On this episode of Detroit Evening Report Weekends, we listen to the third story in WDET reporter Nargis Rahman’s series Shustho.
The four-part series explores the barriers Bangladeshi women face in accessing high quality health care, and efforts to bridge those gaps.
In this story, we visit the Health Unit on Davison Avenue (HUDA) — the largest free health clinic in Wayne County — to learn about the services it provides to members of the community without health insurance.
Stay tuned to DER Weekends throughout the month of May to hear the entire four-part series.
Listen to the episode using the media player above.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
We’re just over a week away from Movement, Detroit’s annual electronic music festival. The event draws techno lovers from across the globe for three days of music, dancing, and for many people — heavy partying.
While Movement discourages and prohibits illegal or illicit drugs at the event, research from the National Institute of Health shows that electronic music festivals are typically “high-risk scenes for drug use.”
Passenger Recovery is a Hamtramck organization offering recovery and mental health support and sober programming for musicians and/or other individuals in the local music scene.
Bryan Wolf, director of programming at Passenger, joined The Metro on Wednesday to share some resources and outreach efforts planned for Movement weekend.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
More stories from The Metro on Wednesday, May 14, 2025:
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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A Michigan judge has granted a permanent injunction against three of the state’s remaining abortion restrictions, declaring they violate the Reproductive Freedom for All constitutional amendment voters passed in 2022.
The court’s ruling affirms the amendment established even broader reproductive rights for Michigan citizens than they had under Roe v. Wade, and eliminates a 24-hour mandatory waiting period, a mandatory informed consent form, and a ban on advanced practice clinicians performing abortions. The court had previously granted a temporary injunction against these three restrictions last year.
Tuesday’s ruling did, however, uphold the legality of one of the laws challenged by the plaintiffs, Northland Family Planning Centers and Medical Students for Choice: a law requiring abortion providers to counsel and screen patients for “coercion to abortion,” and requiring clinics post notices that it’s illegal in Michigan to coerce someone to have an abortion.
Abortion rights supporters argued the restrictions were medically unnecessary and intended to create barriers to abortion.
“It’s about time that these unnecessary and stigmatizing barriers to care are finally thrown out for good,” said Renee Chelian, executive director of Northland Family Planning Centers, said in a press release Tuesday. Northland Family Planning filed the lawsuit last year with Medical Students for Choice, along with the Center for Reproductive Rights.
“Our patients no longer have to worry that they may not be able to get the time-sensitive care they need. These restrictions are an insult to our patients, who know what’s best for themselves,” Chelian said.
But abortion rights opponents, who campaigned against the 2022 ballot proposal, said the ruling was “bad news for women.”
“At the same time, abortion complications have skyrocketed, removing standardized informed consent about abortion procedures, possible complications, and alternatives to abortion is a disservice to women,” Genevieve Marnon of Right to Life of Michigan said via email.
State data shows that in 2023, “total immediate complications” following an abortion occurred at an average rate of 5.1 for every 10,000 abortions performed. Between 2020-2022, before the constitutional amendment, the average rate was 1.6 for for every 10,000 abortions performed. Both are far below the most recent data available for complications following hospital deliveries. The state abolished its mandatory abortion reporting system in 2024.
“The injunction demonstrates how radical and abortion obsessed our state has become,” Marnon said.
What did these abortion restrictions mean?
On paper, the restrictions being challenged sound pretty straight-forward: only physicians can provide abortions, and patients have to sign an informed consent form and wait 24 hours.
But abortion providers said at least 150 people a month would miss their appointments, because patients would make a mistake with the paperwork process required to meet the state’s 24-hour mandatory waiting period and consent form. That includes patients who’ve increasingly been traveling from out-of-state since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
In practice, the waiting period and informed consent requirements have been combined into a single form, accessible only through a state website, that patients had to sign no more than two weeks, but no less than 24 hours, before their appointment, then print the time-stamped form and bring it to their appointment.
Renee Chelian, the founder and executive director of Northland’s clinics, testified about a patient who “came in at 23.6 weeks (the legal cut-off in Michigan) but who had not printed the time-stamped form from the DHHS website,” the Michigan Court of Claims Judge Sima G. Patel wrote in the order issued Tuesday. That patient had to be referred to providers in other states, because Northland “could not legally provide the service the next day.”
Other patients were “denied a medication abortion” (which is an option in the first 11 weeks of pregnancy) and instead were “forced to undergo a more invasive procedure with higher risk because of the 24-hour delay,” the order said.
The judge cited figures provided by Chelian estimating “that approximately 10 patients were turned away each month for failure to provide” the required forms.
