ATS Breathe Easy

Regulation is key to keeping our air clean, which in turn keeps us healthy. But the Trump Administration has been cutting funding and attempting to slash important clean air rules that jeopardize the planet and our health. What do these policy changes mean, and how can organizations help fight back? Part of the answer is going to federal courts. Nicholas Nassikas, MD, Harvard Medical School, and Andrew Mergen, Harvard Law School, discuss the legal actions the ATS has taken to oppose rollbacks of essential Clean Air Act rules with host Gary Ewart, MHS, chief of advocacy and government relations for the American Thoracic Society.

The "One Big Beautiful Bill" passed as HR1 is projected to dramatically cut Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Host and Air Health Our Health podcast creator Erika Moseson, MD, MA, speaks with Texas-based pediatric pulmonologist Shade Afolabi, MD, about how these potential cuts could lead to devastating consequences, including children being unable to access medical care, soaring medical debt for families, worsened health outcomes for adults and children, instability in the healthcare workforce and more.

As 2025 comes to a close, the ATS Breathe Easy podcast is highlighting one of our most important episodes of the year on the importance of environmental justice, both for the quality of our air and for the quality of life of future generations. 
Erika Moseson, MD, of the Air Health Our Heath podcast hosts this week's episode with guest Daniel Croft, MD, MPH, ATSF. Dr. Croft is associate professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and the Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. On this episode we share insights from the Climate Change and Respiratory Health: Opportunities to Contribute to Environmental Justice: An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40311081/ 
For additional discussion on environmental health, please also view our recent Breathe Easy episode “EPA Rollbacks Spell Grave Impacts on Public Health” for an up-to-date discussion of current national changes related to health care, environmental health and environmental justice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51ZzGPj8UF4 
For more on what you can do in your community, listen to the Air Health Our Health episode "Bypass Toxic Politics" with Dr Anthony Gerber of the American Thoracic Society Environmental Health Policy Committee: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/airhealthourhealth/episodes/Bypass-Toxic-Politics--Dr-Gerber-on-Local-and-State-Action-for-Healthy-Air-and-Communities-e2tug4n/a-abobsm0

Endotrachael intubation is a highly important critical care procedure, and as such, clinicians are working to improve the procedure to ensure the best patient outcomes. As Stephanie DeMasi, MD, MS, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, goes through the detailed review she wrote, along with her colleagues, on different evidence-based decisions clinicians face when intubating a patient, with host Eddie Qian, MD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Read Dr. DeMasi's paper, "Evidence-based Emergency Tracheal Intubation": https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1164/rccm.202411-2165CI

Lung cancer is commonly associated with smoking. However, among people diagnosed with lung cancer, the proportion who have never smoked has been increasing, and there are many reasons why a person who has never smoked may develop this disease. Lori Sakoda, PhD, MPH, ATSF, a research scientist and epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, explains what factors may come into play, what the ongoing research shows, and what knowledge gaps exist on this topic. Patti Tripathi hosts.