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05.02.25

It's pretty hard to avoid plastic these days, but a new study gives us another reason to be mindful about what materials we’re using in our everyday lives. More on that below, but first, here are this week’s top health stories ...

— Sanjay

WATCH: Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains how naloxone can reverse an overdose

Despite pledging to expand naloxone access, Trump administration proposes cutting overdose prevention program

The Trump administration has named overdose prevention among its top drug policy priorities, but a preliminary budget proposal that was recently leaked suggests that it would cut about two dozen substance abuse prevention and treatment programs.

In a document published last month by the president’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, the first strategy listed under the first objective reads: “To combat the drug crisis and the opioid epidemic, largely driven by fentanyl, the Administration will expand access to overdose prevention education and life-saving opioid overdose reversal medications like naloxone.”

However, among the potential cuts listed in the budget proposal in April was a program that directly expands access to naloxone: a $56 million annual grant through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that helps distribute kits and trains first responders and others on how to use them.

Annual overdose deaths have dropped about 23% since reaching a peak in mid-2023, according to provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts have said that the decrease is probably the result of a wide range of persistent efforts starting to make an impact — including expanded access to naloxone.

Despite the hopeful trend, more people are dying from overdose now than before the Covid-19 pandemic, and experts say it’s not the time to be complacent.

HHS touts universal flu, coronavirus vaccine initiative while casting doubt on future of seasonal Covid-19 shots

The US Department of Health and Human Services says it aims to accomplish within four years a scientific feat that hasn’t been achieved for the past 45: the development of a universal flu vaccine that could protect against multiple virus strains with pandemic potential, including H5N1 avian influenza.

HHS said the project, which also aims to develop universal coronavirus vaccines, is targeting US Food and Drug Administration approval of universal influenza vaccines in 2029, with human clinical trials scheduled to start next year.

But the agency has also thrown into question the future of seasonally updated Covid-19 vaccines, saying in a statement that “all new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure — a radical departure from past practices.”

The FDA typically selects strains for updated Covid-19 vaccines in June so manufacturers can ready them for the fall respiratory virus season. The agency has adopted a system similar to the one used for flu vaccines, holding previously that updating only the strain targeted by the vaccine — and nothing else — didn’t represent a change big enough to require new human trials.

If HHS now requires placebo-controlled trials before clearing updated Covid-19 vaccines, experts said, that could delay availability of the shots by months, putting vulnerable people at risk.

Florida set to become second state to ban fluoride in municipal drinking water

Lawmakers in Florida approved a bill to prohibit certain additives in drinking water, effectively banning fluoride, and the measure now goes to Gov. Ron DeSantis for a signature. If it’s finalized, Florida will become the second state to ban fluoride in municipal drinking water.

The bill includes language banning the use of any additive in a public water system that does not meet the new definition of a “water quality additive”: a chemical or substance used in public water to specifically address drinking water standards, contaminants or quality.

“We are not debating the efficacy of fluoride in any way. … We hold that a free American and Floridian has the right to decide what goes into their body no matter what elected officials may believe is good for their citizens or not,” said Rep. Danny Alvarez, a Hillsborough County Republican and a sponsor of the House bill.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has called fluoride “an industrial waste,” has pledged that the Trump administration will advise utilities to stop adding it to public water.

WATCH: Food policy expert shows off her cereal box collection while telling CNN’s Meg Tirrell why she thinks the FDA needs to do more to eliminate food dyes from the breakfast table

These natural food dyes could replace artificial colorants

As artificial food dyes are becoming increasingly restricted at state and federal levels, some manufacturers are looking to switch to natural dyes for their food products.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary says the agency plans to work with industry to phase out the use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes in the US food supply. Natural food dyes, which could replace them, are derived from vegetables, fruits, animals and minerals, according to the FDA.

One of the most popular alternatives for vibrant red colorants is cochineal extract or its lake, carmine. (A lake is a fat-soluble version of a dye.)

Cochineal dyes come from the tiny dried and crushed bodies of female cochineal insects mostly and easily harvested from cacti in Peru, said Dr. Monica Giusti, professor and associate chair of the food science and technology department at Ohio State University.

So intensely colored that just crushing them with your fingers will leave a stain, cochineal insects have been used as colorants for centuries, dating to the Inca civilization that began in the 13th century, Giusti added.

Signs you’re in a "silent divorce" are loud and clear

But wait, there's more!

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• Your chance of an early death rises with every bite of ultraprocessed food, study says
• It might be time to “reparent” yourself. Here’s how to get started
• People can still flourish in hard economic times, report says. Here’s what it takes
• On this “golden age” of conspiracy theories — from cults to QAnon — how do you free yourself from their grip?

WATCH: Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains how plastic could be getting inside us and ways to reduce your exposure

Chasing Life

From Dr. Sanjay Gupta — 

We’ve talked before about the threat of microplastics to your health, but now there’s another reason we should try to limit our plastic use.

Synthetic chemicals known as phthalates are often added to plastic products to make them more durable and more flexible, and they may even be added to things like shampoo or detergent to help fragrances last longer.

They’re often referred to as “everywhere chemicals” because, in fact, they seem to be everywhere.

And here’s the problem with that.

A new study found that these chemicals may have contributed to more than 10% of all global mortality from heart disease among men and women ages 55 through 64 in 2018.

“Phthalates contribute to inflammation and systemic inflammation in the coronary arteries, which can accelerate existing disease and lead to acute events including mortality,” said the study’s senior author, Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a professor of pediatrics and population health at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.

“Phthalates are known to disrupt testosterone,” he said, and in men, “low testosterone is a predictor of adult cardiovascular disease.”

I don’t want to scare you, so I want to point out that this was a global study, and levels of exposure can be higher in other parts of the world. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to limit our use of plastic and exposure to phthalates.

Here are a few tips to help:

• Don't use nonstick pans to cook.
• Store food in glass and stainless steel containers when possible.
• Don’t put plastic in the microwave or dishwasher.
• Avoid plastic with the recycling codes 3, 6 and 7 (those are the numbers you see on the bottom of products), which may contain types of harmful chemicals.
• Try to use unscented shampoos and detergents.

If you want to learn more, listen to my conversation with Dr. Trasande here.

? And don't forget that I am loving getting to answer your insightful questions on our Paging Dr. Gupta segments. Next week, we will be discussing the health risks of lead, so if you have any questions, submit them here.

Samantha Bee is tired of the stigma that still surrounds talking about menopause. The Emmy-winning comedian and writer sits down with my colleague Meg Tirrell to share why she’s opening up about this phase of her life. Plus, how she realized her body was changing — from night sweats to an "emotional roller coaster" of rage.

CNN Health's The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows up in your

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