Recovering: Rabih Darwiche shares his experience as a lesson for his community
August 30th, 20220 DEARBORN — Rabih (Rob) Darwiche had a childhood similar to many other east Dearborn kids. He was 6-years-old when his family moved here from Lebanon in 1989. He lived like any other kid and went to McDonald Elementary and from there to Lowrey. Though Darwiche had a perfectly ordinary childhood, being the youngest of his seven...
Superbugs are getting stronger. Our defenses are getting weaker
August 24th, 20220 – David Thomas, MS, is vice president of industry research at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. Emily Wheeler is director of infectious disease policy at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. A version of this piece originally ran in MedPage Today. Drug-resistant infections pose a growing threat to public health....
“It was the right thing to do”: Dearborn mother encourages conversation about organ and tissue donation
August 22nd, 20220 DEARBORN — Karim Khassouan lived a short, quiet life and his spirit will carry on in the lives he saved through the organs he donated. Khassouan was born with Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM), a condition in which blood vessels become tangled, according to his mother, Nameer Alkurdi. It is normally treatable but, in Karim’s...
The average Michigander would give up four years of their life to keep eating fast food, survey reveals
August 19th, 20220 - This article was contributed by DrugGenius, a website dedicated to providing medically reviewed information about prescription drugs, health conditions, nutrition, supplements and more. It has been edited for style. Live fried, die young? There are many behaviors and habits many of us developed and continue, despite studies...
Dearborn nonprofit honors lives lost to overdoses in flower planting memorial
August 18th, 20220 DEARBORN — Leaders Advancing and Helping Communities (LAHC), a long-running, Dearborn-based and Arab-founded nonprofit, will be hosting an International Overdose Awareness Day event on Aug. 24, in honor of those lost to substance overdoses. The international day to commemorate and raise awareness around overdoses occurs on Aug....
Here’s another quick, easy way to get free COVID tests delivered to your doorstep
August 11th, 20220 LANSING — Besides the U.S. Postal Service, which is still delivering free COVID-19 tests right to people's doorsteps, there's another quick and secure way to get those tests. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the state's health authority, announced a partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation through Project...
MI adults 18 and older now have another COVID-19 vaccine option
August 11th, 20220 LANSING — Michigan residents ages 18 and older now have another COVID-19 vaccine option – Novavax – to help protect them from serious illness and death due to the virus. On July 13, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for use among people ages 18 years and older for a two-dose primary...
Suspected or confirmed monkey pox exposure? Call local health dept. about vaccination
July 28th, 20220 Health officials in Michigan are urging residents who have been exposed — or suspect they have been exposed — to the monkeypox virus to contact their local health department about vaccinations. If you know or suspect you have had contact with someone with monkeypox, please contact your local health department for more...
The pox on our house
July 27th, 20220 — This article by Abdul El-Sayed originally appeared in the newsletter The Incision. It has been edited for style. Subscribe to The Incision here: incision.substack.com Over the weekend, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared monkeypox a “Public Health Emergency of International...
The legal age to buy tobacco, or even walk into a tobacco store, is now 21 in Michigan
July 21st, 20220 LANSING — You now have to be 21 years of age to purchase tobacco products in Michigan. The new rule is the result of a package of legislation signed by Governor Whitmer on Thursday that target public health-related issues. Legislation targeting the legal age for tobacco purchase in the state includes bills in both the State...
Governor Whitmer signs legislation for integrated behavioral health care facility
July 20th, 20220 DETROIT — As part of Governor Whitmer’s FY’22- ‘23 budget that was just signed, the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN) was awarded $45 million to build a comprehensive regional transformative behavioral health campus in Detroit. The new 120,000 square foot care center facility will help address disparities in health...
New state health website has up-to-date info on monkeypox symptoms, cases, more
July 20th, 20220 LANSING — A new website set up by the state’s health authority has the most up-to-date info on the monkeypox virus. The new website, Michigan.gov/mpv, is run by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The site provides information about the signs and symptoms of monkeypox and the number of cases in the...
