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A new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that marijuana use was associated with a higher risk of heart attack and stroke, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from the District of Columbia, Illinois, and Maryland.
- District of Columbia: HHS' Office of Inspector General (OIG) last week released a new report that found many U.S. nursing homes are still struggling with staffing shortages and employee burnout stemming from the pandemic. In the new report, OIG said nursing homes' staffing problems were "monumental," with high levels of burnout and frequent employee turnover. Some recommendations for improvement include expanding policies and programs to strengthen the nursing home workforce, updating nursing home requirements for infection control, and reassessing nurse aide training and certification requirements. According to Rachel Bryan, a social science analyst with OIG, the goal of the report is to ensure that key lessons from the pandemic are remembered, especially since the acute sense of urgency has diminished. "Just as airplanes cannot be repaired while in flight, nursing home challenges could not be fully repaired during the pandemic," Bryan said. "We feel very strongly that as we come out of emergency mode, we take the time to reflect, learn and take real steps toward meaningful change." (Jacobs, New York Times, 2/29; OIG nursing home report, accessed 3/1)
- Maryland: FDA last week announced that grease-proofing materials that contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or "forever chemicals," will no longer be used for food packaging in the United States. The announcement "marks the fulfillment of a voluntary commitment by manufacturers to not sell food contact substances containing certain PFAS intended for use as grease-proofing agents in the U.S." said Jim Jones, deputy commissioner for human foods at FDA. The agency's efforts to remove PFAS from food packaging initially began several years ago. In 2020, FDA announced that three manufacturers had agreed to phase out sales of their grease-proofing materials that contain certain types of PFAS over three years. At the time, the agency also noted that it may take up to 18 months after the initial three year period to completely remove existing stocks of these products from the market. (Bassett, MedPage Today, 2/28)
- Texas: According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, using marijuana was associated with a higher risk of heart and stroke, with more frequent use associated with even higher risks. For the study, researchers analyzed data from 434,104 adults who participated in CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey between 2016 and 2020. Among the respondents, almost 90% said they did not use marijuana, and over 63% said they had never used tobacco. Around 4% of respondents said they were daily marijuana users, while 7% said they were non-daily users. Overall, the researchers found that marijuana users had an increased risk of heart attack and stroke compared to nonusers. Among non-daily marijuana users, there was a 5% increased risk of stroke and a 3% increased risk of heart attack. Daily marijuana users had much higher risks, with a 42% increased risk of stroke and a 25% increased risk of heart attack. These risks also increased among daily marijuana users who never smoked tobacco, with a 49% higher risk of heart attack and a more than doubled risk of stroke. "Cannabis smoke is not all that different from tobacco smoke, except for the psychoactive drug: THC versus nicotine," said Abra Jeffers, a data analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital and the study's lead author. "Our study shows that smoking cannabis has significant cardiovascular risks, just like smoking tobacco. This is particularly important because cannabis use is increasing, and conventional tobacco use is decreasing." (LaMotte, CNN, 2/28; Ryan, New York Times, 2/28; Syal, NBC News, 2/28; American Heart Association press release, 2/28)
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