HEALTH

Popular Resistance - Eight in 10 doctors-in-training in Philadelphia are now represented by unions, following a wave of labor organizing across major health systems in the region. Doctors at three Philadelphia health systems and Delaware’s largest health provider voted to join the Committee of Interns and Residents, a division of the Service Employees International Union. The move follows a national trend of physicians unionizing around the country, as doctors increasingly look for solutions to burnout in a field now dominated by large health system employers. This is especially true among medical residents who work up to 80-hour weeks for relatively little pay, often making about $61,000 a year, less than other professions requiring specialized training.

AP News - Members of the family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, and the company itself, agreed to pay up to $7.4 billion in a new settlement to lawsuits over the toll of the powerful prescription painkiller, the attorneys general from several states announced Thursday. The deal, agreed to by Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family members who own the company and lawyers representing state and local governments and thousands of victims of the opioid crisis, replaces a previous settlement deal that was rejected last year by the U.S. Supreme Court.

NPR - Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug in the world. It’s in many everyday products: coffee, chocolate, energy drinks and tea. While excessive caffeine intake can lead to negative side effects such as nervousness or headaches, it also offers potential benefits; for example, coffee may reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease. To cultivate a healthy relationship with caffeine, it’s essential to keep the following considerations in mind.

☕ Caffeine can make you more alert or focused, but you cannot use it as a substitute for food and rest.
☕ Your tolerance for caffeine may vary from that of others around you. Your body knows how much it needs; overdoing it can make you jittery or anxious.
☕ If you want to cut back, do so slowly to set yourself up for success. Quitting cold turkey can worsen withdrawal symptoms that are associated with a higher failure rate.