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  • New Cancer Treatments Show Promise Against Some of the Deadliest Tumors, Researchers Report

    New Cancer Treatments Show Promise Against Some of the Deadliest Tumors, Researchers Report

    Recent advances in cancer research are offering new hope for patients with some of the most difficult-to-treat forms of the disease, with scientists reporting encouraging results from experimental therapies targeting pancreatic, lung, and head and neck cancers.

    The developments were highlighted during presentations at major oncology meetings and reported by The Guardian on June 1, as researchers unveiled data suggesting that several next-generation treatments may improve outcomes for patients who have exhausted standard options. The Guardian report

    One of the most closely watched breakthroughs involves daraxonrasib, an experimental pill designed to target RAS-driven cancers. According to reports from oncology researchers cited by The Guardian, the drug nearly doubled median survival among patients with advanced pancreatic cancer in a recent clinical trial. Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest malignancies worldwide, with survival rates lagging behind many other major cancer types. (The Guardian)

    Researchers also reported progress in head and neck cancer treatment using amivantamab, a targeted therapy that has demonstrated tumor reduction in patients whose disease continued to progress despite chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Trial findings showed that a significant number of participants experienced measurable responses to the treatment, raising hopes for a patient population with limited therapeutic options. (The Guardian)

    Separately, investigators presented early clinical trial data for GRWD5769, an experimental immunotherapy-enhancing drug developed to help the immune system recognize cancer cells more effectively. In a Phase 1 study involving patients with advanced cancers, tumors shrank in multiple participants, including those with lung, bowel, bladder, liver, cervical, and head and neck cancers. Researchers said the therapy works by disrupting a mechanism that allows cancer cells to evade immune detection. (The Guardian)

    The findings come amid growing concern over the global cancer burden. According to figures cited by The Guardian, cancer causes nearly 10 million deaths each year worldwide, while approximately 100,000 new diagnoses are made daily. Experts have also raised concerns about increasing cancer incidence among younger adults, a trend that continues to be investigated. (The Guardian)

    Despite the positive developments, researchers cautioned that many of the treatments remain experimental and require additional testing before broader adoption. Larger clinical trials will be needed to confirm long-term benefits, assess safety, and determine which patients are most likely to respond.

    Still, oncology experts say the recent results underscore a broader shift toward precision medicine, where therapies are increasingly designed to target specific genetic and biological characteristics of tumors rather than relying solely on conventional treatment approaches. (The Guardian)

    Source: The Guardian reported on June 1 that emerging cancer therapies, including daraxonrasib for pancreatic cancer, amivantamab for head and neck cancer, and the investigational drug GRWD5769, are showing promising results in clinical studies, fueling optimism among cancer researchers despite ongoing challenges in treatment and diagnosis. (The Guardian)

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  • Deceased Donor Islet Cell Transplantation 101

    Deceased Donor Islet Cell Transplantation 101

    Source: Breakthrough T1D
    Related MedlinePlus Pages: Islet Cell Transplantation

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  • The Backlash to IARC’s Report that Meat Probably Causes Cancer

    The Backlash to IARC’s Report that Meat Probably Causes Cancer

    How did the meat industry, government, and cancer organizations respond to the confirmation that processed meat, like bacon, ham, hot dogs, and lunch meat, causes cancer?

    “It is rare, in the history of nations, that one finds good reasons to render homage to the generosity and altruism of governments and those in power: the birth of the International Agency for Research on Cancer [IARC] presents one of those rare occasions.” It all started with a single letter from a grieving husband, relating his wife’s suffering after being diagnosed with cancer, cascading into an open letter calling for governments to devote half of 1% of their military budgets to fight for life by attacking one of the greatest plagues that weighs on humanity. And 18 months later, the IARC was born in the World Health Organization. What was its overarching motive? Cancer prevention.

    As I discuss in my video, IARC: Processed Meat Like Bacon Causes Cancer, the IARC is best known for its monographs, book-sized reports evaluating whether or not some suspected carcinogen does in fact cause cancer. They are “generally accepted as close to a final word” as there is on whether or not something is carcinogenic. And its 114th monograph, published in 2018, focused on meat. After considering more than 800 different studies and thoroughly reviewing the scientific literature, a group of 22 experts from 10 countries concluded its 500-page report by saying, “Consumption of red meat is probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A).” But processed meat was placed as a Group 1 carcinogen, the highest level of certainty, meaning that according to the best available evidence, the consumption of processed meat causes cancer.