The court ruled that the 24-hour mandatory waiting period “burdens and infringes on patients’ rights to reproductive freedom” by “increasing costs, prolonging wait times, increasing the risk that a patient will have to disclose their decision to others, and potentially forcing the patient to forgo a medication about for a more invasive procedure.”
Other materials patients were required to review, which included information about contraception and fetal development, are “coercive and stigmatizing,” the court ruled.
And the limitation on abortion providers, which effectively bans advanced practice clinicians like nurse practitioners from providing abortions “arbitrarily limits abortion providers to physicians only,” according to the ruling. That “exacerbates existing provider shortages, leading to large swathes of Michigan without access to nearby abortion care.”
But the judge disagreed with plaintiffs that state requirements to screen for someone being coerced to get an abortion “burden or infringe” on a patient’s access to the procedure, as “nothing in the statutes requires providers to ask specific or direct questions” and providers can “tailor their questions and interact with patients in an organic way.”
What the ruling means for future abortion battles
Since Michigan voters passed some of the broadest reproductive rights in the nation, numerous other states have followed suit. But Michigan has also illustrated how it’s one thing to have those rights on paper, while in reality, figuring out what they mean in practice requires years of legislative and legal battles.
Democrats have previously tried, and failed, to get several of these restrictions overturned in Lansing. And that was even when their party controlled all three branches of state government. Since then, abortion rights supporters have turned to the courts as the next-best option, in this case as well as others.
But abortion rights opponents say Michigan voters never intended to create rights beyond those protected under Roe, and point to efforts to repeal the state’s ban on Medicaid funding for abortions and parental consent laws as “radical” and out-of-step with the majority.
In this ruling, the court specifically lays out how Michigan’s constitutional amendment provides abortion protections beyond what Roe guaranteed. “Michigan voters dramatically changed the Michigan Constitution by adopting the RFFA,” the judge wrote.
On this episode of Detroit Evening Report Weekends, we listen to the second story in WDET reporter Nargis Rahman’s series Shustho.
The four-part series explores the barriers Bangladeshi women face in accessing high quality health care, and efforts to bridge those gaps.
In the second story, we meet several Bangladeshi American health care professionals working to provide culturally competent care to women in their community. Rahman explores how culture, relationships and education affect how Bangladeshi women experience treatment.
Stay tuned to DER Weekends throughout the month of May to hear the entire four-part series.
Listen to the episode using the media player above.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Michigan has now moved to universal blood lead testing for children under six years old through universal testing.
Lead is a naturally occurring toxin that harms children, impacting their health and development.
Angela Medina, care coordination section manager at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), said children can get assistance if they have elevated blood lead levels.
“Previous to universal testing, Michigan was considered a targeted testing state, meaning all children that are enrolled in Medicaid should be tested for lead at ages one and two, and all other children not enrolled in Medicaid should have a conversation, their parents should have a conversation with health care providers about certain risk factors to determine if they’re at risk for lead exposure, and if they are, then they should be tested,” she said.
However, now with universal testing, the requirement is now that physicians test all children at ages one and two, regardless of their insurance.
Children with elevated blood lead levels, at 3.5 micrograms per deciliter or higher, are eligible for MDHHS services and through other local health departments to lower the blood lead level.
That includes in-home nursing case management to educate families about nutrition and safe cleaning, and connecting with the lead Safe Home Program for an environmental investigation to identify the source of exposure to remove it, she explained.
The new changes expand the coverage for all children under 6 years old to get tested, including those on all insurance plans.
“The only way to know if you have an exposure to lead is to have your blood tested, and the only way to treat is to remove that exposure source. If a child is being exposed to lead, it’s very important that we go through these processes to identify and remove that exposure so they can continue to grow and develop in a healthy way,” she said.
She said children should get tested at 12 months, and then again at 24 months.
“This is typically when exposure levels peak for most children. So both of those testing intervals are very important to make sure the child continues not to be exposed to lead,” she expanded.
Medina says the new expansion of coverage will allow more kids to get tested. She said this is preventative health service under the federal Affordable Care Act.
“It must be covered without any additional co-payments or co-insurance charges,” she said. “Most private insurance is covered by the Affordable Care Act, and Medicaid also covers blood lead testing, so insurance companies should cover the cost of the blood lead test the children are receiving.”
She said if you have a child who’s never been tested for lead and they are under the age of six, talk to your health care provider about getting tested.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
No matter who you are, being a parent is a tough job. There’s no one definitive playbook for how to best love and guide your kids.
