Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
An Odd Twist At The White House's Sport And Fitness Day: Trump Talks About The Importance Of Being Fit
The Washington Post: Trump, Fast Food Lover And Exercise Avoider, Lectures Nation On Importance Of Fitness
It’s Sports and Fitness Day at the White House. That means President Trump — a man who has spoken out on the dangers of exercising and devours McDonald’s, KFC chicken, chocolate cake and double scoops of vanilla ice cream — will be lecturing the nation on the importance of staying fit. (Wan, 5/30)
The Associated Press: Poll: Seniors Ready To Skype Doctors, Care Quality A Concern
The vast majority of older Americans and their caregivers are ready to give virtual health care a try: Nearly 9 in 10 adults ages 40 and over would be comfortable using at least one type of telemedicine for themselves or an aging loved one, says a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (Neergaard and Swanson, 5/31)
The Washington Post: This Mock Pandemic Killed 150 Million People. Next Time It Might Not Be A Drill.
The fictional outbreak kept getting worse. It had a 10 percent fatality rate, about the same as the SARS virus that traveled around the world in 2002-2003. Because the virus in the drill was new, no one had previous immunity to it, and it spread quickly in large cities. As it killed more than 100 million people globally, health-care systems collapsed, panic spread, the U.S. stock market crashed, and the president, members of Congress and the Supreme Court were incapacitated. “We didn’t want to have a Disney ending,” Inglesby said. “We wanted to have a plausible scenario. We did know it would be jarring.” (Sun, 5/30)
Other topics of interest include new stroke technology, domestic violence findings and efforts to fight depression among female veterans -
The Wall Street Journal: New Stroke Technology To Identify Worst Cases Gets FDA Approval
The Food and Drug Administration Wednesday gave marketing clearance for a device that can potentially revamp stroke care by allowing paramedics in the field to diagnose severe strokes requiring specialized treatment. The Lucid Robotic System is aimed at one of the central dilemmas of modern neurology: How to quickly identify patients with the most severe strokes who could benefit from being taken immediately to hospitals that can perform a complex clot-removal procedure, potentially helping to avoid major disability. (Burton, 5/30)
NPR: Domestic Violence: A Leading Cause Of Women's Brain Injuries
Hundreds of survivors of domestic violence have come through the doors of neurologist Glynnis Zieman's Phoenix clinic in the past three years." The domestic violence patients are the next chapter of brain injury," she says. ... While many patients initially seek out the clinic because of physical symptoms, such as headaches, exhaustion, dizziness or problems sleeping, Zieman says her research shows anxiety, depression and PTSD usually end up being the most severe problems. (Stone, 5/31)
NPR: Battling Depression And Suicide Among Female Veterans
The suicide rate for female veterans has soared 85 percent in recent years, leading the military, VA and advocacy groups to try new ways to improve women's mental health care during and after service. One key focus: how to tailor the sometimes tricky jump from the military to the civilian world. Women's experiences in the military are different from men's, so their transition needs to be different, too, said retired Army Col. Ellen Haring, director of research for the advocacy group Service Women's Action Network (SWAN). (Price, 5/30)
