EurekAlert! News by Subject: Policy & Ethics - News by Subject: Policy & Ethics

Policy & Ethics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 24-Jan-2026 13:11 ET (24-Jan-2026 18:11 GMT/UTC)

Medicaid innovation models improve care for moms, but design matters

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study led by researchers at the Department of Population Medicine - Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston Medical Center, and Boston University School of Public Health finds that how Medicaid programs are designed can make a big difference in the care pregnant and postpartum people receive.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Cannabis use among individuals with psychosis after state-level commercial cannabis legalization

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: In this study, individuals with psychosis reported a large increase in current cannabis use following legalization and commercialization of cannabis in their state, and by larger amounts than previously reported estimates of the general population. Given how cannabis can negatively affect illness course and health service utilization in individuals with psychosis, these results should be considered by regulators designing policies around taxation, potency, advertising, and health warnings.

Journal: JAMA Psychiatry

Insights from 15 years of collaborative microbiome research with Indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon

Cell Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Forming sustainable research partnerships with Indigenous peoples requires trust and mutual benefit, say microbiome researchers in an opinion paper publishing October 8 in the Cell Press journal Trends in Microbiology. The paper presents a framework for building this type of relationship based on insights from the team’s 15-year-long collaboration with the Matsés, a group of people who live in the Amazon rainforest on the border of Peru and Brazil. To build trust, the researchers worked in collaboration with the Matsés through all stages of the research project, from developing research methods to disseminating results.

Journal: Trends in Microbiology
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen

Domestic violence impacts nearly two-thirds of Californians

The Reis Group
Reports and Proceedings

A new statewide survey by Blue Shield of California Foundation found that 63% of Californians have been affected by domestic violence, and one-third identify as survivors. Most residents believe violence is preventable and support alternatives to jail, along with state-funded survivor resources like mental health care and financial assistance. The findings also reveal gaps in understanding abuse, with nearly one in four failing to recognize physical or sexual coercion as domestic violence.

Current and recommended diets in the USA have embedded forced labor risk

Tufts University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and the University of Nottingham Rights Lab and School of Geography have measured the risk of forced labor behind ingredients in recommended U.S. diets. By showing when healthy eating may come at the expense of exploited workers, the findings could inform how governments and institutions buy food at scale.

Journal: Nature Food

Two in three people with chronic pain turn to comfort eating

University of Technology Sydney
Peer-Reviewed Publication

More than two-thirds of people living with chronic pain reach for comfort foods to cope, a new study finds.

Journal: Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings

Biochar from invasive weed shields rice from toxic nanoplastics and heavy metals

Biochar Editorial Office, Shenyang Agricultural University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team of scientists has found that biochar made from an aggressive invasive plant can protect rice from two modern pollutants that threaten global food security: nanoplastics and cadmium. The study, published in Biochar, reveals how biochar biofilters derived from Mikania micrantha, an invasive vine spreading across Asia, can reduce the combined toxicity of these contaminants by regulating plant metabolism and strengthening rice’s natural defense systems.

Journal: Biochar

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