    So, that means foods like bacon cause cancer. Ham, hot dogs, breakfast links, and lunch meat cause cancer. But its definition also includes, for example, turkey deli slices. Specifically, eating processed meat causes colorectal cancer, cancers of the colon or rectum, which is the second most deadly cancer worldwide, after lung cancer, which is caused largely by smoking. “Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.,” as well, and it doesn’t just strike older people. It is also a leading cause of cancer and death from cancer earlier in life.

    The meat industry wasn’t happy, calling it a “dramatic and alarmist overreach.” Speaking of dramatic and alarmist overreach, one agricultural group in Italy sent out a press release: Just say no to terrorism on meat.

    The gloves were off. The meat industry in Canada tried to pressure the government to cut off funds to the IARC, asking the Health Minister to pull all funding from the agency after it dared to question meat. The U.S. meat industry did the same thing. It’s no surprise that the IARC is “under siege by corporate interests” trying to challenge their cancer evaluations on Monsanto’s Roundup pesticide and meat, discredit the agency, and undermine financial backing. For example, internal documents have revealed Monsanto scientists “casually discussing ‘ghost-writing’ scientific papers and suppressing science that conflicts with corporate assertions of Roundup’s safety.”

    The chemical industry has joined the corporate cacophony, calling the IARC monographs “dubious and misleading.” These are classic strategies straight out of the tobacco industry playbook. “But there is little to suggest that, as a corporate actor, ‘Big Tobacco’ differs fundamentally from, eg, ‘Big Booze’ or ‘Big Food.’”

    One recurring corporate talking point is that the IARC never met a carcinogen it didn’t like. But the vast majority end up being categorized as just possibly carcinogenic to humans, or there really aren’t sufficient data to make a determination either way, as you can see below and at 4:20 in my video.

    The agency only spends time looking at substances for which there is already “an existing body of scientific literature indicating a degree of carcinogenic hazard to humans.” So, no wonder many of them end up, indeed, carcinogenic.

    How did the IARC respond to all the criticism? The World Health Organization received questions, concerns, and clarification requests after the publication of its meat and cancer report. It basically replied: Hey, we never told anyone to stop eating processed meat—your body, your choice. The report just indicated that consuming less of these products can reduce the risk of a leading cancer killer. So, you like cancer? You do you.

    The IARC is just a research organization that evaluates evidence on what causes cancer; after that, what you do with that information is up to you. The American Cancer Society was nice and clear when it came to alcohol. When it comes to cancer, “it is best not to drink alcohol.” But the organization got a bit wishy-washy with processed meat, suggesting people can get away with just limiting their intake. The European Commission was a little clearer. To reduce our risk of cancer, we should eat lots of whole grains, pulses (which are beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils), fruits, and vegetables; limit sugary, fatty, salty foods; and straight-up avoid soda, sausage, and other processed meats. After all, in answering the question of how much meat is safe to eat, the IARC replied that it’s unknown whether a safe level exists, period.

    Doctor’s Note

    So, How Much Cancer Does Processed Meat Cause? That video is coming up next.

    And, it’s not just cancer. For example, see The Effects of Processed Meat on Lung Function.

    I previously covered Monsanto and its Roundup pesticide (now owned by Bayer), see related posts below.



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  • ACA Enrollment Fraud Now Tops 6 Million — And Taxpayers Are Footing a Billion Bill

    ACA Enrollment Fraud Now Tops 6 Million — And Taxpayers Are Footing a $27 Billion Bill

    A sweeping new report released today confirms what critics of the Affordable Care Act have warned for years: millions of ineligible individuals are receiving federally subsidized health coverage, draining tens of billions in public funds through a system riddled with structural loopholes and almost no accountability.

    6.2M+
    Improper enrollees (2026 est.)    		 $27B
    Annual taxpayer cost (2025)    		 ~96%
    Fake GAO apps approved (2024-25)

    In what is shaping up to be one of the most significant federal health care accountability stories of the year, the Paragon Health Institute released findings today — confirmed by The Washington Post — estimating that roughly 6.2 million people on the ACA’s health insurance exchanges are improperly enrolled in subsidized coverage. That figure represents approximately one in four of all exchange enrollees, according to the think tank’s analysis.

