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Kids’ mental health ER visits jumped 26% at Children’s Hospital Colorado this summer
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Kids’ mental health ER visits jumped 26% at Children’s Hospital Colorado this summer

By Erica Breunlin | The Colorado Sun Summer usually marks a quiet time for mental health programs at Children’s Hospital Colorado. This year, the hospital system saw more students with more severe struggles. A surge of kids struggling with mental health crises spent part of their summer in the emergency department at Children’s Hospital Colorado — a season medical professionals say is typically quiet with a lull in patients. Children’s Hospital Colorado reported a 26% uptick in children showing up at the emergency department because of mental health challenges between June and July this year compared with the same timeframe last year. And the number of kids needing inpatient care at the hospital system jumped more than 55% from 2020 to 2024, according to data provided by the hospi...
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Colorado Gas Stove Labeling Law Faces Court Challenge
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State, Approved, DENVER7

Colorado Gas Stove Labeling Law Faces Court Challenge

By Anusha Roy | Denver7 DENVER — The debate over the gas stove inside your home is headed to court. Lawmakers passed a new Colorado law requiring safety labels on new gas stoves being sold. The law would require labels in both English and Spanish. Advocates say this would help people understand the impact of gas stoves on the air quality inside their homes. On the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) website, the agency shared: “There is evidence that particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene, formaldehyde, and methane can be released into indoor air from gas stoves.1" "According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, indoor air pollutants can build up to levels that may affect people’s health if the spa...
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Extra $9 million in settlement funds aims to fight opioid crisis locally
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gazette.com, Approved, Local

Extra $9 million in settlement funds aims to fight opioid crisis locally

By Savannah Eller | The Gazette With the processing of new settlements, El Paso and Teller counties are expected to receive about $75 million to combat opioid addiction and deaths over the next 18 years — an increase to estimates when the counties created a joint council to disburse funds.  Last year, the Region 16 Opioid Abatement Council figures had the overall total closer to $66 million awarded by 2038. The funding boost is meant to sustain community programs addressing different facets of the opioid epidemic.  "The vast majority has either not been allocated or not been received," said Erik Stone, Teller County commissioner and council vice chair.  The estimate reflects updates in the nationwide legal process to hold major drug manufacturers financ...
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Henry Ford’s vaccine study backfired, and parents weren’t supposed to see it
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, National, Top Stories

Henry Ford’s vaccine study backfired, and parents weren’t supposed to see it

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Parents have long been told that the science on vaccines is settled. A study conducted inside Henry Ford Health in Detroit set out to reinforce that message. Its authors wrote that their goal was to “reassure parents of the overall safety of vaccination.”  The data didn’t land the way the authors expected.  Tracking over 18,000 children, the study showed higher chronic illness among the vaccinated than the unvaccinated. At the ten-year mark, 57 percent of vaccinated children had at least one chronic condition. For unvaccinated kids, it was 17 percent. Parents online are calling out what the unpublished Henry Ford data really shows. https://twitter.com/catsscareme2021/status/1965753836145909911 The numbers that couldn’t be...
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Denver’s flavored tobacco ban raises questions of freedom vs control
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Westword, Approved, Commentary, Local

Denver’s flavored tobacco ban raises questions of freedom vs control

By Westword Readers | Commentary, Westword Reader: Banning Flavored Tobacco Won't Make It Disappear Late last year, Denver City Council voted to ban flavored tobacco products. Now voters will get the chance to overturn that. Late last year, Denver became the latest Colorado city to pass a ban on flavored tobacco products; it's slated to take effect on January 1, 2026. But before then, the electorate will get its say on this issue. Even before Mayor Mike Johnston signed the Denver City Council-approved proposal, a coalition of smoke and vape shop owners was putting together a campaign to overturn the ban, gathering more than 17,000 signatures to successfully put a repeal in front of voters this November. Will it pass? Readers aren't blowing smoke in their comme...
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Saving lives in schools: Naloxone access expands across Colorado
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Pew Charitable Trusts, Approved, State

Saving lives in schools: Naloxone access expands across Colorado

By Alexandra Duncan | Pew Charitable Trusts State Senator Cleave Simpson explains why making an opioid overdose reversal drug more available matters Despite declining drug overdose deaths in the U.S., opioids such as fentanyl are still driving most of these fatalities across the country. But naloxone is a lifesaving medication that can help. Any person, even those without medical training, can administer naloxone to someone in need and reverse an opioid overdose. As a farmer and rancher in rural Colorado, State Senator and Minority Leader Cleave Simpson—a Republican representing District 6, the southwest region covering Alamosa, Durango, Telluride, and other cities—knew the overdose crisis was taking a toll on his community. But when he joined the Colorado...
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FDA Launches Review Into Reported Child Deaths After COVID Shots
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National, Approved, Just The News

FDA Launches Review Into Reported Child Deaths After COVID Shots

By Natalia Mittelstadt | Just the News The Food and Drug Administration is investigating reports of child deaths after COVID-19 vaccination, agency Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said. "We do know at the FDA, because we've been looking into the [Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System] database self-reports, that there had been children who have died from the COVID vaccine," Makary said Thursday, MedPage Today reported. Makary said the agency would release a report in the coming weeks on how many deaths were caused by the vaccine. He also said the FDA is talking with family members of the deceased children, reviewing autopsy reports and having physicians do the review. "We think the public deserves to have that information," Makary said. He also said children, particularly boy...
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Coroner report: Fentanyl-linked deaths surge 41% in Boulder County first half of 2025
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Longmont Leader, Approved, Local

Coroner report: Fentanyl-linked deaths surge 41% in Boulder County first half of 2025

By Steven Middendorp | Longmont Leader Last week, the Office of the Boulder County Coroner released its 2025 biannual drug report for the first half of the year, from January 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025. Last week, the Office of the Boulder County Coroner released its 2025 biannual drug report for the first half of the year, from January 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025. The coroner’s office certified 171 deaths of the 1,206 deaths that occurred in Boulder County during this time range. Toxicology testing was conducted on 92 of these individuals and 73 were found to have a positive test for at least one drug with the majority having a positive test for multiple drugs. 33 of these deaths were caused by at least one drug according to the coroner’s report, which is 35.8 percent of the deceased ind...
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Republican doctors challenge RFK Jr in heated vaccine debate
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Fox News, Approved, National

Republican doctors challenge RFK Jr in heated vaccine debate

By Alex Miller | Fox News Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso says Americans 'don't know who to rely on' after recent CDC changes Senate Democrats found unlikely allies in Senate Republicans during a fiery hearing, where Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was grilled for his stance on vaccines. Kennedy’s testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday was billed as a discussion on President Donald Trump’s healthcare agenda, but it quickly turned into a tongue-lashing from lawmakers, who accused the secretary of lying to the panel about how he would operate the HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While a barrage of heated exchanges between Kennedy and Democrats were expected, it was heat from Senate ...
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From ACIP to AAP: CDPHE proposes school vaccine rule shift amid 95% MMR goal
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories

From ACIP to AAP: CDPHE proposes school vaccine rule shift amid 95% MMR goal

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is proposing a new playbook for school vaccines. The Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) plans to drop reliance on the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) — a CDC panel — and instead follow the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which has rolled out its own schedule and supports only medical exemptions. The shift coincides with CDPHE’s campaign to lift MMR rates from 88 to 95 percent, the herd immunity target, amid national upheaval and rising parental concern. Colorado’s health department is pushing new changes to school vaccine rules, and parents have less than two weeks to weigh in. CDPHE will appear before the State Board of Health on Oct. 15 to request a rulemaking hearing. Public comments...
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