Public battles over , often framed around “,” have become more intense in recent years.

A company that makes tests for lead poisoning has agreed to resolve criminal charges that it concealed for years a malfunction that resulted in inaccurately low results.

It’s the latest in a long-running saga involving Massachusetts-based Magellan Diagnostics, which will , according to the Department of Justice.

While many of the fault-prone devices were used from 2013 to 2017, some were being recalled . The Justice Department said the malfunction produced inaccurate results for “potentially tens of thousands” of children and other patients.

Doctors don’t consider any level of lead in the blood to be safe, especially for children. Several U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., and Flint, Michigan, have struggled with widespread lead contamination of their water supplies in the last two decades, making accurate tests critical for public health.

It’s possible faulty Magellan kits were used to test children for lead exposure into the early 2020s, based on the recall in 2021. Here’s what parents should know.

What tests were affected?

The inaccurate results came from three Magellan devices: LeadCare Ultra, LeadCare II, and LeadCare Plus. One, the LeadCare II, uses finger-stick samples primarily and accounted for more than half of all blood lead tests conducted in the U.S. from 2013 to 2017, according to the Justice Department. It was often used in physician offices to check children’s lead levels.

The other two could also be used with blood drawn from a vein and may have been more common in labs than doctor’s offices. The company “first learned that a malfunction in its LeadCare Ultra device could cause inaccurate lead test results – specifically, lead test results that were falsely low” in June 2013 while seeking regulatory clearance to sell the product, the DOJ said. But it did not disclose that information and went on to market the tests, according to the settlement.

The agency said 2013 testing indicated the same flaw affected the LeadCare II device. A 2021 recall included most of all three types of test kits distributed since October 27, 2020.

The company said in a  announcing the resolution that “the underlying issues that affected the results of some of Magellan’s products from 2013 to 2018 have been fully and effectively remediated,” and that the tests it currently sells are safe.

What does a falsely low result mean?

Children are often tested during pediatrician visits at age 1 and again at age 2. Elevated lead levels can put kids at risk of developmental delay, lower IQ, and other problems. And symptoms, such as stomachache, poor appetite, or irritability, may not appear until high levels are reached.

Falsely low test results could mean parents and physicians were unaware of the problem.

That’s a concern because treatment for lead poisoning is, initially, mainly preventive. Results showing elevated levels should prompt parents and health officials to determine the sources of lead and take steps to prevent continued lead intake, said Janine Kerr, health educator with the Virginia Department of Health’s .

Children can be exposed to lead in a variety of ways, including by drinking water contaminated with lead from old pipes, such as in Flint and Washington; ingesting lead-based paint flakes often found in older homes; or, as reported recently, eating some 

What should parents do now?

“Parents can contact their child’s pediatrician to determine if their child had a blood lead test with a LeadCare device” and discuss whether a repeat blood lead test is needed, said , a pediatrician and professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

During an earlier recall of some Magellan devices, in 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  if they were pregnant, nursing, or children younger than 6 and had a blood lead level of less than 10 micrograms per deciliter as determined by a Magellan device from a venous blood draw.

The 2021 recall of Magellan devices recommended retesting children whose results were less than the current CDC reference level of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter. Many of those tests were of the finger-stick variety.

Kerr, at the Virginia health department, said her agency has not had many calls about that recall.

The finger-stick tests “are not that widely used in Virginia,” said Kerr, adding that “we did get a lot of questions about the applesauce recall.”

In any case, she said, the “best course of action for parents is to talk with a health care provider.”

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on and .

Oregon Health & Science University is expanding its program that prepares students for nursing careers on an accelerated schedule to Bend.

Central Oregon will be the third spot for OHSU’s in nursing, which already is available in Portland and Ashland. The program graduated 128 students in the last academic year and is on track to graduate even more this year. The Bend location will start with eight students in July.

Through OHSU’s School of Nursing, the intensive 15-month program allows students who already have a bachelor’s degree in another field to prepare for a career as a registered nurse. Health care and higher education officials hope the program will provide a pathway for central Oregonians to enter the field in the region, which has a shortage of nurses. St. Charles Health System is the largest provider in central Oregon, and its Bend hospital is the only level two trauma center east of the Cascades equipped to serve adults and children with complex and severe injuries.