    The report lands as Congress continues debating the future of COVID-era enhanced subsidies that have ballooned ACA enrollment numbers — numbers now called into serious question by researchers, federal watchdogs, and the courts alike.

    “Roughly a quarter of all ACA exchange enrollees may be receiving coverage they are not entitled to — paid for by American taxpayers.”

    — Paragon Health Institute, June 2026

    HOW IT HAPPENED

    The story of ACA fraud is inseparable from the pandemic. When Congress passed enhanced subsidies in 2021 that effectively made silver and bronze plans free for low-income enrollees, brokers and insurers quickly found ways to exploit the windfall. Income verification requirements were loosened. Enrollment could be triggered through Direct Enrollment pathways with minimal scrutiny. And crucially, the financial penalty for overstating income — and thus receiving excess subsidies — was capped so low it created almost no deterrent.

    The result, according to Paragon’s research, was a surge in fraudulent sign-ups driven by three overlapping groups: enrollees who deliberately misstated their income; unscrupulous brokers who falsified applications to earn commissions; and a class of enrollees who were signed up entirely without their knowledge or consent, with insurers and agents pocketing the subsidy payments.

    The scale of that last category is particularly alarming. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data show that nearly 12 million ACA enrollees — 35% of all exchange participants — filed zero medical claims in 2024, up from just 3.5 million in 2021. Researchers describe many of these as “phantom enrollees”: people who have no idea they are technically covered, or who have other insurance entirely.

    GOVERNMENT’S OWN TESTS CONFIRM THE HOLES

    The Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted two rounds of undercover testing — and the results were stunning. In the first round, GAO submitted four fictitious applications for plan year 2024 using invalid Social Security numbers and fabricated identities. All four were approved, costing approximately $2,350 per month in fraudulent subsidies. In the second round, GAO submitted 20 fictitious applications for plan year 2025; 19 of the 20 were approved and, as of September 2025, 18 were still actively receiving subsidized coverage. Combined across both rounds, the exchange approved 23 of 24 fictitious applications — a 96% failure rate for basic fraud detection.

    The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) added its own corroboration, estimating 2.3 million improper enrollees just among those who overstated their income in the ten states that did not expand Medicaid — a fraction of the total picture. The CBO figure alone exceeds the total coverage losses Democrats claim will result from ending the enhanced subsidies, a point Republicans have seized upon in the ongoing budget debate.

    CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS MOUNT

    The fraud is not only a policy problem — it is increasingly a criminal one. In February 2025, a federal grand jury indicted Cory Lloyd and Steven Strong for a scheme that sought over $233 million in fraudulent ACA subsidies, of which the federal government paid at least $180 million. Both men targeted vulnerable, low-income individuals — including people experiencing homelessness, unemployment, and substance use disorders — and used street marketers who sometimes offered bribes to induce enrollment. Both were convicted by a federal jury in November 2025 and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison each, with $180.6 million in restitution ordered.

    In April 2026, the Department of Justice announced a separate but related resolution: AP of South Florida (APSF), the brokerage company where Lloyd had continued the scheme, agreed to plead guilty to one count of major fraud against the United States. The federal government had paid $141.5 million in unwarranted subsidies through APSF. In a parallel civil resolution, APSF’s parent company AssuredPartners agreed to pay $135 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations. The combined settlement exceeds $160 million. Court documents revealed that APSF employees stationed street marketers at homeless shelters, bus stops, and drug treatment clinics — sometimes offering cash or gift cards to obtain personal information. Some victims subsequently lost Medicaid access and faced increased costs for HIV medication, opioid treatment, and mental health drugs.

    FLORIDA: GROUND ZERO

    Florida has emerged as the leading state for ACA enrollment fraud. A Paragon county-level analysis found that in nearly every Florida county, ACA enrollment exceeds the estimated eligible population — in some counties by more than eleven times. Note: independent health policy researchers, insurers, and hospital groups have disputed Paragon’s methodology, contending the fraud estimates may be overstated. The state’s combination of high poverty rates, large uninsured populations, and a dense network of commission-driven insurance brokers created conditions that, according to federal prosecutors, allowed large-scale fraud to operate for years.

    WHAT REFORM COULD LOOK LIKE

    Critics of the ACA say the path forward is straightforward but politically difficult: allow the pandemic-era enhanced subsidies to fully expire, raise the subsidy repayment caps that currently let overpaid enrollees keep the excess with little consequence, and restore meaningful income verification requirements at the point of enrollment. CMS under the current administration has signaled support for tighter controls, with Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz stating in mid-2025 that the agency is “restoring integrity to ACA exchanges by cracking down on fraud.”