CDC alerts parents and health providers of parechovirus, can cause severe illness in infants
July 14th, 20220 A virus known to cause severe illness in children is putting health authorities on high alert. The parechovirus (PeV) is a common childhood virus and is currently spreading across the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a health alert. The CDC says that since May it has received reports from healthcare...
State abortion fight continues: Whitmer signs executive order against extradition; record number of signatures in petition drive
July 14th, 20220 LANSING — The fight to maintain abortion rights intact in the state continues, with new actions from Governor Whitmer as well as voters. This week, Whitmer signed an executive order refusing to extradite people who come to Michigan seeking reproductive health care. It also protects providers of legal abortion in Michigan, who will...
New loan repayment program offers student debt relief to behavioral health services providers
July 14th, 20221 MICHIGAN — A new program, made possible by the just-passed new state bipartisan budget, provides up to $200,000 in student loan debt relief for health care providers working in behavioral health services in underserved areas. The MI Kids Now Loan Repayment Program medical education debt repayment program is now open to providers of......
Dearborn organizations, others receive $500,000 to fight youth substance abuse in Southeast Michigan
July 12th, 20220 DEARBORN — The Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) and Leaders Advancing and Helping Communities (LAHC) are two Dearborn-based organizations out of four total in the 12th Congressional District to each receive $125,000 in federal funding to prevent youth substance abuse, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell...First monkeypox case found in Michigan, but officials say public at low risk
June 30th, 20220 OAKLAND COUNTY — State health officials have detected the first Michigan case of the monkeypox virus in an Oakland County resident. The virus, which is similar to smallpox and has caused an ongoing global outbreak, can cause fever, headaches, rashes and other symptoms and is treatable. The Michigan Department of Health and Human......
State officials react to Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade
June 24th, 20220 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has officially overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that recognized women's constitutional right to abortion. The court, in a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative majority, upheld a Republican-backed Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The vote was 5-4 to...
Health officials: First mosquito-borne virus of 2022 detected in Michigan
June 23rd, 20220 MICHIGAN — State health officials are urging residents to protect themselves against mosquito bites this season, following the detection of the year's first mosquito-borne virus. Mosquitoes recently collected in Bay County have tested positive for the Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV) at the Michigan Department of Health and Human...
COVID-19 vaccines available for Michigan kids ages 6 months to 5 years
June 21st, 20220 LANSING — Both the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are now approved for children under 5 years of age, after an emergency use authorization from the federal government, and may be available as soon as Tuesday. The Pfizer vaccine, which was already authorized for ages 5 and up, is now authorized down to 6 months of age, while...Detroit’s care center the first of its kind in the heart of the city
June 15th, 20220 Bringing behavioral health needs to the community DETROIT - The Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN) will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, June 22 at 11 a.m. at its 707 West Milwaukee headquarters to break ground for the city of Detroit’s first Clinical Care Center. “We are pleased to transform this building......
Dearborn offers resources and cooling centers for relief from excessive heat
June 15th, 20220 DEARBORN — With the extreme temperatures today and this week, the city of Dearborn’s Department of Public Health is providing residents with a series of resources and recommendations amid the extreme heat, including a list of cooling centers that are currently available. There are five cooling center locations across the city and...
Dearborn’s new public health dept. gives 500 units of baby formula to area families
May 27th, 20220 DEARBORN - The city's new Department of Public Health (DPH), and its director, got a sort of unveiling at a baby formula food distribution event on Friday. The distribution event, which comes amid a national formula shortage, took place at the west entrance of the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center. Families were able to......
Governor’s order bars agencies from cooperating in other states’ abortion prosecutions, asks them to look into increasing reproductive protections
May 27th, 20220 LANSING — As the U.S. Supreme Court gets set to reveal a decision that could overturn the federally established right to abortion access nationwide, states are taking actions to continue those protections on their own. In Michigan, the Democratic officials have taken steps over recent months as the high court presides over a case...
Dearborn government and non profit partners to hold baby formula distribution on Friday
May 27th, 20220 DEARBORN — Dearborn officials are holding an emergency baby formula distribution event on Friday, spurred by a nationwide formula shortage. Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, Public Health Director Ali Abazeed, other city officials and non profit partners will host the event from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday at the west entrance of the Ford......