And mothers are frequently the ones to care and nurture us, to keep us in line when it matters and to expose us to different people and places.
The former U.S. Surgeon General said last year that parental stress is a significant public health issue. But we know that, in addition to the challenges, there are a lot of joys that come with motherhood.
There are opportunities for creating stronger connections, for providing and maybe sometimes receiving care and for expanding love.
And as Mother’s Day is coming up, we’re looking at what a day in the life of a mom is like. Today on The Metro, two mothers from different places in our region share their perspective on motherhood and what it means to them.
Ambra Redrick runs the nonprofit Teen Hype in Detroit. She has two biological daughters and her husband has two children that she helps raise as well. Lori Goldman is a mom of four.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
More stories from The Metro on Thursday, May 8, 2025:
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May is Military Appreciation Month, and one nonprofit organization working to support veterans will be celebrating their 10-year anniversary.
Stack Up is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting veterans’ mental health and wellbeing through video gaming. Stephen Machuga — the group’s founder and a veteran himself — served eight years in the army.
Machuga says he’s been a gamer all his life, and found the hobby really helped him unwind while he was in the army.
“Whenever I would come back in from patrol or get off of work while I was overseas, gaming was the thing I escaped with,” Machuga said.
Because of this, Machuga started sending video game consoles to units overseas to provide the same reprieve to someone else. Ten years later, the organization connects veterans and civilian supporters through gaming.
Stack Up primarily supports post-9/11 veterans — many of whom grew up with consoles and handhelds and are now navigating civilian life with those same devices in hand.
Machuga says video games offer a kind of “recreational therapy,” similar to programs like equine therapy or wilderness retreats.
“Happy veterans don’t kill themselves,” he said bluntly. “If we can disrupt that cycle — keep someone company overnight while playing Fortnite or just remind them they’re not alone — that’s what we’re here to do.”
A new survey conducted by the Entertainment Software Association shows that 77% of veterans believe that video games have positive impact on their lives, with 86% saying video games help relieve stress and anxiety.
Stack Up offers multiple programs including supply crates for troops, game nights, and a 24/7 crisis intervention service known as the Stack Up Overwatch Program (StOP).
As for concerns that military shooters like Call of Duty might be triggering, Machuga says most service members aren’t phased.
“Ninety-nine percent of the military isn’t out there kicking doors,” he said. “But for those who are triggered — there are hundreds of other games. You don’t have to shoot anyone to play video games.”
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It’s organized by Brenda McGadney, an expert in aging. As a social worker, her focus was gerontology. But she says her work did not prepare her to deal with the disease her mother struggled with as she aged.
Almost 3% of the population is affected by ‘hoarding disorder.’ It’s more common in people over 60 and those dealing with other psychological issues, especially anxiety and depression.
McGadney’s 94-year-old mother died after she fell in a home where she had been hoarding for many years. She shared her story with WDET’s Sascha Raiyn ahead of the event.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
More stories from The Metro on Tuesday, May 6, 2025:
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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The Trump administration’s unprecedented $500 million grant for a broadly protective flu shot has confounded vaccine and pandemic preparedness experts, who said the project was in early stages, relied on old technology and was just one of more than 200 such efforts.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shifted the money from a pandemic preparedness fund to a vaccine development program led by two scientists whom the administration recently named to senior positions at the National Institutes of Health.
While some experts were pleased that Kennedy had supported any vaccine project, they said the May 1 announcement contravened sound scientific policy, appeared arbitrary, and raised the kinds of questions about conflicts of interest that have dogged many of President Donald Trump’s actions.
Focusing vast resources on a single vaccine candidate “is a little like going to the Kentucky Derby and putting all your money on one horse,” said William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University professor and past president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. “In science we normally put money on a number of different horses because we can’t be entirely sure who’s going to win.”
Others were mystified by the decision, since the candidate vaccine uses technology that was largely abandoned in the 1970s and eschews techniques developed in recent decades through funding from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Defense Department.
“This is not a next-generation vaccine,” said Rick Bright, who led HHS’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, in the first Trump administration. “It’s so last-generation, or first-generation, it’s mind-blowing.”
The vaccine is being developed at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases by Jeffery Taubenberger, whom Trump named as acting chief of the institute in late April, and his colleague Matthew Memoli, a critic of U.S. COVID-19 policy whom Trump picked to lead the NIH until April 1, when Jay Bhattacharya took office. Bhattacharya named Memoli his principal deputy.
Taubenberger gained fame as an Armed Forces Institute of Pathology scientist in 1997 when his lab sequenced the genome of the 1918 pandemic influenza virus, using tissue samples from U.S. troops who died in that plague. He joined the NIH in 2006.
