Viewpoints: No Amount Of Violence Against Nurses Is Acceptable; RFK Jr. Prefers Wellness Farms Over Psychiatry

MedPage Today: Workplace Violence Is Not Just 'Part Of The Job' 
Not surprisingly, nurses experience workplace violence more frequently than other healthcare workers. They are at the bedside responding to call lights, updating relatives, assessing and reassessing their patients, administering medications, and completing a host of other vital duties. We have heard both female and male nurses called almost every imaginable expletive, slur, and insult. Patients frequently mock, comment on, and ogle the physical appearances of their caregivers. The impact of workplace violence on healthcare workers has not been well-studied. Our colleagues reported that they were affected by the incident moderately or severely in 24% of events. Interestingly, we coded the "severity" of events, and there was no correlation between the coded severity of the event and the personal impact the healthcare worker reported. This highlights the need to address all forms of workplace violence, not just the more "severe" types like physical aggression. (Maria C. Doehring and Megan M. Palmer, 11/23)

MedPage Today: If You Are Pro-Psychiatry, Should You Be Anti-RFK Jr.? 
Much has been written about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s radical health plans to eliminate fluoride from the drinking water and suppress vaccines, among other lame-brain schemes. But relatively few people are aware of his anti-psychiatry views, possibly endangering the health of a large swath of the populace. Kennedy's views are dangerous. He has no understanding of mental illness or addiction medicine. He is an environmental attorney who lacks the credibility to be making medical decisions for millions of Americans. Worse yet, his stance on mental health is clearly anti-psychiatry. (Arthur Lazarus, 11/22)

Stat: RFK Jr. Should Launch A Marshall Plan For Obesity
Should Robert F. Kennedy Jr. be confirmed as secretary of Health and Human Services, it will bring real political power to the network of wellness influencers who populate the Make America Health Again movement. (Vishal Khetpal, 11/25)

Stat: Prognosis: Under Trump, The CDC Is In Big Trouble, But The FDA Might Be OK
If there is a message in President-elect Trump’s Friday night reveal of who he intends to nominate for key health care positions in his administration, it is this: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are in big trouble. The Food and Drug Administration might be OK. Of course, none of the picks, from the presumptive Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on down, have articulated what they intend to do.  (Matthew Herper, 11/23)