Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Congress Needs To Advocate For ER Docs; Did U.S. Move Fast Enough On Vaccines?
Stat: All Emergency Physicians Should Have The Right To Due Process
Your doctor should be your biggest advocate, doing what Ming Lin, an emergency medicine physician in Washington state, did at the peak of the Covid-19 surge in March: advocating for safer conditions in the emergency department where he worked, more testing for Covid-19, and better personal protective equipment and triage processes to keep patients and staff safe. Instead he was fired. (Gregory Jasani and James Maloy, 12/16)
The Wall Street Journal: Vaccines Vs. Lockdowns
Our near-standard approach ended up being successful beyond early hopes, no question. But a clinical lookback won’t automatically conclude it was the best approach under the circumstances. Consider the overarching political problem. At the current moment, the U.S. public is facing the biggest surge yet even as many things are converging that should be making the virus easier to live with: faster testing, better treatments, vaccines, the spread of natural immunity through infection. More integrated political thinking might have seen a value in sacrificing some of our testing protocols so Americans could see vaccinations taking place on TV sooner, giving them a sense that voluntary social-distancing was being rewarded with a fast-approaching permanent fix. (Holman W. Jenkins Jr., 12/15)
Columbus Dispatch: America's Health-Care Heroes Need Reinforcements
Front-line health care workers were the first to receive the newly approved Pfizer coronavirus vaccine on Monday, and that was as it should be. In a holiday season marred by a rising tide of COVID, the giving and sacrifices of medical staff in intensive care units across the country never stop. Most Americans can't see this generosity. It unfolds amid a sense of isolation — despite a teeming number of patients — where every ICU door is shut, every room has negative airflow, and every nurse or doctor is encased in a respirator or mask, face shield, gown and gloves so they appear as astronauts tending the untouchable and unembraceable. Those fighting for their next breath. "Am I gonna die?" a terrified woman in an Illinois intensive care unit asked nurse Luisa Alog Penepacker, according to accounts gathered by The Washington Post. The nurse struggled to find the words. "Not on my watch," she finally responded. (12/16)
Stat: A Strong Stimulus Bill Can Avert Enduring Damage To Millions
The rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine across the U.S. that began this week suggests that dramatic disruptions to daily life may come to an end within the next year. Even as Americans anticipate a return to a post-Covid-19 world, it is important to recognize that the nature of these disruptions has been dramatically different for people across the U.S. While some wish to safely dine in restaurants and watch movies in theaters, millions of families are struggling to make rent and car payments and suffering from prolonged unemployment. (Will Raderman, Elizabeth Pancotti and Julia Raifman, 12/15)
The Hill: Global Funding Must Be In The Next COVID-19 Emergency Supplemental
Urgently needed COVID-19 relief funding appears to be gaining traction in Congress, with an appropriate focus on protecting U.S. families, health care workers, local governments and businesses. It is in America’s interest that this legislation also include $20 billion to address the serious damage COVID-19 is doing globally. (Thomas J. Coates, 12/15)
Stat: Unaffordable Prescription Drugs: The Real Legacy Of Hatch-Waxman
How is it possible to have a prescription drug price crisis when 90% of prescriptions are filled with generic drugs that cost, on average, $1 a day? The answer: The remaining 10% of prescriptions have an average cost of $20 a day and account for 80% of all prescription drug spending. (Alfred Engelberg, 12/16)
Los Angeles Times: Cannabis Has Downsides. We Need To Acknowledge Them
There was a time in my life, in the not-so-distant past, when cannabis was immensely important to me.Not because I used it — I’ve tried it but don’t like the way it makes me feel — but because voters in California were being asked whether pot should be legal for adult recreational use. I took it upon myself to try to fully understand the upsides and downsides of Proposition 64, the 2016 ballot initiative, so I could help readers make informed decisions. The No. 1 worry I heard then was the effect that legalization would have on children. In fact, my position is the same as the one voters embraced when they overwhelmingly approved legalization: No one under the age of 21 should use marijuana. Nor should children be bombarded with cannabis ads. (Robin Abcarian, 12/16)
Boston Globe: Abortion-Rights Bill Deserves Passage — Again
Days after Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed as the newest justice on the US Supreme Court, the leaders of the Massachusetts House and Senate released a rare joint statement pledging to “remove barriers to women’s reproductive health options and protect the concepts enshrined in Roe v. Wade.” And so they did, passing a budget amendment codifying and expanding protections for abortion rights in Massachusetts — something that’s especially critical given fears that the court’s conservative majority could overturn the 1973 ruling. Now state lawmakers should finish that work by overturning Governor Charlie Baker’s recent proposed amendments to portions of that legislation. (12/15)
