Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed

The Atlantic: A Second COVID Booster Can't Hurt
The FDA and CDC have cleared the way for Americans older than 50 to get a second booster shot—but they don’t quite suggest that everyone in that age group should do so. Like masking and many other pandemic-control measures, a fourth dose (or third, for the J&Jers in the back) is now a matter of personal judgment, even as another wave of COVID cases seems poised to break. That leaves millions of Americans and their doctors to perform their own risk-benefit analysis. Or perhaps it’s just a risk analysis. The upsides of a fourth shot are indeed uncertain: The best we can say right now is that its protective effects are probably modest and temporary (with greater benefits for older people). But a modest, temporary boost is still better than nothing—so why not go ahead and get one, just in case? What, if any, risks would that actually entail? (Gutman, 3/31)

Politico: What Skydivers Can Teach Us About Pandemic Risk-Taking 
It seems then that America’s willingness to take risks is increasing in rough proportion to its advances in protection, both vaccines and therapeutics. We may have reached a point where we’re willing to tolerate 1,000 deaths a day just to have our freedom back, so long as most of us can count on a good outcome if and when we become infected. Is this a sad, even horrifying, development? Yes, I guess, in some sense purely by the numbers. But, also, not necessarily because the consequences of not taking that risk means we will never jump, never take advantage of the safety and security features that make us more likely to live during the free fall. (Kayyem, 3/30)

NBC News: 'Biggest Fraud In A Generation': The Looting Of The Covid Relief Program Known As PPP
They bought Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Bentleys. And Teslas, of course. Lots of Teslas. Many who participated in what prosecutors are calling the largest fraud in U.S. history — the theft of hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money intended to help those harmed by the coronavirus pandemic — couldn’t resist purchasing luxury automobiles. Also mansions, private jet flights and swanky vacations. (Dilanian and Strickler, 3/28)

Los Angeles Times: It's A 'Sad And Scary Time' As Anti-LGBTQ Bills Skyrocket 
Paria Hassouri feels fortunate that her family lives in California and not Texas, where the Republican governor recently issued a directive to investigate parents who seek “gender-transitioning procedures” for their minors. Her 18-year-old daughter, Ava, revealed she was transgender to a teacher five years ago and now identifies as female. “If I lived in Texas and supported my daughter when she was in transition,” Hassouri says, “I could be considered a child abuser.” Hassouri, a physician who runs the Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Wellness Clinic at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and advocates are alarmed that Republican lawmakers across the U.S. have introduced a record number of bills and regulations purporting to shield young Americans from what they see as undue pressure to identify as gay, lesbian, nonbinary or transgender, or accept those who do. (Beason, 3/29)

The New York Times: Women Are Calling Out ‘Medical Gaslighting’
Research suggests that diagnostic errors occur in up to one out of every seven encounters between a doctor and patient, and that most of these mistakes are driven by the physician’s lack of knowledge. Women are more likely to be misdiagnosed than men in a variety of situations. Patients who have felt that their symptoms were inappropriately dismissed as minor or primarily psychological by doctors are using the term “medical gaslighting” to describe their experiences and sharing their stories on sites like Instagram. (Wenner Moyer, 3/28)

The New York Times: The Next Big Addiction Treatment 
In recent years there has been a spate of research suggesting psychedelic drugs can help people manage mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, chronic pain or even eating disorders. But a growing body of data points to one as the leading contender to treat the intractable disease of substance abuse. Psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, has shown promise in limited early studies, not only in alcohol and harder drugs, but also nicotine — all of which resist long term treatment. (Borrell, 3/31)

The New York Times: How 2 Industries Stymied Justice For Young Lead Paint Victims 
When Selena Wiley signed the lease for an older rental home in South Bend, Ind., she asked the property manager about lead paint and was assured the house was safe. But in November 2018 — almost two years after moving in with her partner and three children — Ms. Wiley noticed that their 2-year-old’s appetite had vanished and his constant chattering had stopped. A doctor soon discovered that the boy, Joevonne, known as J.J., had lead poisoning. (Gabler, 3/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Teen Girls Are Still Getting TikTok-Related Tics—And Other Disorders
Doctors say they’re continuing to see an outsize number of girls suffering from tics, and some are also developing new disorders. New research findings offer hope that the problems can be addressed. Starting back in the spring of 2020, girls in Chicago were uncontrollably blurting out the same words as girls in Calgary. Doctors from the U.S. to the U.K. discovered that many of the teens had been watching TikTok videos of people who said they had Tourette syndrome, a nervous-system disorder that typically strikes males during early childhood and causes them to make repetitive, involuntary movements or sounds. (Jargon, 3/26)

USA Today: Here's How University Health Centers Are ‘Adopting’ Households To Fight Health Disparities
When Marie Antoine was diagnosed with lupus and kidney failure, she was overwhelmed by the complexities of her illnesses. But that changed when a team of health sciences students and a professor started visiting her home in North Miami Beach. With their help, the 57-year-old Hattian immigrant said she was able to make sense of the health resources available to her and finally understand "what's going on to my body." (Hassanein, 3/28)

The Wall Street Journal: From GM To Powerade, Brands Pitch Mental Health 
To woo consumers, hotel chains typically offer free room upgrades and complimentary breakfast. Kimpton Hotels is trying a new incentive: help with mental health. In a recent social-media campaign, the boutique-hotel operator said it is offering 1,000 of its guests free access to a video-therapy session from teletherapy company Talkspace Inc. Kimpton is among a growing list of brands, from car companies to meal-kit makers, putting mental wellness front and center in their marketing. (Vranica, 3/27)

Also —

Stat: How A Basement Hideaway At UC Berkeley Nurtured Blind Innovators
If, in the fall of 1987, you found yourself at the University of California, Berkeley, and you made your way through the sloping, verdant campus to Moffitt Library, you could walk through the doors and take two flights of stairs down to the basement. Turn right and you would find a door tucked in the corner — room 224, though the placard isn’t written in braille. After unlocking the door using a key with a ridged top, you’d walk through a small lobby with tables, chairs, and a “sofa” made of seats pulled from a van. The smell of lived-in-ness, a mix of takeout and coffee and books, permeates the cramped space and makes the tip of your nose perk up. (Cueto, 3/28)

Stat: Here Are Some Notable Alumni Of 'The Cave' 
"All blind roads lead to Berkeley,” says Joshua Miele, a longtime resident of the Bay Area city. Miele’s road led him to Berkeley from Rockland County, N.Y., where he first developed a love of tactile maps as a boy. He became a student at the University of California, Berkeley, in the fall of 1987, as a physics major. For others, it was a shorter journey to the Bay, from neighboring cities and towns. But together, these voyagers — drawn to Berkeley mostly for its prestigious university — formed a sizable and formidable disability community that has shaped the world. A generation of blind leaders and innovators has come out of UC Berkeley and more specifically, from “The Cave.” (Cueto, 3/28)