Smog from wildfires increasingly harmful, data show

NewsletterMorning Rounds Smog from wildfires increasingly harmful, data show American baby formula testing, Medicaid work requirements, and more Morning Rounds health news Manage alerts for this article Email this article Share this article By Theresa GaffneyApril 30, 2026 Morning Rounds Writer and Reporter Theresa Gaffney[email protected]Theresa Gaffney is the lead Morning Rounds writer and reports on health care, new research, and public policy, with a particular interest in mental health, gender-affirming care, and LGBTQ+ patient communities. You can reach Theresa on Signal at theresagaff.97. Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here. Good morning. If you feel strongly about health care v. healthcare, now’s your chance to weigh in. (We’ve already heard from nearly 100 readers!)Advertisement American baby formula is safe, per FDA test results New FDA contamination testing results on 312 samples from 16 brands confirm the safety of infant formula in the U.S., the agency said yesterday. The tests were searching for contaminants like heavy metals, pesticides, and “forever chemicals” known as PFAS. The safety survey began under the Biden administration, but last year, the Trump administration announced a broader initiative called Operation Stork Speed that aims to examine and improve the supply of infant formula in the U.S. Read more on the latest from STAT’s Sarah Todd. Will Medicaid work requirements work this time? Tomorrow, all eyes will be on Nebraska, the first state to implement the Medicaid work requirements outlined in the GOP’s tax bill last year.Advertisement We’ve talked about work requirements at length at STAT, but a quick refresher: The tax bill, which was passed without any Democratic support, will eventually require most Medicaid enrollees to regularly prove they are either employed or in school. Experts say the extra red tape could boot people off coverage, meaning as many as 25,000 Nebraskans could lose Medicaid coverage starting Friday. But there’s still a ton of confusion about how things will shake out. One analyst told the AP that the state only last week published its 295-page document listing which medical conditions exempt a person from this requirement. Whether this big conservative experiment goes well or goes poorly — it has mostly gone poorly in the past — lawmakers and health policy wonks are watching to see how the Cornhuskers fare. The roll out will provide a useful test case for eight months from now, when the federal deadline actually kicks in. If you want the tea on how most states will implement these policies, KFF just published a survey of state medical directors about their plans. Or you can read STAT’s John Wilkerson’s piece from Tuesday about the big question looming over these work requirements. — O. Rose Broderick Can this tool finally look beyond BMI for obesity risk? These days, obesity drugs are often prescribed based on a person’s body mass index alone — a flawed metric by most standards. But a study published today in Nature Medicine lays out evidence for a new tool that would better define who’s at risk for 18 obesity-related complications, based on measures including BMI, but also family history, diet, current illness, and socioeconomic factors culled from medical records. Outside experts praised the researchers’ ambition to predict serious complications, but they disagreed on how much the new tool could help. Read more on the science from STAT’s Elizabeth Cooney. Researchers face narrowing odds for NIH funds When the second Trump administration began last year, many researchers were confronted by NIH grant delays and terminations, hiring freezes, and layoffs. The chaos hasn’t subsided in 2026, and as STAT’s Anil Oza writes, in many ways it’s even grimmer. The success rate for researchers seeking NIH grants has plunged to historic lows, forcing academics to spend way more time writing grant proposals, looking for other funding sources, or shifting away from science altogether.Advertisement When asked in a recent STAT survey to describe “any ways in which reduced federal funding has affected your lab,” one in five researchers expressed fear, uncertainty, low morale, or stress. “I have done nothing wrong. I have done good science. It is recognized by my peers. I am proud of the work that I have done,” said Erin Ingvalson, who studies speech perception. “It may come to an end, but it’s not my fault.” Read more on the current state of pay. Smog from wildfires increasingly harmful, data show Most research on the harmful health effects of exposure to wildfire smoke has focused on its fine particulate matter. Ground-level ozone is generally considered to carry a lower mortality risk. But a new study published yesterday in Science Advances suggests the number of deaths attributable to wildfire smoke ozone has increased over the last two decades. (And to explain briefly: Ozone is a gas created by reactions between other pollutants and sunlight, while particulate matter is what it sounds like: tiny particles emitted directly from combustion as well as chemical reactions.) Between 2006 and 2023, researchers determined there were an estimated 2,045 annual excess deaths attributable to smoke-derived ozone. On average, wildfire ozone was responsible for about 6% of ozone-related deaths, with the vast majority due to other exposures like cars and power plants. But that number has been going up: In 2021, wildfires made up 16% of ozone mortality, and in 2023, 26%. People are not typically exposed to wildfire ozone in the same places or at the same time as they are to smoke particulate matter. Over the study period, the annual number of wildfire ozone-related deaths averaged about 16% of smoke particulate matter deaths. But in 2023, that jumped to about two-thirds as many deaths. The study authors called for more comprehensive risk assessment and warning systems as fire pollution continues to occur. Fact check: Do international residents take slots from Americans? Last month, graduating medical students were part of the largest residency match program in 74 years. In the aftermath, online commenters and political pundits have amplified claims that American graduates are losing training spots to international graduates. In a new First Opinion essay, three leaders of medical training programs did the math and found no evidence to support that claim.Advertisement According to the American Medical Association, the match rate for U.S. medical students has held steady between 92% and 95% for more than 40 years. About 56% of students without citizenship or residency in the U.S. matched this year — a lower number than usual, despite a major surge in international applications over the last four years. Read more on what’s really going on. What we’re reading These tests claim to tell your ‘biological age.’ Why the science isn’t there yet, Washington Post Push for raw milk intensifies across the US, despite illness outbreaks and scientists’ warnings, AP First Opinion: Congress must hold RFK Jr. accountable after hearings, STAT The Trump team is quietly eliminating U.S. support for birth control abroad, NPR How AI could help combat antibiotic resistance, Wired health care Submit a correction requestReprints Theresa Gaffney Morning Rounds Writer and Reporter Theresa Gaffney is the lead Morning Rounds writer and reports on health care, new research, and public policy, with a particular interest in mental health, gender-affirming care, and LGBTQ+ patient communities. You can reach Theresa on Signal at theresagaff.97. 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