Viewpoints: Thumbs Up To CDC For Warnings About Romaine; Research On Suicide Prevention Falls Short
Opinion writers weigh in on these health issues and others.
Bloomberg:
The Romaine Scare Is Actually Sort Of Reassuring
Is nothing safe anymore, now that the U.S. government is warning of the danger of leafy greens? The alert not to eat romaine lettuce came just in time to foil plans some Americans might have made for a light, healthy item to add to our traditionally heavy Thanksgiving dinners. While people should take seriously the recent outbreak of E. coli food poisoning that triggered the alert, the fact that it was flagged early shows that the agency once known as the CDC deserves its upgraded name as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Faye Flam, 11/27)
USA Today:
Suicide Kills 45,000 Men, Women And Children A Year. Society Shrugs.
If a killer roaming America left 45,000 men, women and children dead each year, you can bet society would be demanding something be done to end the scourge. Well, such a killer exists. It's called suicide, and the rate of it has been steadily climbing. Yet the national response has been little more than a shrug, apart from raised awareness whenever a celebrity — fashion designer Kate Spade and renowned chef Anthony Bourdain, to name two this year — is tragically found dead by their own hand. USA TODAY's comprehensive look at this public health crisis and its ripple effect, published Wednesday, includes a daughter's heart-wrenching narrative of losing a mother to suicide, as told by former Cincinnati Enquirer Managing Editor Laura Trujillo.Although suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in America, efforts to understand and prevent it fall dismally short. (11/28)
USA Today:
NIH And NIMH: We're Deeply Committed To Reducing Suicide
Suicide is a human tragedy and a major public health concern, and the National Institutes of Health is deeply committed to bringing the very best science to this critical issue. NIH expenditures on research related to suicide are far more extensive than the USA TODAY analysis implies. Research demonstrates that most individuals who die by suicide suffer from some form of mental illness, whether diagnosed or not. Annually, NIH spends an estimated $68 million on suicide and suicide prevention research and an additional $2.7 billion on mental health research. By improving the diagnosis and management of mental illnesses, we can effectively reduce the risk of suicide. (Francis S. Collins and Joshua A. Gordon, 11/28)
Boston Globe:
If We Want To Fight Hate, We Need To Do A Better Job Tracking It
One of the first steps to combating hate incidents will be for the government to get a better handle on when, where, and to whom the are occurring. (11/27)
Stat:
A Dispatch From The Front Lines Of Acute Flaccid Myelitis
To parents and the press, the “new” disease that is paralyzing kids is a mystery. Media coverage of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), which causes sudden limb weakness and paralysis in children, has given families the impression that health care providers and public health officials are sitting quietly and helplessly, flummoxed in the face of a disease that threatens children’s health. That just isn’t so. Parents have a right to be concerned about this illness. But they should also know that AFM is rare, a one-in-a-million event. It does not spread within families, hospitals, or towns. Although a virus called enterovirus D68, along with other viruses that cause respiratory and diarrheal illness, has been linked to the disease, a single definitive cause hasn’t yet been identified. This isn’t because we aren’t looking: Physicians, scientists, and public health officials are working tirelessly to find answers and the best treatments. (Roberta L. Debiasi, Elizabeth M. Wells and Jessica Carpenter, 11/28)
The Hill:
Congress, It's Time To Follow Your Doctor's Prescription On Climate Change
In reality, Congress is the patient and the condition is climate change. Over 97 percent of climate scientists have concluded, based on the evidence, that human-caused climate change is happening.Doctors, like me, who have conducted research on the health implications of climate change have concluded, again based on the evidence, that climate change threatens the health of Americans in many ways. These threats range from more air pollution that increases the risk of heart and lung disease to deaths, illnesses and mental health impacts of wildfires and extreme weather events like the recent devastating fires in the west and destructive hurricanes in the southeast. (Mona Sarfaty, 11/27)
The Washington Post:
There’s A Looming Long-Term Care Crisis. Are You Prepared?
We often talk about the significant cost of long-term care, but there’s something else to consider.Live long enough — many of us will see our 90s — and you’re likely to need help with basic activities such as eating, dressing and bathing. The cost of this care could decimate your retirement savings. The annual median cost of a stay in a private nursing home room is $100,375, according to a recent Genworth Financial report. A home health aide could run $50,336 a year. (Michelle Singletary, 11/27)
Stat:
PEPFAR, An 'Emergency' Response To AIDS, Is Still Saving Lives
As a treatment program, PEPFAR is a success. But it is much more than that. Following science, PEPFAR now provides proven HIV prevention interventions, including circumcision and the use of antiretroviral medicines for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). ...The House of Representatives approved the PEPFAR reauthorization on Nov. 13. I hope the Senate will swiftly follow suit. Earlier this year, the Senate proposed a $50 million increase for PEPFAR, while the House proposed an additional $41 million for USAID’s TB program. For this year’s reauthorization, increasing funding for the program will be critical. We know what to do: Diagnosing and treating everyone with HIV leads to normal life spans and stops the spread of the virus. On its own, that won’t be enough to end the threat of HIV. The quests for a vaccine and a cure continue. (Myron S. Cohen, 11/28)
Kansas City Star:
Medical Marijuana Users In Missouri Could Be Fired If High
Much discussion has centered on a federal law that prohibits legal pot users from possessing or buying firearms and ammunition. Another legal conundrum is percolating: Will employees be allowed to toke pot legally while off the clock without repercussions from their employer?Missouri officials are hard-pressed to create the appropriate balance between an individual’s right to possess or use a legal substance and maintaining a safe work environment. But it is a necessary endeavor. The variety of medical marijuana laws from coast to coast is confusing. (11/27)
Georgia Health News:
Effort To Overhaul Liver-Transplant Protocols Would Cost Georgians’ Lives
Any day now the Health Resources and Services Administration, the federal agency that oversees the system by which deceased people’s donor organs are allotted for transplant throughout the country, is expected to issue new rules that will, quite literally, be making life-and-death decisions. But that is not the only direction from which the current system is under assault. This past summer, six patients from New York, California and Massachusetts sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), and the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the nonprofit currently awarded the contract to implement organ sharing. (Dr. Raymond Rubin, 11/26)
