Viewpoints: Simplify Regulations That Keep Diagnostic Innovations Out Of Hands Of U.S. Physicians; New Opioid Policies Bring Harm To Patients Who Need Them
Editorial writers focus on these health topics and others.
Stat:
Diagnostic Innovations Are Slowed By Bureaucratic Roadblocks
Imagine, for a minute, that you are a cardiologist working in the emergency department of a busy hospital. You have several patients with chest pain: some of them are having heart attacks, or are about to; others have heartburn or muscle strains. It would be great to have a diagnostic tool that quickly and accurately tells one from the other. Physicians outside the U.S. could already have access to this type of diagnostic test. But in the U.S. it’s still pending clearance by the Food and Drug Administration. FDA-required processes for a new commercial test to gain approval for marketing and use can be costly and take years, depending on how complicated a test is. (Rina Wolf, 1/18)
Los Angeles Times:
The Clampdown On Opioid Prescriptions Is Hurting Pain Patients
The recent clampdown has had harmful consequences. Some patients told researchers that they were forced to quit working or go on disability when their medication was denied. Others are now homebound. Many mentioned the possibility of suicide.Patients also said that they were turning to alcohol or illegal substances to treat their pain.What began as an effort to protect patients may be morphing into one that is harming them. (Kate M. Nicholson, 1/18)
New England Journal of Medicine:
Climate Change — A Health Emergency
Most Americans perceive climate change as a distant problem that will not affect them personally. Others simply feel powerless. As trusted sources of health information, physicians can educate our colleagues, patients, and students about the health effects of climate change and the need for rapid reductions in fossil fuel use. We can help motivate people to act by clarifying the links between environmental degradation and tangible problems, such as air pollution, insectborne diseases, and heatstroke. We can also emphasize the health benefits that will accrue as we move to alternative sources of energy. (Caren G. Solomon and Regina C. LaRocque, 1/17)
The Hill:
Trump’s Medicare Rule Change Threatens To Reignite AIDS Epidemic
Medicare Part D was critically important to ensuring access to life-saving medications for people living with HIV and helped put us on track to end the epidemic. It created a protected class of drugs that ensured enrollees living with serious, chronic and in the case of HIV — infectious health conditions can directly access the best treatments as prescribed to them by their medical providers. These protections have helped millions and contributed to the significant reductions in new HIV diagnoses we’ve seen across the country. In November, the Trump administration proposed eliminating this protected class status for approximately 45 million people receiving drug coverage through Medicare Part D, including over 250,000 people living with HIV. (Jesse Milan, 1/17)
The New York Times:
Learning From Cuba’s ‘Medicare For All’
“Cuba’s example is important since for decades ‘health care for all’ has been more than a slogan there,” said Dr. Paul Farmer, the legendary globe-trotting founder of Partners in Health. “Cuban families aren’t ruined financially by catastrophic illness or injury, as happens so often elsewhere in the neighborhood.” (Nicholas Kristof, 1/18)
New England Journal of Medicine:
Reducing Unfair Out-Of-Network Billing — Integrated Approaches To Protecting Patients
High charges for out-of-network care are demonstrably unfair when health plans have inadequate networks and when patients are treated by providers they don’t choose. An integrated approach for addressing both circumstances could involve streamlined dispute resolution. (Mark A. Hall, Loren Adler, Paul B. Ginsburg, and Erin Trish, 1/17)
The Wall Street Journal:
If Weed Is Medicine, So Is Budweiser
Ten states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana use, and another eight look likely to do so in 2019. I favor the move but am troubled by the gateway to it: All these jurisdictions first passed laws permitting the use of “medical” marijuana. We should set the record straight, lest young people (and old ones) think marijuana is good for you because it is wrongly labeled a medication. (Peter B. Bach, 1/17)
The Washington Post:
Gillette’s New Ad Asks Us To Redefine ‘Best’ For Our Boys. What Could Be Wrong With That?
In the right light, my 15-year-old son is on the fuzzy cusp of a glorious mustache. The spacing is natural, the length manageable and the hue a perfect complement to the golden bangs sweeping across his forehead. It is as thick as shadows allow. He has no plans to shave it. However, chance seems to find him sitting on the countertop every time I get the itch to run sharp, hot metal along my steam-soaked cheeks. Conversations tend to fall easier there, first with the grain and then against it. The topics are ever changing, from school to movies, politics and charity, serious and funny, with an occasional dip into the awkward unknown. The faucet is fairly intermittent. (Whit Honea, 1/17)
Los Angeles Times:
Newsom On Why Paying For The Healthcare Of Immigrants In The Country Illegally Makes Sense
California’s new governor, Gavin Newsom, wants it understood that he’s not declaring war on Big Pharma, all appearances to the contrary notwithstanding. Yes, he wants to give Medi-Cal more power to negotiate drug prices and, yes, he wants to make those prices significantly lower. But Newsom was surprisingly candid when we spoke Wednesday about his healthcare agenda. (David Lazarus, 1/17)
Sacramento Bee:
Why A Surgeon General For California?
A state surgeon general could be more than another figurehead in the morass of state government, using the position to push for a system that promotes health instead of managing sickness. California is a unique state, with the world’s fifth largest economy and a larger population than Canada. (Robert Ross, 1/18)
Kansas City Star:
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s First Big Test? Medicaid Expansion
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Wednesday devoted as much attention to Medicaid expansion as any other issue. “I’ve made no secret that expanding this program is one of my top priorities,” she said in her first State of the State address. But no issue, including school funding, will prove to be as big a test for the new governor as this one. Conservative leaders in both the Kansas House and Senate have stacked committees that deal with this issue with anti-expansion lawmakers. (1/16)
Boston Globe:
Walsh Rethinks Stance On Safe Injection Sites. Here’s Why That’s A Good Thing
By showing an openness to changing his mind, Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston is sending the message that he is serious about fighting the opioid crisis ravaging the city. Walsh had been a staunch opponent of safe injection sites, one of the most controversial tools to address the epidemic. ...It appears now that the policy intrigues Walsh enough that he is touring a few city-run safe injection sites in Toronto on Thursday and Montreal on Friday. “I went from a hard no on safe injection sites to, am I in the right place on that?” Walsh said last week. “We have to look at it all.” (1/17)
