Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Delaware Legalizes Physician-Assisted Suicide
The Hill: Delaware Becomes 11th State To Allow Assisted Suicide
Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer (D) signed legislation on Tuesday to legalize physician-assisted suicide for some terminally ill patients, making his state the 11th to allow medical aid in dying after nearly a decade of debate on the issue. “This law is about compassion, dignity, and respect,” Meyer said in a statement. “It gives people facing unimaginable suffering the ability to choose peace and comfort, surrounded by those they love.” (Crisp, 5/20)
St. Louis Public Radio: Experts Warn Of Lung Health Problems After St. Louis Tornado
Days after a deadly tornado hit St. Louis, experts say health problems and risks can continue for victims left in a natural disaster’s path of destruction. That includes respiratory issues such as asthma flare-ups and pneumonia caused by debris kicked up during the storm and building materials from destroyed or damaged buildings. (Fentem, 5/21)
St. Louis Public Radio: St. Louis Emergency Management Head Placed On Leave
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer placed the head of the city’s emergency management agency on paid leave Tuesday following the failure to activate tornado warning sirens on Friday. Spencer put CEMA Commissioner Sarah Russell on paid administrative leave pending an external investigation into the actions of the emergency management agency when a deadly tornado ripped through the city, according to a statement the city released late Tuesday. (Ehrlich, 5/21)
CBS News: Most States Don't Require School Emergency Plans For Disabled Students. They Feel Left Behind And At Risk
More than 7.5 million U.S. public school students live with a disability, according to a federal Department of Education data. A CBS News analysis found nearly 6.3 million of them live in states that do not require schools to make specific emergency plans for students with disabilities. Kira Tiller, who now attends college in North Carolina, was always worried about that when she was younger. She has epileptic seizures that could be triggered by the flashing lights from fire alarms. She's not only concerned about real-world emergencies, but even fire drills back at her Northern Virginia high school. (Geller, Hanson, Kelly, Sherman and Beard, 5/20)
The Boston Globe: Mass. Emergency Shelter: Healey Used 'Unlawful' No-Bid Contracts
Governor Maura Healey’s administration did not “adequately” prepare for the escalating strain migrant and homeless families put on the state’s emergency shelter system in 2023, prompting officials to deploy ”unlawful" no-bid contracts to feed and transport children, women, and others, the state auditor’s office charged Tuesday. In a scathing 74-page report, Auditor Diana DiZoglio said state officials excessively relied on multimillion-dollar no-bid deals with vendors, unnecessarily driving up costs when the demand for shelter “could have been addressed through alternative means.” (Gross and Stout, 5/20)
The Boston Globe: Homelessness Among Seniors: Massachusetts' Hidden Crisis
Lisa Furr was mortified. She’d worked all her life, mostly as a personal health care assistant, and raised a family. But she suddenly found herself in her 50s without a home. She fled an abusive marriage three years ago, carrying what she could fit in one suitcase. Her weight and blood pressure shot up, her knees gave out, her ability to work declined, and, with little money, she resorted to alternately renting a room from a friend and couch surfing at her daughter’s home in Boston. (Lazar, 5/20)
In reproductive health news —
MedPage Today: Waiting Period Extends Abortion Wait Beyond Mandatory 24 Hours
Mandatory 24-hour waiting periods between consent and abortion visits often resulted in much longer waits than required, a prospective survey study found. The median interval between the two visits was 3 days (interquartile range 2-7), but for 32% of respondents the interval was more than 7 days and for 6% it was longer than 14 days, reported Ashley Brant, DO, MPH, a Cleveland-based ob/gyn, in a poster presentation at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) annual meeting. (Robertson, 5/20)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Inside The Effort To Repair New Hampshire's Eroding Networks Of Rural Maternity Care
On a recent morning at Androscoggin Valley Hospital’s labor and delivery unit in Berlin, nurses are checking in on a patient. Noelle, who’s 32, was induced 39 weeks into her pregnancy. When her water doesn’t break, the doctor decides to artificially rupture the membranes. Within minutes, her baby’s heartbeat starts dropping. (Cuno-Booth, 5/20)
