Syphilis outbreaks, “affluenza” and maternal mortality interventions are among some of the top health stories impacting Arizonans this year.
1. Syphilis Across the State
Arizona is in the middle of a syphilis outbreak that is having deadly consequences for the state’s newborns. According to data collected by the Arizona Department of Health Services, the state has seen a 449 percent increase in syphilis cases in women since 2015. Between 2020 and 2021 alone, the number of babies born with congenital syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease passed from the mother to the infant, jumped 51 percent.
“Right now, the total number of babies dying from syphilis used to be the total number of babies that had it,” says Hedda Fay, a community outreach manager with Northland Cares, an HIV specialty care clinic. “It’s curable in the pregnant mother and in the baby.”
The most recent data available indicates that 32 babies born with syphilis in Arizona died in 2022, up from 14 in 2021.
Syphilis is a treatable and sometimes asymptomatic infection, which is why the health department and community organizations advocate for more widespread testing.
2. The return of “Affluenza”?
The attention surrounding the random violence perpetrated by a group of affluent East Valley teens, known as the Gilbert Goons, could turn to courtrooms in the coming months as arrests are made and the public continues to demand justice for Preston Lord, a teen who was beaten to death at a party last October. And when it does, will “affluenza,” a pop psychology term suggesting a stunted sense of maturity and accountability among wealthy youth, play a role?
Dr. Ian Lamoureux, a forensic psychiatrist who has testified in numerous criminal trials, says wealth – when used in an attempt to rationalize a teenage defendant’s heinous behavior – hasn’t gained much traction, in part because it’s not a scientifically accepted concept.
“It really wasn’t all that effective,” Lamoureux says, referring to the “affluenza” defense used by teenage defendant Ethan Couch, who killed four people in Texas in 2013 while driving drunk. “It certainly got a lot of media attention because it was a novel defense, but you don’t generally see wealth coming up as a mitigating factor in crime.”
Affluence, when it comes to the justice system, generally manifests by the advantages it offers defendants in the form of high-powered attorneys and pricey expert witnesses. The bigger question Lamoureux sees as the Gilbert Goons cases unfold is whether parents of any of the suspects will be held accountable for the role they may have played. “It wouldn’t be terribly surprising,” Lamoureux says. “There’s a lot in the air.”
3. Valleywise Health Opens New Campus
The doors to the new Valleywise Health Medical Center are expected to open in early April, marking a state-of-the-art upgrade to the taxpayer-funded hospital, which has been serving disadvantaged Phoenicians since 1971.
The new, 10-story facility at 24th and Roosevelt streets will house the Valleywise burn center, an emergency and trauma department, and 233 patient rooms with private bathrooms, which is an update from the layout of the health system’s decades-old flagship hospital.
“Our new hospital was designed to put patients first,” says chief clinical officer Dr. Michael White. “It incorporates the significant technological advancements made in health care, and the additional space will ensure we can provide the best care possible.”
Staff working and learning at the current campus, which is the state’s only teaching hospital, will move to the new, 673,000-square-foot building once it’s complete.
Formerly referred to as the Maricopa Integrated Health System, Valleywise Health is the county’s safety net health-care system committed to caring for the underserved. Besides the hospital, its network includes more than a dozen urgent care and behavioral health centers.
4. Maternal Mortality Interventions
A $2.8 million infusion of funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is aimed at improving the state’s maternal mortality rate, which jumped recently to a six-decade high.
Research cited by the Arizona Medical Association indicated the rate of Arizona mothers dying during or within six weeks of giving birth has increased across the board, but the increase is most profound among Black women. Experts cite systemic racism as well as access to quality care and the COVID-19 pandemic as contributing factors for the increase.
The federal funding is earmarked to address a trio of maternal health supports. To address access to care, $1.5 million will support the establishment of maternal health task forces to improve health service delivery. An additional $1.1 million will be used for direct services to pregnant and postpartum mothers while also addressing social determinants of health, such as housing and nutrition. The remainder will be used to help mothers navigate Medicaid eligibility.
5. Amino Acids: Arizona’s Answer to Long COVID?
Long COVID has baffled the scientific and medical communities since it introduced itself as a lasting set of varied, months-long symptoms for a limited number of individuals who contracted the virus. While a test to diagnose it doesn’t yet exist, a treatment is offering promise, especially for pediatric patients.
Candice Stewart, DNP, owns Stella Capri Wellness in Scottsdale and specializes in the use of peptides, which are short strings of amino acids. While Stewart most often uses them for anti-aging treatments and as an immune system boost, she has also collaborated with Dr. Christopher Spiekerman of Deer Valley Pediatrics to use them for long COVID care.
Stewart has been a consultant of Spiekerman’s since 2023, and the two of them thought peptides may be a viable treatment option for pediatric patients with long COVID. Those who have received the injectable treatment regimen, which lasts between three and 30 days, have seen a tremendous turnaround, she says.
“The next day, she was better,” Stewart says of an 18-month-old patient who had been struggling with long COVID for some time. “It down-regulates the inflammatory processes. It’s so important to get the word out on how amazing these peptides are and what they can treat.”