    Defenders of the program argue the fraud figures are overstated and that any tightening of enrollment rules will disproportionately harm low-income Americans who legitimately need coverage — a tension that is now at the center of one of Washington’s defining health policy battles. What is no longer in dispute, after years of accumulating evidence from GAO, CBO, CMS, and federal prosecutors alike, is that billions of taxpayer dollars have flowed to people who were never supposed to receive them.

    TIMELINE

    2021–2022 Biden-era COVID subsidies introduced; income verification requirements loosened. Lloyd-Strong and APSF fraud schemes begin operating across Florida.
    June 2024 Paragon publishes ‘The Great Obamacare Enrollment Fraud,’ estimating 5.0 million improper enrollees in 2024 (revised upward to 5.1M in May 2026).
    Dec 2025 Enhanced COVID subsidies expire. GAO releases undercover results: 23 of 24 fictitious applications approved across plan years 2024–2025. Paragon documents 6.4M+ improper enrollees in 2025.
    Feb 2025 DOJ indicts Cory Lloyd and Steven Strong for a scheme seeking $233M+ in fraudulent ACA subsidies (at least $180M paid), targeting homeless individuals and people in treatment programs.
    Nov 2025 Both Lloyd and Strong convicted by federal jury; each sentenced to 20 years and ordered to pay $180.6M in restitution.
    Apr 2026 APSF pleads guilty; AssuredPartners pays $135M civil settlement. DOJ total exceeds $160M — one of the largest ACA fraud resolutions on record.
    Jun 2, 2026 Paragon releases updated estimates: 6.2M+ improper enrollees in 2026, confirmed by Washington Post. Congressional reform debate intensifies.

    SOURCES & KEY LINKS

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  • A Meditation to Bring Comfort and Kindness to Pain and Illness

    A Meditation to Bring Comfort and Kindness to Pain and Illness

    Chronic, complex medical conditions rarely have easy answers—but as meditation teacher Juliana Sloane reminds us in this soothing practice, we can always meet our suffering with creativity, gentleness, and compassion.

    Learning to live with pain and illness is challenging, arduous work. Often, people can go for months or even years without sufficient answers. Life gets turned completely upside down. The body you thought you had suddenly becomes something you don’t recognize or know how to work with. 

    This week, meditation teacher and hypnotherapist Juliana Sloane offers an imaginative meditation that invites softness and self-compassion in the midst of discomfort.

