Five on Friday: Heat Waves and Human Health

Fri, 03/08/2019 | by MCN Admin

Five on Friday Heat Waves and Human Health

The news cycle overall is speeding up rapidly -- and nowhere was this acceleration more apparent than this week in migrant health. Here are just a few of the pieces that we read and discussed here at MCN. As you can see, big discussions were sparked by our five resources today, with more resources pulled in to move the conversation forward. This is only a fraction of the news pieces we read. Make your recommendations to us on Facebook.

Jillian forwarded, “Border Patrol Facilities Put Detainees With Medical Conditions at Risk,” from the New York Times. Bob from our Board of Directors shared an article that highlighted similar concerns around California facilities: “Lax Oversight Allows Serious Health and Safety Violations to Continue at Immigration Detention Centers.” Karen followed up the email with a reminder that the issue is not going to go away anytime soon. From NPR’s Morning Edition segment: “Humanitarian Crisis At The Southern Border Builds, Border Patrol Says.”

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Karen also started an email thread around border patrol’s December decision to increase health screenings of migrant children, following the death of two children in custody. This led to further conversation around translation services, including Claire’s recommendation, “Language Access Has Life-or-Death Consequences for Migrants.”

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Alma in Texas shared “Mental Health Treatment Denied to Customers by Giant Insurer’s Policies, Judge Rules,” which dives into United HealthCare’s practices. The judge described the company’s guidelines as “‘unreasonable and an abuse of discretion’ and having been ‘infected’ by financial incentives meant to restrict access to care.”

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