Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Demands Congress 'Step Up' To Deal With Gun Violence Epidemic
Bloomberg: UNLV Shooting: Biden Calls Gun Violence An Epidemic
President Joe Biden applauded the courage of law enforcement officers who responded to the deadly shooting on Wednesday at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and again called for restrictions on assault weapons. Biden, speaking just miles from the campus on Friday, called gun violence an “epidemic” and said “we need Congress to step up.” (Jamrisko, 12/8)
USA Today: Third Victim ID'd In UNLV Shooting As College Professors Decry 'National Menace'
On Wednesday morning, three college professors in Las Vegas got up and went to work in Beam Hall, home of the business school at the University of Nevada. One oversaw Japanese Studies, another taught accounting, a third management of information systems. All were slaughtered, gunned down by a disgruntled former professor who came to campus with a .9 mm handgun, 150 rounds of ammunition and a vendetta. ... The Clark County Coroner's Office identified the final person killed in the shooting as Naoko Takemaru, 69, on Friday. Takemaru lived in Las Vegas and was an associate professor at UNLV, teaching Japanese studies at Beam Hall, according to her staff page on the university's website. (Schermele, Nurse, Collins and Arshad, 12/8)
San Diego Union-Tribune: “Gun Violence Has Altered…Our Daily Lives:” San Diego Joins National Vigil Honoring Those Lost By Gunfire
Jeff Raya stood up from a Mission Hills church pew Saturday and said the name of his late aunt, Wendy Raya, who was fatally shot in Los Angeles 20 years ago, he said. A bell rang out in her honor and then sounded a dozen more times to commemorate all victims of gun violence.“(Her death) could have been prevented,” said Raya, a San Diego resident among 100 others who gathered at the Mission Hills United Methodist Church for the 11th annual National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence. (Murga, 12/9)
Wyoming Public Radio: Stigmas Are Stopping Firearm Owners From Seeking Mental Health Resources
Ashley Hlebinsky sat cross-legged on a wooden stage in a community center in Laramie. Two men sat next to her. “So my next question is for Devin. And then I promise I'll open it up. But I'm fascinated…You guys are getting my selfishness. Like, ‘Tell me more’,” laughed Hlebinsky as she asked the question. “So I'm kind of just wondering if you have advice for how to talk to somebody that wants to do it but is worried about the legal liability of [safe storage]. ”She was leading a town hall between two firearm owners who have been open about their own mental health struggles. Hlebinsky is having them share what they’ve done with their handguns when hard times hit. (Kudelska, 12/8)
The Guardian: Gun Violence Rate Higher In Gentrified Neighborhoods, Study Finds
City dwellers have long noticed that gentrifying neighborhoods report more gun violence. Now, a study, published in Jama Surgery earlier this year and conducted by a team of researchers at Harvard Medical School with Brigham and Women’s hospital, shows just how much – and could suggest new ways to combat gun violence. The report found that the firearm injury incidence rate was 62% higher in neighborhoods that had gentrified between 2014 and 2019 than in non-gentrifying neighborhoods with similar sociodemographic characteristics. On top of that, it found that the gunshot injury rate was an additional 26% higher in neighborhoods that were actively gentrifying. (The study didn’t specify who was committing the violence.) (Nowell, 12/8)
KFF Health News: Journalists Delve Into Gun Violence, Medicaid's 'Unwinding,' Opioid Lawsuits, And More
KFF Health News senior correspondent Liz Szabo described how being a victim of gun violence affects kids’ health in the long term on Spectrum News 1’s “LA Times Today” show on Dec. 6. ... KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Samantha Liss discussed Missouri’s Medicaid “unwinding” on KCUR’s “Kansas City Today” on Dec. 5. (12/9)
If you are in need of help —
Dial 9-8-8 for 24/7 support from the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It's free and confidential.
In other health and wellness news —
AP: Breast Cancer Survivors May Not Need Annual Mammograms: UK Study
Annual mammograms are recommended indefinitely for breast cancer survivors in many countries, including the U.S., but a large British study finds that less frequent screening is just as good. Yearly screening is meant to monitor whether cancer has come back. All that testing causes anxiety for patients and costs money. (Johnson, 12/8)
The New York Times: Genes That Boost Fertility Also Shorten Our Life, Study Suggests
A study of DNA from half a million volunteers supports an old evolutionary theory about why our bodies eventually wear out. (Zimmer, 12/8)
The Washington Post: Toy Magnets Linked To Seven Deaths And 2,400 Hospitalizations
Federal safety regulators have warned consumers to stop using high-powered magnetic-ball toy sets that have been linked to seven deaths and hundreds of injuries. The Consumer Product Safety Commission flagged six children’s products that do not comply with U.S. safety regulations because they contain magnets small enough to go down a child’s throat. The agency pointed to seven deaths — including five in the United States — involving people who ingested the tiny magnets, as well as an estimated 2,400 emergency hospitalizations from 2017 through 2021. (Gregg, 12/8)