    A Meditation to Bring Comfort and Kindness to Pain and Illness

    Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

    1. In this meditation, we’ll be using some imaginative and mindfulness-based practices to work with discomfort or illness or pain in the body. These practices have been shown to be very supportive for symptom management, as well as finding ways to meet challenging health situations with more patience, more kindness, and more space. 
    2. Begin by getting comfortable, allowing yourself to find a place seated or lying down where you can really relax. Close your eyes if that feels comfortable, or soften your gaze. 
    3. Imagine that right now, any place in your body where you rest your attention could begin to soften and relax and get more comfortable. Begin by resting your attention on the muscles around your mouth. Invite those muscles around your mouth to move into relaxation, ease, comfort, letting those muscles just let go. 
    4. Now notice the space inside your mouth. The surface area of the roof of your mouth, the sides of your cheek. Rest your attention on the back of your tongue. And allowing the back of your tongue to begin to relax. Let that tongue come down maybe from the roof of the mouth or allow it to just soften or loosen or come into resting. 
    5. Bring your awareness to the cheeks and jaw and just let that jaw, those cheeks loosen and soften. You might feel the mouth open slightly as you do, or you might feel those cheeks just get heavier and looser. 
    6. Bring your attention now to the muscles around and behind the eyes. Let those muscles around the eyes relax. 
    7. Move your attention up to the forehead, letting those muscles in the forehead soften and relax. Notice the top of your head and imagine that as you rest your attention there on the top of the head, you could even allow the scalp to relax. 
    8. Now slide your attention down the back of your head, almost like that relaxation could just flow down the back of your head. Down your neck and shoulders, letting those shoulders loosen and soften and relax. 
    9. Notice the space between your shoulder blades, and breathe that sense of softening and relaxation into that space. Let your attention flow down to your arms and hands, inviting every muscle in those arms and hands to begin to relax and soften, as if those arms and hands could just get heavy, as if they’re saturated with that comfort, that ease, that relaxation. 
    10. Let that same softness flow down into your chest and belly. Down into your legs and your feet. 
    11. Now, choose a sensation that doesn’t feel too overwhelming. It might be a specific symptom or a place where there’s pain in the body. Rest your attention there on that place where the symptom has been, or the place where you’re experiencing discomfort. Get a little closer to it with a sense of curiosity and creativity and even resourcefulness. 
    12. Now imagine: if this sensation had a color, what color would it be? You might notice the specific color, whether it’s dark or light. Notice how big that color is, how much space it takes up. Imagine what qualities, what resources this color might need—for example, maybe it needs kindness. Maybe it needs patience. Maybe it needs more understanding. 
    13. Sense into what might support this color here in the body. When you land on that, allow yourself to imagine if that resource, if that supportive quality had a color, what color would that be? Once you have that supportive, beautiful quality in its colo, imagine that you could take this resource, this support, this other helpful color, and you could wrap it around that first color. And as you do, you can imagine that now this supportive color is moving into that space and changing the color of the entire area, filling it with that supportive, resourcing energy of that color. You might imagine this almost like you were wrapping that area with color and that color had a healing balm or a medicinal quality to it as you infuse the space with that color, bringing that kindness or that patience or that understanding. 
    14. Imagine that that supportive, beautiful color could begin to move outward. It could fill the body so that you could rest in this color. 
    15. Spend some quiet time with this image. Notice what’s different. Know that right now, you can send that color that’s so supportive, so soothing into any place it’s needed. Let’s rest in that color for one more moment. Then, gently come back into the room, stretching and opening your eyes.



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  • Treatments to Prevent Premature Birth

    Treatments to Prevent Premature Birth



    Having a full-term pregnancy is best for your baby’s health. Full-term pregnancies usually last about 40 weeks.

    When a baby is born earlier than 37 weeks, it’s called a preterm or premature birth. Babies who are born early can have health problems that may last their whole lives.

    Can Early Labor Be Prevented?

    Some women are more likely to go into labor early. Those with a short or weak cervix (the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina) or who have had a premature baby before are more likely to go into labor early. In these cases, the doctor may recommend treatments such as:

    • Progesterone: This hormone can be given as a shot or put into the vagina. It can help lower the chances of going into labor early for women who have had a premature baby before or who have a short cervix.
    • Cerclage: In this procedure, stitches close a woman’s cervix to help prevent preterm birth. Doctors may recommend cerclage (sair-KLAZH) for women who have had premature babies or miscarriages, who have a short cervix, or who have a cervix that begins to open (dilate) too early.

    Women who are having twins also are more likely to go into labor early. These treatments can’t prevent early labor if you’re carrying more than one baby.

    What if Labor Starts Early?

    Moms who think they’re in labor or are having contractions (belly pains or cramps) should call their doctor or midwife right away. If there’s any bleeding or your water breaks (which can be an on-and-off leak, a steady leak, or a gush of fluid), it’s important to get to a hospital right away.

    If labor starts early, it’s best to go to a hospital that has a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Hospitals with a NICU specialize in treating preterm babies. Care for someone in preterm labor can include:

    • Antibiotics: These can treat or prevent infections in the baby and the mother.
    • Steroids: These drugs can help speed up a baby’s lung growth and decrease the chances of breathing problems if the baby is born too soon.
    • Medicine to slow or stop labor contractions temporarily: Delaying labor even a day or two can be enough time for steroids to help a baby’s lungs develop. It also gives hospital staff time to get the mother to a hospital with a NICU, if needed.

    Doctors won’t try to stop contractions if the baby is more than 34 weeks and the lungs are developed, or if there are worries about the mother’s or baby’s health.

    What Can I Do?

    Preterm birth can’t always be prevented. But you can help lower your chances of going into labor too soon. Here’s the best advice:

    • See your doctor early and regularly in your pregnancy for prenatal care.
    • Take care of any health problems, like diabetes, high blood pressure, or depression.
    • Don’t smoke, drink, or use illegal drugs.
    • Eat a diet that includes a variety of healthy foods.
    • Gain a healthy amount of weight (not too much or too little).
    • Protect yourself from infections (wash your hands well and often; don’t eat raw meat, fish, or unpasteurized cheese; use condoms when having sex; don’t change cat litter).
    • Reduce stress in your life.