In a May 1 news release, HHS called the Taubenberger-Memoli vaccine initiative “Generation Gold Standard,” saying it represented “a decisive shift toward transparency, effectiveness, and comprehensive preparedness.” Bhattacharya said it represented a “paradigm shift.”
But the NIH vaccine-makers’ goal of creating a shot that protects against multiple or all strains of influenza — currently vaccines must be given each year to account for shifts in the virus — is not new.
Then-NIAID Director Anthony Fauci launched a network of academic researchers in pursuit of a broadly protective flu vaccine in 2019. In addition to that NIH-led consortium, more than 200 flu vaccines are under development in the U.S. and other countries.
Many use newer technologies, and some are at more advanced stages of human testing than the Taubenberger vaccine, whose approach appears basically the same as the one used in flu vaccines starting in 1944, Bright said.
In the news release, HHS described the vaccine as “in advanced trials” and said it would induce “robust” responses and “long-lasting protection.” But Taubenberger and his colleagues haven’t published a complete human study of the vaccine yet. A study showing the vaccine protected mice from the flu appeared in 2022.
For Operation Warp Speed, which led to the creation of the COVID vaccine during Trump’s first term, government scientists reviewed detailed plans and data from academic and commercial laboratories vying for federal money, said Greg Poland, a flu expert and president of the Atria Health Academy of Science and Medicine. “If that’s happening here, it’s opaque to me,” he said.
When asked what data beyond its press release supported the decision, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon pointed to the agency’s one-page statement. Asked whether the decision would curtail funding for the Fauci-created consortium or other universal vaccine approaches, Nixon did not specifically respond. “Generation Gold Standard is the most promising,” he said in an email.
Taubenberger did not respond to a request for comment. Nixon and NIH spokesperson Amanda Fine did not respond to requests for an interview with Taubenberger or Memoli.
The HHS statement stressed that by developing the vaccine in-house, the government “ensures radical transparency, public accountability, and freedom from commercial conflicts of interest.” While any vaccine would eventually have to be made commercially, NIH involvement through more stages of development could give the government greater influence on any vaccine’s eventual price, Schaffner said.
If the mRNA-based COVID shots produced by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech represented the cutting edge of vaccine technology, applying ultra-sophisticated approaches never before seen in an inoculation, the approach by Taubenberger and Memoli represents a blast from the past.
Their vaccine is made by inactivating influenza viruses with a carcinogenic chemical called beta-propiolactone. Scientists have used the chemical to neutralize viruses since at least the 1950s. This whole-virus inactivation method, mostly using other chemicals, was the standard way to make flu vaccines into the 1970s, when it was modified, partly because whole-virus vaccines caused high fevers or even seizures in children.
The limited published data from the Taubenberger vaccine, from an initial safety trial involving 45 patients, showed no major side effects. The scientists are testing the vaccine as a regular shot and as an intranasal spray with the idea of stopping the virus in the respiratory tract before it causes a broad infection.
“The notion of a universal influenza A pandemic vaccine is a good one,” said Poland, who called Taubenberger an excellent scientist. But he added: “I’m not so sure about the platform, and the dollar amount is a puzzler. This vaccine’s in very early development.”
Paul Friedrichs, a retired Air Force general who led the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy in President Joe Biden’s White House, said that “giving $500 million upfront with very little data to support it is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
“The technology for developing vaccines has tremendously evolved over many decades,” Friedrichs said. “Why would we go back to an approach historically associated with greater or more frequent adverse events?”
The government appeared to be transferring the money for the Taubenberger vaccine development from an existing $1.3 billion vaccine fund at Project NextGen, a mostly COVID-focused program at BARDA, Friedrichs said. Most of that money was earmarked to support advanced research on COVID and other viral vaccines, including those protecting against emerging diseases.
It is “very concerning that we’re de-emphasizing COVID, which we may live to regret,” Poland said. “It assumes we won’t have a COVID variant that escapes the current moderately high levels of COVID immunity.”
Nixon said Project NextGen, for which some funds were earmarked for mRNA research, is under review. Kennedy is critical of mRNA vaccines, once claiming, falsely, that they are the deadliest vaccines in history.
Ted Ross, director of global vaccine development at the Cleveland Clinic, said he was “happy to see them investing in respiratory vaccines, including a universal flu vaccine, with all the programs they’ve been cutting.”
“But I don’t think this is the only approach,” Ross said. “Other universal flu vaccines are in progress, and their success and failure are not known yet.”
