Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Democrats Press Head Of HHS To Release Full Indian Health Services Report On Sexual Abuse Of Children
The Wall Street Journal: Lawmakers Urge Azar To Release Indian Health Service Report On Sexual Abuse
Senate lawmakers gave the nation’s top health official on Wednesday a deadline of seven business days to release a controversial report said to detail gross mismanagement by the U.S. Indian Health Service in its handling of a pedophile doctor who abused Native American boys. The report, which the agency maintains is confidential, is “damning to the Indian Health Service” and contains new revelations about the agency’s widespread failings to stop pediatrician Stanley Patrick Weber from abusing his patients, according to a person who has viewed a redacted version. (Frosch and Weaver, 3/4)
The Washington Post: Bill Would End Practice Of Using Confidential Therapy Notes Against Detained Migrant Children
Seeking to end a practice that one senator called a “profound betrayal of trust,” legislation was introduced Wednesday in the Senate and House of Representatives to stop the Trump administration from using confidential therapy notes against immigrant children in detention and deportation proceedings. The legislation is one of several efforts underway to protect the confidentiality of young asylum seekers launched after The Washington Post reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been regularly using notes from therapy sessions against unaccompanied minors, often without the consent of the therapists involved, and always without the consent of the minors themselves. (Dreier, 3/4)