    If you’re pregnant or planning to become pregnant, meet with your doctor. Women who get regular prenatal care are more likely to have a healthier pregnancy and baby.

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  • Backyard Poultry Drives Multi-State Salmonella Outbreak, with Texas Among Hardest Hit

    Backyard Poultry Drives Multi-State Salmonella Outbreak, with Texas Among Hardest Hit

    A multi-state Salmonella outbreak linked to backyard poultry continues to affect Texas and surrounding states as of May 2026, with children accounting for a significant proportion of confirmed cases.

    According to CDC outbreak investigations, at least 180–200 people across more than 30 states have been infected, with a notable concentration in southern states, including Texas. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports indicate that exposure is primarily associated with handling chicks, ducklings, and backyard poultry environments.

    Texas health officials report clusters in suburban and rural counties where backyard poultry ownership has increased in recent years. Many cases involve young children who were exposed while handling animals at home or in community settings.

    Salmonella infection typically causes diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and nausea. While most cases resolve without treatment, severe infections can require hospitalization, particularly in young children, older adults, and immunocompromised individuals.

    Public-health investigators emphasize that the outbreak is not food-based in most cases, but instead tied to direct animal contact. Poultry can carry Salmonella bacteria even when they appear healthy, making prevention dependent on hygiene practices rather than animal appearance.

    The CDC has repeatedly warned against allowing young children to handle poultry unsupervised. Handwashing after contact and avoiding indoor housing of birds are key prevention measures.

    Texas hospitals have reported increased pediatric visits for gastrointestinal illness consistent with Salmonella exposure. While fatal cases remain rare, hospitalizations have occurred in multiple states during the current outbreak cycle.

    Experts note that backyard poultry ownership has expanded significantly since the pandemic period, increasing the potential for repeated exposure events in suburban communities.

    The outbreak highlights an often-overlooked public-health risk: zoonotic transmission from domestic animals that are not traditionally considered high-risk.

    As May concludes, health officials continue urging caution and improved hygiene practices among households with backyard poultry.

    Sources

    Related MedicalDaily.com News

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  • HEALTH ALERT: Houston’s Summer Heat Season Begins With a 329% Surge in ER Visits — And Officials Fear the Worst Is Still Ahead

    HEALTH ALERT: Houston’s Summer Heat Season Begins With a 329% Surge in ER Visits — And Officials Fear the Worst Is Still Ahead

    HOUSTON — As the first days of meteorological summer descend on Southeast Texas, the Houston Health Department (HHD) and Harris County Public Health are bracing for what is shaping up to be another potentially lethal heat season. The numbers are stark: heat-related emergency room visits in Harris County have surged 329% between 2019 and 2023, according to a landmark study by Harris County Public Health. With the 2026 summer just beginning, there is no credible reason to believe that trajectory has reversed.

    The HHD has activated its annual Summer Surveillance program, an interactive dashboard that tracks heat-related illness (HRI) across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties on a weekly basis. The dashboard is designed to identify vulnerable populations and trigger protective interventions — but as public health advocates have repeatedly warned, surveillance is only as valuable as the policy response it generates.

    A 329% Increase: What the Data Actually Tells Us

    The Harris County Public Health study, covering 2019 through 2023, is not a projection. It is a documented record of real emergency room visits by real Houstonians who required medical care because of the heat. The 329% jump over four years represents a compounding crisis — one that accelerated dramatically in 2024, when Hurricane Beryl knocked out power for up to 2.7 million customers in the middle of a heatwave. Houston-area hospitals reported about twice their normal ER patient load during that period, with more than 320 patients suffering heat-related illness — roughly triple the seasonal norm.

    The study found that older adults accounted for 39% of heat-related illness cases — a demographic that is disproportionately likely to live alone, to lack air conditioning, or to be unaware they are overheating until it is too late. Workers who labor outdoors — construction workers, landscapers, delivery drivers — represent another heavily affected group, as do children who may be left in vehicles or who lack access to air-conditioned spaces during the day.

    Dr. Jennifer Kiger of Harris County Public Health noted that the correlation between high heat index values — when temperature and humidity combine to reach life-threatening levels — and ER visits is unmistakable. Four of the past five summers in Houston ranked among the top 10 warmest on record. The National Weather Service regularly issues Excessive Heat Warnings for the region when heat indices are expected to exceed 108°F for multiple consecutive days.

