Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Biden Outlines The New Infrastructure Plan; CRISPR Gene-Editing Works To Treat Disease
Yahoo News: Americans Can Be Proud Of The Infrastructure Deal
I have always believed that there is nothing our nation can’t do when we decide to do it together. Last week, we began to write a new chapter in that story. After weeks of negotiations, a bipartisan group of United States senators forged an agreement to move forward on key portions of my American Jobs Plan — a once-in-a-generation investment to modernize our infrastructure that will create millions of good-paying jobs and position America to compete with the world and win the 21st century. (President Joe Biden, 6/28)
Bloomberg: Crispr Gene-Editing Breakthrough By Intellia (NTLA) Is A Big Deal
Sam Fazeli, a Bloomberg Opinion contributor who covers the pharmaceutical industry for Bloomberg Intelligence, answers questions after Intellia Therapeutics Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. released promising findings from the first human clinical trial using gene-editing Crispr technology in the body to treat a disease. Intellia shares surged more than 40% on the news. The conversation has been edited and condensed. (Sam Fazeli, 6/28)
Georgia Health News: Natural Gas Can Harm Health
Here in the Southeast, natural gas is a fossil fuel that provides electricity for our homes and business. We use it daily to heat our homes in the winter, power our air conditioners in the summer and cook our food. In fact, natural gas accounts for 46 percent of our electricity in Georgia, compared to the national average of 34 percent. It affects the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. As a physician, I know the environment is of vital importance in improving the health of patients. Switching from fossil gas to clean energy sources is necessary when it comes to protecting our health. (Dr. Linda Walden, 6/28)
Stat: Confronting A Legacy Of Scarcity In U.S. Funding For Public Health
Public health in America is in crisis, a sad fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has made impossible to ignore. Decades of chronic underfunding and a failure to invest in the public health workforce, the physical infrastructure of state and local health departments, and critical data systems have left Americans vulnerable to calamities like Covid-19 and other pathogens that lie just around the corner. (William Eger and Margaret House, 6/28)
Newsweek: Drug Companies Hold Enormous Sway Over Our Health Care
If you haven't heard of the Sackler family, chances are you know someone who has been affected by their business. The Sacklers founded the drug company Purdue Pharma and built a multibillion-dollar fortune by aggressively marketing the opioid painkiller OxyContin. Purdue is widely viewed to have fueled the early stages of the national overdose crisis that kills more than 80,000 Americans each year. (Scott E. Hadland and Brandon D. L. Marshall, 6/28)
CNN: Worried About Your Kid's Development? Turn To Your Doctor Before The Internet Or Friends.
If you're worried about whether your child is hitting developmental milestones on time— like walking, socializing or talking— you might be relieved to know that you are like many other parents and that feeling worried is okay. Nearly a quarter of parents suspect some degree of delay when it comes to their child, according to a new national University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital poll on children's health. But the nearly one in five parents who worried that their child was behind in hitting milestones didn't seek advice from a professional. (Dr. Neha Chaudhary, 6/28)
Los Angeles Daily News: Decriminalize Psychedelics In California
Our current system fails to acknowledge the medical uses of psychedelics. Veterans have spoken to the value that psychedelic treatments have had on combating their trauma, both physical and mental, from serving our country. For a group whose suicide rates are 1.5 times higher than the average US adult population, we should be exploring these options, not criminalizing them. SB 519 is grounded in research. Pioneering research from Johns Hopkins University and University of California Los Angeles have found that psychedelics can be effective at treating anxiety, depression, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Psychedelics can even be effective where other traditional mental health treatments have failed. (Diane Goldstein, 6/28)