His team, part of the NIAID-funded flu vaccine consortium, is using artificial intelligence and computer modeling to design vaccines that produce the broadest immunity to influenza, including seasonal and pandemic strains.
As interim director, Memoli oversaw the start of the administration’s massive cuts at the NIH, with the elimination of some 800 agency grants worth over $2 billion. More than 1,200 NIH employees have been fired, and many researchers, including Ross, are in limbo.
His lab is close to testing a candidate vaccine on people, Ross said, while waiting to find out about its NIH funding. “I’m not sure whether my contract is on the chopping block,” he said.
The new U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., shakes hands with President Donald Trump after a swearing in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 13, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS)
On this episode of Detroit Evening Report Weekends, we listen to the first story in WDET reporter Nargis Rahman’s series Shustho.
The four-part series explores the barriers Bangladeshi women face in accessing high quality health care, and efforts to bridge those gaps.
Michigan is home to the third largest population of Bangladeshis in the U.S., most living in the metro Detroit area.
Throughout the Shustho series, Nargis explores a number of challenges that make it hard for Bangladeshi immigrants to access health care, including cultural competency within the medical profession and access to adequate insurance.
The first story is focused on language barriers. Nargis speaks with organizations advocating for Bangla-speaking patients, community members who serve as advocates, translators and educators and medical professionals working to increase awareness.
Stay tuned to DER Weekends to hear the entire four-part series in May.
Listen to the episode using the media player above.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
A case involving a frozen embryo that’s at the center of a divorce dispute will not be heard by the Michigan Supreme Court. The court declined the case in an order released Friday.
The Supreme Court order leaves in place an appeals court decision that awarded the embryo to ex-husband David Markiewicz. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in December of 2023 that he would get custody because he has the closest biological connection to the embryo and should not be forced to have another child with his ex-wife, Sarah Markiewicz. The appeals court panel divided on the question, with one judge ruling the embryo should go to the ex-wife.
Sarah Markiewicz became pregnant three times through in vitro fertilization. The embryo at issue in the court case, as in Sarah’s other IVF pregnancies, was made with the ex-husband’s sperm, while the egg was donated by the ex-wife’s sister. The couple also has one child conceived naturally.
Sarah Markiewicz argued for possession of the frozen embryo because it could be her final opportunity to have another child. She also argued she was entitled to the embryo under the Michigan Reproductive Freedom for All amendment to the state constitution.
David Markiewicz said earlier he would either have the embryo destroyed or donated for scientific use if he won the case.
“My client is very happy and relieved that he can now put this chapter behind him,” said his attorney, Trish Haas, in an email to Michigan Public Radio. “His disposition of the pre-embryo will now be his personal choice.”
The Supreme Court order was unsigned, but Justice Brian Zahra wrote a concurring statement calling on the Legislature to enact standards to avoid future conflicts as IVF becomes more common.
“Broadly speaking, the primary issue is how the law should classify and treat human embryos, frozen or otherwise, which, at a minimum, have the potential to develop into autonomous human beings,” he wrote. “This question implicates some of the most perplexing debates in society, invoking deep-seated and conflicting beliefs about morality, ethics, religion, human life, and personal autonomy.”
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The only thing worse than the need for community food pantries is having a pantry and not being able to store perishable goods.
That’s what makes the food pantry grant for a new refrigeration unit offered by the United Dairy Industry of Michigan in collaboration with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM), Blue Cross Complete of Michigan and the BCBSM Foundation such a blessing.
“Last year we served 75,665 people and because of the refrigeration unit we were able to store milk between pantry days for emergency food,” said Sue Ostosh, executive director of Harvest Time Christian Fellowship Church’s pantry and among the organizations that have received the grant that’s now open for new applicants.
Emergency food as Ostosh explained is a term that pantries use for people who are in a crisis situation.
“They have no food in the house. No food in the cupboards. Their children are hungry and they don’t know what to do,” Ostosh said. “We probably serve three to five families in this situation every week.”
Harvest Time in Warren is one of 179 organizations in 54 counties that have received a grant to help people facing food insecurity, which includes about 14% of people in Michigan or one in seven Michiganders, according to a report by Feeding America. Older adults, seniors over the age of 60, are also at risk with a food insecurity rate of 6.5%.
According to the BCBSM, the situation is even worse for children, with nearly one in six lacking enough to eat and more than 20 counties having 20% or more kids without reliable access to healthy food.