In recent years, nurses faced burnout and exhaustion during the pandemic, which accelerated retirements and exits from the field. A 2021 Oregon Employment Department survey found three-fourths of registered nurse positions among nearly 2,100 openings are difficult to fill. As the health care industry continues to rebuild, it faces increased demands for services as the population grows, including in central Oregon, and the aging baby boomer generation needs more advanced care.

To launch the program in Bend, OHSU worked with Central Oregon Community College and St. Charles Health System, which operates four hospitals and dozens of clinics throughout central Oregon. Those talks started in June 2023.

“We talked about, ‘How do we solve a problem of Central Oregon not having enough nurses and not preparing enough nurses?’” St. Charles Chief Nursing Executive Joan Ching said in an interview.  “Coming out of the pandemic, I think there was a reawakening of a lot of people that wanted to contribute to the health and wellness community. So we’re just meeting a demand that’s already there in central Oregon.”

The program will be based out of Central Oregon Community College’s campus. Students will take classes and simulated training on campus and get hands-on experience through St. Charles Health System’s hospitals and clinics.

Susan Bakewell Sachs, dean of the OHSU School of Nursing, said the program’s arrival in central Oregon is a partnership that complements what’s already in place.

“It was a real opportunity to offer something that was needed – that was not already available in central Oregon,” Bakewell Sachs said in an interview.

With its requirement for applicants to have a prior bachelor’s degree, the program offers a way for students to change careers quickly. In the past, OHSU has attracted students to the program from broad walks of life, such as lawyers or people with doctoral degrees.

“One of the wonderful things about this program is it does draw on these prior life experiences and discipline-based experiences,” Bakewell Sachs said. “It tends to be a very enriching experience for the individual. And it’s also enriching to our profession.”

St. Charles Health System’s hospitals and clinics offer a variety of settings for nursing students. The program exposes students to different medical settings and works to try to match them to their areas of interest, Bakewell Sachs said.

Nurses who graduate and receive a license can apply to work at St. Charles Health System’s residency program, which offers more hands-on training and mentorship as new nurses start their careers. After a year or two, nurses often go into specialties, like working in an emergency department or operating room.

The community college’s already trains students with an associate’s degree and is developing a bachelor’s degree in nursing that could start as early as 2025. That program will be for students without a previous bachelor’s degree and be separate from OHSU’s accelerated program.

Julie Downing, an instructional dean at COCC, said in a statement that the collaboration is a good fit and allows both schools to reach different groups of students.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lynne Terry for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on and .

The state dragged its sex education guidelines into a new millennium last year, updating health frameworks for pre-K through 12th grade students to include modern language on sexuality and consent. But a growing coalition that has pushed for the better part of a decade to keep sex ed in step with the times says there’s still more work to be done – if only the House of Representatives will get on board.

Supporters of the are taking a fifth swing at passing the legislation, which has made it through the state Senate four times only to fizzle in the House. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week, and proponents believe the tide is finally turning in their favor in both chambers.

“I just think that the time is now,” said bill sponsor Sen. Sal DiDomenico, of Everett, who has pushed for the Healthy Youth Act for the past decade along with House sponsor Rep. Jim O’Day, of West Boylston. “I think there’s momentum built up behind the bill,” DiDomenico said. “The coalition has been working very hard, getting support and just showing people that we don’t have time to wait – these are kids who are still making decisions every single day and still talking about this every single day in their own little groups, and we need to get that information in their hands so they can make the decisions going forward.”

Though the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education last year its sex and health education guidelines for the , with support from Gov. Maura Healey, the Healthy Youth Act has “teeth” that the framework does not, DiDomenico said.

Broadly, the act would require that state standards for sex and health education be inclusive, reflective of current science, and updated at least every 10 years. Cities and towns would be required to describe their sexual education curricula to the department each year, as well as report the number of students receiving that education.

The new DESE framework “is a good suggestion,” DiDomenico said. “It’s a floor, but not really digging deep into the curriculum standards.” For instance, he said, it still allows schools to choose to provide abstinence-only sex education. Under the Healthy Youth Act, any educational institution that offers a sex ed course has to provide “medically accurate, age-appropriate, comprehensive sexual health education.”

Under the act, health curriculum guidelines would cover human anatomy, reproductive and sexual activity, preventing sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, effective use of contraceptives, discussing safe sexual activity and healthy relationships, and age-appropriate education on gender identity and sexual orientation that affirms a variety of gender and sexual identities.

