Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Austin's Secret Cancer Battle Seen As Missed Chance To Spread Awareness
AP: Amid Firestorm Created By Austin's Cancer Secrecy, Missed Opportunities To Build Trust And Educate
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin could have seized his prostate check and early discovery of the cancer as a teaching moment, for his many male troops and workers across the department, and, even more importantly, for the African American population. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. It affects 1 in every 8 men — and 1 in every 6 African American men — during their lifetime. Specifically, it’s been a problem for some of Austin’s own troops. The Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department are involved in multiple studies to address cancer rates — including prostate cancer — among service members, such as those deployed to war, aviators and aircrew, and those operating the nation’s nuclear missiles. (Baldor, 1/11)
The New York Times: Lloyd Austin’s Hidden Diagnosis: Why Some People Keep Serious Illnesses Private
There are many reasons people might opt to keep their illness to themselves in certain contexts, experts said, but some are more common than others. Privacy can be a coping strategy, said Dr. Itai Danovitch, chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, particularly in the early days following a diagnosis, when patients are deluged with new information. “There are different strategies we use to try and control things that are uncontrollable,” he explained. “One common mechanism that we use is to compartmentalize.” Though compartmentalization, or keeping certain thoughts and emotions separate, is often maligned, it is adaptive, Dr. Danovitch said. For instance, it can help people to stay focused professionally even when illness is causing significant stress. (Pearson, 1/10)
The Washington Post: Secrets, Lies And TMI: A History Of White House Health Disclosures
On Sept. 26, 1955, the president of the United States did what many of us do upon waking up. It just happened to be national news. “He had a good bowel movement,” Dwight D. Eisenhower’s press secretary told reporters. One of Eisenhower’s physicians added, “The country will be very pleased — the country is so bowel-minded anyway — to know that the president had a good movement this morning, and it is important. It is good for the morale of people. ”This intimate detail, revealed two days after Eisenhower suffered a major heart attack, represents one extreme when it comes to medical transparency from the nation’s top brass. (Dotinga, 1/11)
Roll Call: Pressure Mounting On Austin As GOP Senators Launch Inquiry
As the ramifications of Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III’s failure to disclose his cancer surgery and subsequent hospitalization continued to reverberate through Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Senate Republicans opened a new inquiry into the matter, but lawmakers largely fell short of calling for his removal. (Satter, 1/10)
Other news from the Biden administration —
The Washington Post: White House Weighs Menthol Ban Amid Dueling Health, Political Pressures
White House officials are wrestling with one of the most consequential public health decisions of President Biden’s term: whether to enact a nationwide ban on menthol cigarettes, which are a leading cause of death among Black Americans, according to six administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The years-long debate about banning menthol cigarettes has pitted public health officials who say the move would effectively save hundreds of thousands of Black lives in the coming decades against political advisers who warn that Biden could lose support by banning products popular in the Black community, jeopardizing crucial votes ahead of what is expected to be a close election. (Diamond and Pager, 1/10)
Stat: New Medicare Drug Pricing Powers Could Soon Be Upended In Court
Pharmaceutical companies’ efforts to scuttle President Biden’s signature health care achievement, empowering Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, will soon face their first big tests. District court judges could soon weigh in on the litany of court cases that major companies filed against the government — shedding light on whether drugmakers have any hope of postponing the first parts of the negotiation process, scrapping it entirely, or sending the issue up to the Supreme Court. (Cohrs, 1/11)
Axios: How State Governments Plan To Target Drug Costs And Health Worker Shortages
As state legislatures get back to work across the country, state policymakers are eying measures to bolster their burned-out health care workforces, make prescription drugs more affordable and reform their Medicaid programs. (Goldman, 1/11)