“When families have consistent access to fresh, nutritious foods like milk, cheese and yogurt it supports their health, development and well being,” said Amiee Vondrasek, health and wellness senior manager for the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, in a news release. “Through this grant program, we’re proud to partner with organizations across Michigan to ensure food pantries are equipped to provide the dairy foods their communities want and need, especially for children and seniors facing food insecurity.”
Todd Anderson concurred.
“Access to fresh produce is critically important for growing children and families who are making ends meet with fewer resources,” said the market president for Blue Cross Complete. “Having these basic needs met creates a positive shift in a person’s overall health and wellbeing. It helps bring them out of survival mode, and that ripples out and allows whole communities to thrive.”
The refrigeration units cost $7,000.
In addition to the refrigeration unit, food pantry grantees will also receive personalized technical assistance to enhance pantry operations and $250 in dairy match funding to purchase additional eligible dairy products for their pantry.
“Food pantries play a vital role in providing individuals and families with access to nutritious food and BCBSM and the BCBSM Foundation are proud to offer resources to help expand their reach and impact,” said Tiffany Albert, senior vice president of community relations for BCBSM. “By investing in food pantries, we can address the immediate need of our communities and equip pantries with the necessary resources, tools and support to serve those in need for years to come.”
Ostosh, whose pantry in Warren serves families in Macomb and parts of Oakland and Wayne counties, said she appreciates what BCBSM is doing.
She just wishes more companies were doing it.
“I could use another refrigerator,” she said. “Even a walk-in cooler or freezer would be great.”
Grant applications are due June 22. They must be submitted using the online application.
Harvest Time Christian Fellowship Church food pantry is 8204 East 9 Mile Rd., in Warren.
Sue Ostosh, executive director of Harvest Time Christian Fellowship Church’s food pantry grabs a gallon of milk from the refrigerator unit they received through a grant provided through a collaboration between the United Dairy Industry of Michigan adn Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Photo courtesy of Harvest Time
Meet the new candidates vying for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat
How the Keep MI Kids Tobacco Free Alliance is pushing to prevent underage access to tobacco
Michigan’s U.S. Senate race is expanding with new candidates announcing recently, as well as some potential candidates testing out the waters. This week on MichMash, host Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow discuss the current state of the race and who is most likely to ultimately occupy the seat.
Plus, we sit down with Dr. Brittany Tayler of the Keep MI Kids Tobacco Free Alliance to discuss the recent push for the “Protect MI Kids” bill package, which would require a retail license to sell tobacco products, prohibit flavored tobacco sales, increase tobacco taxes and repeal laws that punish kids.
Dr. Tayler shared that there is barely a barrier for youth to get their hands on cigarettes. But she says it’s not necessarily the retail industry’s fault.
“I’m sure the vast majority of our retailers are abiding by the law and not selling to minors, but it only takes one bad store,” she said. “We don’t have a way to monitor this and there isn’t a large penalty… There is not a lot of reason to not sell to youth.”
Dr. Tayler said that her organization has done a lot of outreach efforts to political leaders in Michigan to gain support. State Republicans have been slow to support the cause, but Dr. Tayler said there is at least one Republican member of the legislature who has shown support. The bills passed in the Senate with all Democratic support last legislative session.
A bill package from last year’s legislative session aimed at improving water affordability has been reintroduced in the Michigan Senate.
Senate Bills 248-256 would cap water rates for some residents living below the federal poverty line and protect them from shutoffs. The legislation also includes a funding mechanism to support water infrastructure.
First-term state Rep. Tonya Meyers Phillips, who represents Hamtramck, Highland Park and parts of Detroit, says water affordability is a moral issue.
“Water shutoffs disproportionately effect low-income families, seniors and communities of color,” Meyers Phillips said. “These are the same communities that already bear the brunt of environmental injustices.”
State Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) is a co-sponsor of the bill package. She says around 300,000 Michigan households could benefit from a statewide water affordability program.
“Water is not just a resource,” Chang said. “It’s something that every human being needs in order to live, yet too many families in our state are struggling to afford their water bills or have in the past faced the threat of shutoffs.”
Chang says she expects the bills will receive bipartisan support and make their way to the House in the coming weeks.
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Many have criticized U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in recent weeks for making sweeping claims about the cause and prevalence of autism and the United States.
At a news conference last week, Kennedy called autism “an epidemic” due to rising diagnosis rates, attributing the rise to “an environmental exposure.” He also called autism “a preventable disease,” promising to launch studies to find out what “caused the autism epidemic” and “eliminate those exposures” by September.
While it’s true that autism rates are on the rise, health experts say the increase is much more likely due to better screenings and higher diagnosis rates in recent years. The definition of autism has also broadened to include a variety of neurodivergent conditions, known as Autism Spectrum Disorders.
