Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Bones From 3D Printers And Other Developments Bring Us Step Closer To Making Sci-Fi A Reality
Bloomberg: We’re Getting Closer To Mass Production Of Bones, Organs, And Implants
Medical researchers have been able to create certain kinds of living cells with 3D printers for more than a decade. Now a few companies are getting closer to mass production of higher-order tissues (bone, cartilage, organs) and other individually tailored items, including implants. This kind of precision medicine, treating patients based on their genes, environment, and lifestyle, could herald the end of long organ donor lists and solve other problems, too. (Popescu, 4/27)
The Washington Post: Wait For Calorie Count On Burgers, Pizza May Get Longer
Consumers hoping to consistently find out how many calories are in that burger and fries may have to wait — again. New government rules to help people find out how many calories are in their restaurant meals are set to go into effect next week after years of delays. But they could be pushed back again if grocery stores, convenience stores and pizza delivery chains get their way. (Jalonick, 4/28)
Stat: Phony Peer Review: The More We Look, The More We Find
An unknown number of published studies have a hidden flaw: The “peers” who supposedly vouched for their publication are phonies. And the closer publishers look, it seems, the more rotten studies they find. Now, in the biggest haul to date, publisher Springer has announced that it’s retracting 107 papers from a single journal over concerns that authors had cheated the peer review process — some perhaps unintentionally. (Marcus and Oransky, 4/28)
Austin American-Statesman: A Question Of Restraint: When Policing The Mentally Ill Turns Deadly
[Tom] Klessig is one of at least 33 people with histories of mental illness who died after being restrained by police in Texas over the past decade, according to a first-of-its-kind investigation by the American-Statesman of in-custody deaths. Six of those people wielded weapons; the rest were unarmed, records with the Texas Attorney General indicate. Because the reports that law enforcement agencies must file on in-custody deaths do not track information about the decedent’s mental health, the numbers are likely an undercount of those with a psychiatric disorder who die in police custody. (Ball and Schwartz, 4/27)
The New York Times: Baby-Making By Lottery At A Manhattan Clinic
John Zhang, a well-known specialist in reproductive medicine who runs the New Hope Fertility Center out of a vast and science-fiction-looking office on Columbus Circle, believes he has played a singular role in the fiscal health of New York City. Patients come to him from around the world, from the Middle East, from Kenya, from Nigeria, Spain and China. Perhaps especially from China. (Bellafante, 4/27)
Kaiser Health News: ‘Center Of Excellence’ Designation Doesn’t Rule Out Complications Of Bariatric Surgery
Getting bariatric surgery at a “center of excellence” doesn’t mean that patients can be assured that they will avoid serious complications from the weight-loss procedure at the facility, according to a recent study. Even though facilities that have been accredited as centers of excellence must all meet minimum standards, including performing at least 125 bariatric surgeries annually, the risk of serious problems varied widely among centers, the study found. (Andrews, 4/28)
The Plain Dealer: Cleveland Clinic Research Shows Link Between Gut Bacteria, Meat-Heavy Diets, And Risk Of Blood Clots
Cleveland Clinic researchers have established another connection between heart disease and foods, the bacteria in the intestine that digest them, and the substances these bacteria end up creating during digestion. Choline, naturally found in red meat and egg yolks, but in this case administered in a supplement -- increased the production of a gut bacteria byproduct called trimethylamine N-oxide, or TMAO, a chemical the group had previously found to be a strong predictor of heart disease risk. (Zeltner, 4/27)