    West Nile Virus: The Additional Threat

    Heat is not the only compounding risk this summer. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has already confirmed the state’s first West Nile virus case of 2026 in a Harris County resident — diagnosed with neuroinvasive West Nile disease, the most severe and potentially fatal form of the illness. Neuroinvasive West Nile can cause encephalitis (brain swelling), meningitis, and permanent neurological damage. There is no specific treatment or vaccine.

    West Nile spreads through the bite of infected mosquitoes, which thrive in exactly the hot, standing-water conditions that Houston’s summer reliably produces. Flooding from summer storms — a near-annual occurrence — creates breeding grounds for Culex mosquitoes throughout the Houston metro. Public health officials are urging residents to eliminate standing water on their properties, use EPA-registered insect repellents, and wear long sleeves and pants during peak mosquito activity at dusk and dawn.

    The Systemic Problem: Heat Undercounting and Infrastructure Gaps

    Experts believe Texas is significantly undercounting heat-related deaths. Medical examiners frequently list the immediate physiological cause of death — cardiac arrest, organ failure, respiratory collapse — rather than the underlying heat exposure that triggered the cascade. The CDC uses Maricopa County in Arizona as its national model for heat death investigation methodology; Texas counties vary dramatically in their capacity and willingness to code heat as a contributing cause of death, which means the true toll in Houston and across Texas is almost certainly higher than official figures reflect.

    The infrastructure problem is equally acute. After Hurricane Beryl’s 2024 devastation exposed the fragility of CenterPoint Energy’s grid — leaving half a million people without power in triple-digit heat for more than a week — calls for accountability were loud but action was slow. The city’s cooling center network, while improved, remains inadequate for the scale of need: not all centers are open 24 hours, and transportation access to them remains a major barrier for the elderly, the disabled, and the unhoused.

    What Houston Residents Must Do This Summer

    The Houston Health Department’s advice for the 2026 summer heat season is urgent and practical:

    • Never leave children, elderly persons, or pets in parked vehicles — even briefly.

    • Check on elderly neighbors, especially those living alone or without air conditioning.

    • If your home loses power during a heat event, go to a cooling center immediately. Find locations at the Houston Office of Emergency Management website.

    • Drink water consistently throughout the day — do not wait until you feel thirsty, especially during physical activity.

    • Know the signs of heat exhaustion (heavy sweating, weakness, cold/pale/clammy skin, weak pulse, nausea) and heat stroke (hot/red/dry skin, rapid/strong pulse, unconsciousness), which is a medical emergency requiring immediate 911 contact.

    Monitor the Houston Summer Surveillance dashboard at houstonhealth.org for weekly updates on heat-related illness trends across the region.

    Conclusion: Houston Is Running Out of Time to Treat Heat as a Public Health Emergency

    A 329% surge in ER visits in four years is not a weather story. It is a public health emergency with a predictable, data-confirmed trajectory. The city of Houston and Harris County have surveillance tools, a published Summer Surveillance program, and years of mortality data. What has been slower to materialize is the political will and the infrastructure investment to match the scale of the crisis — particularly for the city’s most vulnerable residents, who are disproportionately low-income, elderly, or living without stable housing.

    As June approaches, the window for preparedness is closing. Houston’s emergency rooms deserve more than a summer of predictable overcrowding. The residents who end up in them deserve more than reactive care after a preventable crisis.

    RELATED ON MEDICALDAILY.COM

    • Houston’s Deadly Heat Season Is About to Begin — and the City’s ERs Are Already Behind

    • Phoenix Heat Deaths: Maricopa County Confirms First Fatality of 2026

    • West Nile Virus: What You Need to Know This Summer

    • Climate Change and Urban Heat Islands: How American Cities Are Becoming Death Traps

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  • Necrotizing Skin Infections – Infections

    Necrotizing Skin Infections – Infections

    Necrotizing skin infections, including necrotizing cellulitis and necrotizing fasciitis, are severe forms of cellulitis. These infections cause infected skin and tissues to die (necrosis).

    • The infected skin is red, warm to the touch, and swollen, and gas bubbles may form under the skin.

    • The person usually has intense pain, feels very ill, and has a high fever.

    • The diagnosis is based on a doctor’s evaluation, x-rays, and laboratory tests.