“Autism destroys families,” Kennedy said. “More importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. These are children who should not be suffering like this.”
Kennedy’s broad claims mirror a larger problem: There are persistent misconceptions about autism that affect autistic people and the way the world interacts with them.
To discuss all of this, Autism Alliance of Michigan President and CEO Colleen Allen joined The Metro. She also founded the Henry Ford Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
–WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.
More stories from The Metro on Wednesday, April 23:
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The organization’s “State of the Air” report gives the region an “F” grade in ground level ozone pollution, a “D” in particle pollution, and a failing grade overall in pollution levels above federal standards.
The research finds metro Detroit has the sixth worst year-round particle pollution in the U.S.
High levels of air pollution can cause various health issues including asthma attacks and lung cancer, as well as impact other health events such as heart attacks and strokes, the Lung Association reports.
“Unfortunately, too many people in Detroit are living with unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution,” said Kezia Ofosu Atta, advocacy director for the Lung Association in Michigan, in a statement. “This air pollution is causing kids to have asthma attacks, making people who work outdoors sick and unable to work, and leading to low birth weight in babies. We urge Michigan policymakers to take action to improve our air.”
Detroit City Council member Gabriella-Santiago Romero has been disqualified from having her name on the city’s August primary election ballot. Wayne County officials say she had an unpaid campaign finance fee, preventing her appearance on the ballot. However, Santiago-Romero issued a release Tuesday saying she has filed all paperwork on time and that the county wrongly assessed the fee.
Henry Ford Health is offering free heart health screenings on Saturday at six Henry Ford Hospitals, including Grand Blanc, Clinton Township, Rochester, Providence Southfield, Warren and Wyandotte.
Efforts to beautify Detroit are showing results, as four million daffodils have bloomed in neighborhoods, parks and medians across the city. The General Services Department’s Floriculture Division says the best showings are in Jayne Playground, Gabriel Richard Park, LaSalle Park and on Oakman Boulevard between Linwood and Dexter. Officials say they hope to have 10 million daffodil bulbs planted in the city one day.
The Detroit Pistons are getting ready for another first round playoff game on Thursday night. The team won its first playoff game since 2008 when they beat the Knicks in New York 100-94 on Monday night. The series is now tied at a game each.
Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.
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WDET is embarking on a new project exploring the multifaceted relationship between trees and community health in Michigan.
Amanda Le Claire, lead reporter and managing editor of the tree project, joined The Metro on Earth Day to talk about Detroit’s tree canopy and some of the most recent stories produced by the WDET newsroom.
Le Claire also shared a conversation she had with Andrew “Birch” Kemp, executive director of Arboretum Detroit, about a community forest restoration project on Detroit’s east side.
Studies have shown that urban tree canopies help make communities more climate resilient, reduce air pollution, and combat the urban heat island effect — exposing residents to higher risks of heat-related illness and higher cooling costs.
The tree canopy project will dig into all of these topics and more over 24 months of reporting.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
The United States spends more on health care costs than any other rich nation, yet maternal death rates remain alarmingly higher than comparable countries.
Those risks are much higher for Black women, who are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White woman, according the CDC. Racial disparities in quality health care, underlying chronic conditions and social determinants of health are all contributing factors to pregnancy-related complications.
Last week in honor of Black Maternal Health Week, leaders of the Congressional Mamas’ Caucus put up portraits of Black mothers who died from maternal health-related causes outside the offices of over 50 Congressional members at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.
The installation, titled “In Her Honor,” was created by Omari Maynard, a visual artist and educator whose partner, Shamony Gibson, died after giving birth in 2019.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, chair of the Congressional Mamas’ Caucus, joined The Metro to discuss the event and help shine a light on maternal health care disparities. Tlaib represents Michigan’s 12th Congressional District, which includes Detroit and Dearborn.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today. Donate today »
Fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid driving the nation’s high drug overdose rates, is also caught up in another increasingly serious problem: misinformation.
False and misleading narratives on social media, in news reports, and even in popular television dramas suggesting people can overdose from touching fentanyl — rather than ingesting it — are now informing policy and spending decisions.
In an episode of the CBS cop drama “Blue Bloods,” for instance, Detective Maria Baez becomes comatose after accidentally touching powdered fentanyl. In another drama, “S.W.A.T.,” Sgt. Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson warns his co-workers: “You touch the pure stuff without wearing gloves, say good night.”
While fentanyl-related deaths have drastically risen over the past decade, no evidence suggests any resulted from incidentally touching or inhaling it, and little to no evidence that any resulted from consuming it in marijuana products. (Recent data indicates that fentanyl-related deaths have begun to drop.)
