Viewpoints: NIH Needed in Psychedelic Medicine Research; Texas Bill Is A Win For New Moms

Stat: Research On Psychedelic Medicine Would Benefit From NIH Funding 
Just a few years ago, investments in medicinal psychedelic research were rare in even the riskiest of financial portfolios. But with entrepreneurs and financiers now pouring money into developing psychedelic treatments for mental and behavioral health issues, it’s clear that investors, like many scientists, envision a psychedelic path for psychiatry. There’s a notable holdout though: the National Institutes of Health, the world’s largest public funder of medical research. (Brian Barnett, Rick Doblin and Julie Holland, 6/2)

Dallas Morning News: A Victory For New Mothers From The Texas Legislature
The months after childbirth are a particularly vulnerable period for women who too often suffer from depression, thoughts of suicide and other physical and psychological issues that put at risk their health and the health of the newborn. Women who lose health coverage soon after giving birth are likely to stop taking medication or quit obtaining support for postpartum depression and treatable maladies such as infection, hemorrhage, preeclampsia, eclampsia and cardiovascular and coronary conditions. In the final days of this legislative session, the Senate and House signed off on a bill to extend coverage from 60 days to six months after childbirth. (6/2)

CNN: Haunting Lessons From 40 Years Of Fighting AIDS 
Recent headlines about the Covid-19 pandemic have careened between the hopeful -- in countries with effective vaccination programs -- and the tragic, as the unimaginable death toll in India and elsewhere continues to rise. Forty years ago this June, we saw the start of another global health crisis when the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first reported in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) and brought with it a similar sense of doom. Much like the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the initial wave of AIDS infections upended the world. (Kent Sepkowitz, 6/1)

The Boston Globe: Generation Pandemic Is Interested In Public Health. We Should Take Advantage
They came of age amid contact tracing and clinical trials. They are well versed in the “lab leak” theory and quite worried by the broad health disparities exposed by the coronavirus. The Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health reports that applications to graduate-level public health programs spiked 40 percent in March, compared to the year before. Public health, long an underappreciated field, is seeing a surge of interest among Generation Pandemic. And the task for policy makers and health care professionals in Massachusetts is to take advantage — to cultivate young talent now, while curiosity is piqued, so the state is well positioned to take on future pandemics and long-running inequities in public health. (6/2)

Newsweek: Right-Wing Opinion Vs. My Rights: Why The Texas Abortion Ban Is Wrong 
Within 24 hours of removing government mask mandates in the name of bodily autonomy, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a restrictive abortion ban that would strip Texans of those very same human rights. This latest attack on reproductive rights is part of a broad onslaught of anti-abortion bills passed by statehouses in 2021. It follows on the heels of the Supreme Court's announcement that it will hear a Mississippi case that could severely undermine Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. We now face a terrifying possibility that a right so many fought to secure—a right that I was born with—could soon be taken away. (Theiija Balasubramanian, 6/2)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Can You Trust Doctors To Honor Your End-Of-Life Wishes? Here's What To Consider
No one doubts the importance of completing living wills — especially for advanced dementia — a cruel disease that most people dread since it can cause prolonged dying with severe, irreversible suffering as it imposes huge burdens on loved ones. But by themselves, living wills will not be adequate if your future physician refuses to honor its requests. A recommended request is: “Cease putting food and fluid into my mouth if I reach a specific condition.” Honoring this request can prevent being forced to endure years of suffering since you will not need to wait to die from a heart attack, or untreated infection such as pneumonia. After you no longer can feed yourself, the only legal, peaceful and effective intervention may be to cease assisted feeding and hydrating by another’s hand. This challenging and controversial intervention raises questions for your physician, and for you. (Stanley A. Terman and Karl E. Steinberg, 6/1)