@mbebinger

Covering Covid, addiction, health disparities and the intersection of climate change & health for WBUR. Mom of 3 adventurous young men. Texan at heart. She/Her

 Boston
wbur.org/
Joined August 2009
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467Media
Monitoring the medical tents along the course of the #BostonMarathon today. Very little activity inside so far and 0 calls for ambulances, according to @MassDPH. Go runners!
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Four years ago, a young man named V was deep into an addiction to cocaine. He hasn’t used in a year now. He swapped the rush he got from cocaine for the pleasure of achieving goals and getting rewards in a program called contingency management. wbur.org/news/2024/09/19/add…

Retraining a brain addicted to cocaine, one prize at a time

Thirty years of research show rewards for patients who stay off cocaine and meth are the most effective treatment for an addiction to stimulants. Federal rules have discouraged use of this approach,...

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First time I’ve seen Harm Reduction listed on an elevator menu. This is at the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center in Mass. A whole office of people doing counseling, handing out supplies, offering contingency management and medications to treat substance use disorder.
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Massachusetts has set another record that no one will celebrate. Preliminary state data shows there were 2,357 overdose deaths in 2022. That’s 57 more deaths than in 2021, and an increase of 9% from the highest point before the COVID pandemic. wbur.org/news/2023/06/22/opi…

Mass. set a record for opioid overdose deaths. Black residents were hardest hit

Massachusetts has set another record, one no one will celebrate. Preliminary state data shows there were 2,357 overdose deaths in 2022. That’s a 2.5% increase over 2021 and the third straight year of...

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A woman with Alzheimer's could no longer follow the pattern on a hand hooked rug. A stranger volunteered to finish it for her. They found each other via an online network called Loose Ends. I got to tag along. Grateful. wbur.org/news/2023/06/20/alz…

Alzheimer’s stopped her from finishing a rug. A stranger stepped up to help

This is a story about a hand-hooked rug, the woman who couldn’t complete it and a stranger who stepped in to help. They found each other through Loose Ends, a network of volunteer crafters in 42...

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Latest accounting shows opioid settlements coming to Mass. will top $1 bil. There's a question about how the 40% going to munis is being spent. State law says it has to go into a general municipal fund not a designated fund to tackle the addiction crisis. wbur.org/news/2023/06/14/mas…

Massachusetts to receive over $1 billion in opioid settlements

Massachusetts will receive these funds over 18 years from a variety of settlements. The money is split between a state fund and municipal funds in order to address the opioid crisis, but municipal...

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Appeals court approval of the Purdue/Sackler settlement reminds me Mass. is sitting on $$millions coming in from other deals. But the group formed to guide spending hasn't met since 12/6/22. And no word from media reps for @KateWalshHHS about when the group will meet again.
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I have no reason to think Councilor Anderson's comments were about Judaism. Here's the original story: wbur.org/news/2023/05/11/bos…
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Hospitals and insurers are tangling over rising costs as the health care system reaches a "breaking point." Here's what leaders of @MassGenBrigham and @BCBSMA say about the crisis: wbur.fm/3FKeWhq via @WBUR

Hospitals and insurers tangle over rising health care costs

Consumers and businesses already struggle to pay premiums. Now, staffing shortages and inflation are driving up costs.

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Do you know of a young person from Massachusetts who took a fake pill laced with #fentanyl and overdosed? Please DM if you have info you can share. Thanks very much! #opioids
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I filed a story about why even historically cold weather states like Mass. need to ramp up efforts to cool pavement. wbur.org/news/2022/10/24/nor… This film from Trillium Studios has the moving picture view: trilliumstudios.com/archive/… #climate
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Martha Bebinger retweeted
Gabrielle Emanuel@gabrieman15 Sep 2022
“Worse than anything that we have ever seen before.” Mass. sees an uptick in immigrant families seeking asylum. Many are showing up in ERs with serious medical needs wbur.fm/3dl1Dbl @WBUR

Medical system in Mass. seeing a significant increase in asylum-seeking families

Many of these families are showing up in emergency rooms around the Boston area in need of medical care and shelter. These new arrivals are distinct from the largely Venezuelan migrants who arrived...

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10 years ago, Massachusetts launched an experiment to control health care costs. It created the @Mass_HPC and started holding the industry accountable for high spending...
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Martha Bebinger retweeted
Dan Mauzy@danmauzy29 Aug 2022
More than 40 police depts in MA turned down @WBUR's requests for records of officers accused of sexual or domestic abuse, due to a law intended to protect abuse survivors. Today we aired the first in a breathtaking investigation by Ally. Give it a listen: wbur.org/news/2022/08/27/mas…

How a Mass. law intended to protect victims became a 'gift to abusers'

The state’s unique law, intended to protect the privacy of victims of domestic and sexual violence, has instead protected perpetrators and police, a WBUR investigation found. The law requires police...

wbur.org
ally jarmanning@allyjarmanning27 Aug 2022
Mass. is the only state in the country that keeps all police records of domestic and sexual violence secret. Supporters said doing so would protect survivors. But we found it has protected police and perpetrators instead. wbur.fm/3q8xzCJ

How a Mass. law intended to protect victims became a 'gift to abusers'

The state’s unique law, intended to protect the privacy of victims of domestic and sexual violence, has instead protected perpetrators and police, a WBUR investigation found. The law requires police...

wbur.org
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Massachusetts life sciences companies continue to grow. More than 106,000 people work in the industry. Average pay: $201,549 a year. wbur.fm/3CIyhOh via @WBUR

Massachusetts biotech companies thrive during pandemic, report finds

The Massachusetts biotechnology industry appears to be thriving, despite a national stock slump and the ongoing COVID pandemic.

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The government will no longer be sending free COVID-19 tests to Americans wbur.org/npr/1119880329/the-… via @WBUR

The government will no longer be sending free COVID-19 tests to Americans

The Biden administration is pausing its distribution of free COVID-19 tests this week, but you can still order new ones before the end date.

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My colleague @gabrieman comes up with some cool stories. I had no idea that nearly 1 in 3 women have had bacterial vaginosis. Fluid transplants might help. wbur.org/news/2022/08/05/vag…

Nation’s first vaginal fluid transplants offer hope for millions

At any given moment, almost one in three women in the U.S. has bacterial vaginosis. Yet, for many, medicine does not have a good treatment. Now, scientists are trying something new: Take fluid from a...

wbur.org
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Pregnancy complications and maternal deaths increased during the pandemic, according to new research: "In a country in which we think we have a pretty good health care system, the fact that that happened is highly, highly concerning." wbur.fm/3zPi3Qx via @WBUR
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The same week the MA legislature kills bills that would allow a supervised consumption pilot, @Somervillecity releases a plan about how to move forward. Fastest route would be a portable unit in a parking lot. #HarmReduction wbur.org/news/2022/07/29/mas…

Somerville maps fastest path to state's first supervised consumption clinic — starting in a parking...

The first supervised consumption clinic in Massachusetts may be a portable unit placed in a parking lot in Somerville. That’s one of the recommendations in an operations and location report out...

wbur.org
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The FDA is shelving plans to let younger adults get second COVID boosters this summer. Instead, officials are planning to speed up availability of next-generation boosters in the fall. wbur.org/npr/1114408611/summ… via @WBUR

Summer boosters for people under 50 shelved in favor of updated boosters in the fall

The Biden administration is scrapping plans to offer COVID boosters for people under 50 this summer. Instead officials will push for an earlier release of the next generation boosters in the fall.

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