The act would not override or change Massachusetts state law allowing schools to decide whether to offer sexual health courses and parents to opt their children out of that health segment. Parents and guardians would be informed by letter about the comprehensive sex education curriculum and informed of the opt-out option.

But the act would prevent the molasses-like evolution of sex ed frameworks that’s marked the last quarter-century. It isn’t enough, DiDomenico said, to bank on a sympathetic governor with an interest in inclusive health policy.

“We don’t know what the future brings us and who will be in that seat,” he said. “So if we do not have a regular updating process, then it’s up to the will of the people who are in charge at that particular moment in time and if they decide to kick the can down the road, or they decide not to address it, or they decide to just ignore it and hope that someone else will take it up at a later date.”

Gearing up for yet another tilt at the windmill, supporters have said this cycle that momentum is on their side – around 80 representatives and senators have signed on to versions of , including members of House leadership. This push coincided last year with a wave of anxiety about reproductive choices and support for LGBTQ+ people.

Speaker Ron Mariano, who stood alongside elected leaders and reproductive health organizations to for protecting access to medication abortion, said at the time about the sex ed bill that he was “going through the details and having conversations with members.” His office did not respond to requests for comment.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Today, we give center stage to Zidaan Kapoor, a homeschooled 15-year-old from Redwood City, California who knows a thing or two about the anxiety that comes with having food allergies. Zidaan was diagnosed with life-threatening food allergies when he was just a toddler, but it wasn’t until his most recent bout that he truly understood the dangers. 

“The aftermath was something I never experienced,” he says. “It was debilitating anxiety.  I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t trust my family members [to prepare food for me].”

So he developed an app called Fight Fears to solve this problem for both himself and his peers. Through a series of questions, the app analyzes the user’s anxiety level. Based on that, users get challenges to complete to quell that anxiety, with the goal of allowing users to feel more in control of their allergy fears. Zidaan also founded and operates a math and chess tutoring business for other youth.

But right now, he says he’s most concerned about social justice, climate change and mental health: “I’m kind of using all of this as a baseline to move forward in a way that I can discover as I move along.”

See our full interview — and celebrate our full 2022 class! 

—Video edited by James Fields and produced by Emmeline Zhao

Lydia has life-threatening allergies and suffers from severe anxiety, which causes her hair and nails to fall out. “So much of her life feels out of her control, but instead of letting these things overwhelm her or define her, she uses them as fuel for inventions,” said her nominator and mother, Covey Denton, a K-8 STEM specialty teacher.

One example: Lydia created what she calls a “Halcyon Bracelet” to help with body-focused repetitive behaviors, which plagued her during the COVID quarantine. She’s also invented a “Beat the Heat Car Seat” that can tell when a child has been left in a car, and initiates a call to emergency services if the temperature in the vehicle becomes dangerously hot.

The teen also works to reduce e-waste, and co-founded Regame Inc., a nonprofit that collects, repairs and redistributes used gaming systems and tablets to keep them from piling up in landfills. 

Above and beyond her creations and innovations, Denton also continues to speak to school groups and programs for girls to promote greater female interest and representation in STEM.

Watch our full interview — and celebrate our full 2022 class!

—Video edited by James Fields and produced by Emmeline Zhao

Today, we’re casting a spotlight on 16-year-old Sydney Vaughn who we met in San Jose, California this past spring. Vaughn’s life has long been surrounded by medicine — not because it runs in the family, as no one in her immediate or extended family is in the medical field — but because her 15-year-old brother has special needs and has had 20 surgeries since birth.

For years, Sydney spent nearly every day after school accompanying her brother to appointments, which included cardiology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, dermatology and pulmonology, among others. She did exercises with him during physical therapy, practiced making words with him in speech therapy and watched him sit in the sound booth for hearing tests.

“From a young age, I was blessed to witness countless medical professionals work to help my brother,” Sydney said. “I hope to follow this template by dedicating my life’s work to patients and their families.”

Two years ago, Sydney moved with her family from Texas to San Jose, where the homeless population grew by 11% during the pandemic. During that period, Sydney led a project to study and tackle medical care for the homeless in her new community. 

See our full interview — and celebrate our full 2022 class!

—Video edited by James Fields and produced by Emmeline Zhao