There is also almost no evidence that law enforcement personnel are at heightened risk of accidental overdoses due to such exposures. Still, there is a steady stream of reports — which generally turn out to be false — of officers allegedly becoming ill after handling fentanyl.
“It’s only in the TV dramas” where that happens, said Brandon del Pozo, a retired Burlington, Vermont, police chief who researches policing and public health policies and practices at Brown University.
In fact, fentanyl overdoses are commonly caused by ingesting the drug illicitly as a pill or powder. And most accidental exposures occur when people who use drugs, even those who do not use opioids, unknowingly consume fentanyl because it is so often used to “cut” street drugs such as heroin and cocaine.
Despite what scientific evidence suggests about fentanyl and its risks, misinformation can persist in public discourse and among first responders on the front lines of the crisis. Daniel Meloy, a senior community engagement specialist at the drug recovery organizations Operation 2 Save Lives and QRT National, said he thinks of misinformation as “more of an unknown than it is an anxiety or a fear.”
“We’re experiencing it often before the information” can be understood and shared by public health and addiction medicine practitioners, Meloy said.
Some state and local governments are investing money from their share of the billions in opioid settlement funds in efforts to protect first responders from purported risks perpetuated through fentanyl misinformation.
In 2022 and 2023, 19 cities, towns, and counties across eight states used settlement funds to purchase drug detection devices for law enforcement agencies, spending just over $1 million altogether. Two mass spectrometers were purchased for at least $136,000 for the Greeley, Colorado, police department, “to protect those who are tasked with handling those substances.”
Del Pozo, the retired police chief, said fentanyl is present in most illicit opioids found at the scene of an arrest. But that “doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot of money on fentanyl detection for officer safety,” he said. If that spending decision is motivated by officer safety concerns, then it’s “misspent money,” del Pozo said.
Fentanyl misinformation is affecting policy in other ways, too.
Florida, for instance, has on the books a law that makes it a second-degree felony to cause an overdose or bodily injury to a first responder through this kind of secondhand fentanyl exposure. Similar legislation has been considered by states such as Tennessee and West Virginia, the latter stipulating a penalty of 15 years to life imprisonment if the exposure results in death.
Public health advocates worry these laws will make people shy away from seeking help for people who are overdosing.
“A lot of people leave overdose scenes because they don’t want to interact with police,” said Erin Russell, a principal with Health Management Associates, a health care industry research and consulting firm. Florida does include a caveat in its statute that any person “acting in good faith” to seek medical assistance for someone they believe to be overdosing “may not” be arrested, charged, or prosecuted.
And even when public policy is crafted to protect first responders as well as regular people, misinformation can undermine a program’s messaging.
Take Mississippi’s One Pill Can Kill initiative. Led by the state attorney general, Lynn Fitch, the initiative aims to provide resources and education to Mississippi residents about fentanyl and its risks. While it promotes the availability and use of harm reduction tools, such as naloxone and fentanyl test strips, Fitch has also propped up misinformation.
At the 2024 Mississippi Coalition of Bail Sureties conference, Fitch said, “If you figure out that pill’s got fentanyl, you better be ready to dispose of it, because you can get it through your fingers,” based on the repeatedly debunked belief that a person can overdose by simply touching fentanyl.
Officers on the ground, meanwhile, sometimes are warned to proceed with caution in providing lifesaving interventions at overdose scenes because of these alleged accidental exposure risks. This caution is often evidenced in a push to provide first responders with masks and other personal protective equipment. Fitch told the crowd at the conference: “You can’t just go out and give CPR like you did before.” However, as with other secondhand exposures, the risk for a fentanyl overdose from applying mouth-to-mouth is negligible, with no clinical evidence to suggest it has occurred.
Her comments underscore growing concerns, often not supported by science, that officers and first responders increasingly face exposure risks during overdose responses. Her office did not respond to questions about these comments.
Health care experts say they are not against providing first responders with protective equipment, but that fentanyl misinformation is clouding policy and risks delaying critical interventions such as CPR and rescue breathing.
“People are afraid to do rescue breathing because they’re like, ‘Well, what if there’s fentanyl in the person’s mouth,’” Russell said. Hesitating for even a moment because of fentanyl misinformation could delay a technique that “is incredibly important in an overdose response.”
Portland Police officers look on as American Medical Response paramedics transport a patient after they were administered Narcan brand Naloxone nasal spray for a suspected fentanyl drug overdose in Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 25, 2024. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS)
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