate for U.S. workplaces did not decline in 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by private industry employers in 2018, unchanged from 2017. In both years the total recordable injury case rate (TRC) per 100 full-time workers was 2.8 cases.

The National Safety Council (NSC) is concerned with the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing no change in the number of workplace injuries and illnesses between 2017 and 2018. This marks the first year since 2012 that the total recordable cases rate for workplace injuries and illnesses did not decline. Every employee deserves a safe work environment and to return home safely at the end of each work day.

Nearly half (49%) of U.S. workers plan to enroll in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) for the 2020 benefit season, according to employee benefits provider Unum UNM, -0.43%. However, 41% don’t plan on meeting their deductible in 2019 and 39% found it difficult to pay for out-of-pocket costs not covered by their health insurance, especially Millennials (55%) and Gen Z (49%).

The idea sounded fishy to Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman. She was not about to put her name on a ghostwritten article for a medical journal. But she was curious, so she played along for a while. An associate professor at Georgetown University Medical Center, Fugh-Berman was contacted in 2004 by a medical communications firm working for drug maker AstraZeneca with a proposition: Would she like an author credit on a forthcoming article to be submitted to a journal?

When you think of diversity in the United States, does Alaska come to mind? In fact, Anchorage, Alaska has some of the most ethno-racially diverse neighborhoods and public schools in the entire U.S. This diversity includes nearly one in ten Anchorage residents identifying as foreign born (Farrell, 2018). In terms of languages spoken in the city, the Anchorage School District has identified over 100 languages that are spoken either by its English-language learners as their first language, or by these students’ families (Hanlon, 2016).

The CDC’s Climate and Health Program is celebrating 10 years of supporting state, tribal, local, and territorial public health agencies as they prepare for the continuing health impacts of a changing climate. In 2019 the program provided communities with new resources, tools, and peer-reviewed publications addressing the impacts of climate hazards.

With November being National Diabetes Awareness Month and Americans collectively spending nearly $200 billion per year on obesity-related health costs, the personal-finance website WalletHub released a report on 2019's Fattest States in America. To determine which states contribute the most to America’s overweight and obesity problem, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 29 key metrics.

A blaze that broke out in the engine room of a towing vessel on the Lower Mississippi River was probably caused by an engine lube oil leak that ignited off a hot surface near the starboard main engine turbocharger. That’s according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which has completed its investigation into the September 12, 2018 incident.