    • Treatment involves removing dead skin and tissue, which sometimes requires extensive surgery, and giving intravenous antibiotics.

    (See also Overview of Bacterial Skin Infections.)

    Most skin infections do not result in the death of skin and nearby tissues. Sometimes, however, a bacterial infection can cause small blood vessels in the infected area to clot. This clotting causes the tissue fed by these vessels to die from lack of blood. Dead tissue is termed necrotic. Because the body’s immune defenses that travel through the bloodstream (such as white blood cells and antibodies) can no longer reach this area, the infection spreads rapidly and may be difficult to control. The infection can be fatal, even with appropriate treatment.

    Some necrotizing skin infections spread deep in the skin along the surface of the connective tissue that covers muscle (fascia) and are termed necrotizing fasciitis. Other necrotizing skin infections spread in the outer layers of skin and are termed necrotizing cellulitis. Several different bacteria, such as Streptococcus and Clostridia, may cause necrotizing skin infections, but in many people the infections are caused by a combination of bacteria. The necrotizing skin infection caused by streptococci in particular has been termed “flesh-eating disease” by the lay press, but it differs little from the others. Gas gangrene (also called clostridial myonecrosis) is a type of necrotizing skin infection that affects the muscle and surrounding tissues and is typically caused by Clostridia.

    Some necrotizing skin infections begin at puncture wounds or other skin injuries, particularly wounds contaminated with dirt and debris. Other infections begin in surgical incisions or even in healthy skin. Sometimes people with diverticulitis, intestinal perforation, or tumors of the intestine can develop necrotizing infections of the abdominal wall, genital area, or thighs. These infections occur when certain bacteria spread from the intestine and into the skin. The bacteria may initially create an abscess (a pocket of pus) in the abdominal cavity and spread directly outward to the skin, or they may spread through the bloodstream to the skin and other organs. People with diabetes, cancer, an alcohol use disorder, injection drug use, or chronic kidney disease or who have a weakened immune system are at increased risk of necrotizing skin infections.

    Symptoms of Necrotizing Skin Infections

    Symptoms of necrotizing skin infections often begin as the common skin infection, cellulitis. The skin may look pale at first but may quickly become red or bronze and warm to the touch and swollen. Pain is intense.

    Later, the skin turns violet, often with the development of large fluid-filled blisters (bullae). The fluid from these blisters is brown, watery, and sometimes foul smelling. Areas of dead skin turn black (gangrene).

    Some types of necrotizing skin infection, including those caused by Clostridia and mixed bacteria, produce gas. The gas creates bubbles under the skin and sometimes in the blisters themselves, causing the skin to feel crackly when pressed. Initially the infected area is extremely painful, but as the skin dies, the nerves stop working and the area loses sensation, so pain goes away of decreases. The muscles may be affected as the infection worsens.

    The person usually feels very ill and has a high fever, a rapid heart rate, and mental deterioration ranging from confusion to unconsciousness. Blood pressure may fall because of toxins secreted by the bacteria and the body’s response to the infection (septic shock). People may develop toxic shock syndrome.

    Diagnosis of Necrotizing Skin Infections

    • A doctor’s evaluation

    • Laboratory tests

    A doctor makes a diagnosis of necrotizing skin infection based on its appearance, particularly the presence of gas bubbles that can be seen under the skin. X-rays may show gas under the skin as well.

    A blood test usually shows that the number of white blood cells has increased (leukocytosis). The specific bacteria causing the infection are identified by laboratory analysis of blood or tissue samples (culture). However, doctors begin treatment before they have the laboratory test results.

    Treatment of Necrotizing Skin Infections

    The treatment of necrotizing fasciitis and gas gangrene is surgical removal of the dead tissue plus antibiotics given by vein (intravenously). Large amounts of skin, tissue, and muscle often must be removed, and, in some cases, affected body parts may have to be removed (amputated).

    People may need large volumes of intravenous fluids before and after surgery.

    Prognosis for Necrotizing Skin Infections

    Necrotizing skin infections are fatal in about 20 to 30% of people who receive appropriate treatment. Without treatment, these infections are almost always fatal.

    Older adults, those who have other chronic medical disorders, and those in whom the infection has reached an advanced stage have a poorer outcome. A delay in diagnosis and treatment and insufficient surgical removal of dead tissue worsen the prognosis.

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