Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: It's Time To Reexamine Accessible Spaces; School-Based Health Centers Deserve Funding
The Washington Post: College Students With Disabilities Deserve Accessible Campuses
So often shared spaces don’t equal shared experiences. A broken sidewalk might go unnoticed by most people who walk across it but prove an obstacle to someone who uses a wheelchair or is blind. Or maybe it’s not a broken sidewalk that splits experiences and instead is a too-narrow doorway, or excessive red tape for accommodations; or a construction project that blocks off nearby parking. (Theresa Vargas, 5/18)
The CT Mirror: Expand School-Based Health Centers To CT's Underserved Districts
School-based health centers (SBHCs) fill a critical gap in children’s mental health care in Connecticut, and funding should be expanded to underserved school districts. In December 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory, “Protecting Youth Mental Health,” reported that symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders have increased among youth on a global level. But even before the pandemic, we had a mental health crisis brewing. According to the Centers for Disease Control, up to one in five children ages 3 to 17 in the United States had a mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral disorder between 2013 – 2019, but fewer than 15 percent of children ages 5 to 17 received mental health treatment in 2019. (Tricia Orozco, 5/19)
Stat: NEJM, Other Journals Must Make Conflicts Of Interest More Transparent
Are medical journals reliable sources of objective information, or do they, at times, act as shills for the pharmaceutical industry and other interests? We believe the latter after reading a Perspective article on drug pricing in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) that presented the perspective of the pharmaceutical industry on what drugs should cost without explicitly revealing the industry ties of its authors. Editorial content in journals is expected to provide objective information about medical science, care, and health policy. That objectivity is threatened by authors of editorials, review articles, and other “perspective” pieces with critical conflicts of interest due to financial associations with the topics being discussed. To prevent this, or at least limit it, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors advocates transparency about such conflicts. (Martin F. Shapiro and Sidney M. Wolfe, 5/19)
Stat: Take A Stand For Those Who Can't With The Promising Pathway Act
Every five years since 1992, Congress has reauthorized the Food and Drug Administration user fee package to allow the agency to collect funds from companies that produce human drugs and biological products. Over the last 30 years, this process has helped the FDA, the biomedical industry, and Congress to rethink, redesign, and modernize existing FDA programs and pathways as well as introduce new regulatory policies to advance drug development and approvals. But it still isn’t fast or innovative enough to help Americans living with rare or life-threatening and progressive diseases. (Brian Wallach and Mike Braun, 5/19)
The CT Mirror: Connecticut Desperately Needs A Stable Naloxone Supply
“Can I get some Narcan?” a regular client at one of Connecticut’s largest syringe services programs recently asked.“ No, we’re out,” I said in response, as I watched them walk out the door for what could be the last time. Theirs was a reasonable request, given that the United States is in the midst of one of the most volatile opioid epidemics globally, with over 100,000 deaths across the country in 2020 alone. This is the equivalent of a Boeing 737-400 crashing every day for a year straight. (William Eger and Francesca Maviglia, 5/19)
Los Angeles Times: Heat Waves Are Killing Californians In Their Homes. Cooling Standards Could Save Lives
In the summer it can get up to 120 degrees inside the un-air-conditioned home Agustin Pedro Pedro rents in the San Joaquin Valley city of Madera, so unbearably hot that he sweats, feels faint and gets headaches. “I arrive tired from work, but I can’t even rest in my own home because the heat doesn’t allow me,” the 60-year-old farmworker told state lawmakers at a recent hearing in Sacramento. He has asked his landlord to install something to cool the rental unit, but he refuses. (5/18)
Newsweek: HHS Guidance On Trans Pharmacology Raises More Questions Than It Answers
Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Population Affairs (HHS/OPA) issued a "guidance document" called Gender Affirming Care in Young People. The document claims to outline an established standard of care on how to proceed with social, pharmacological and surgical "affirmation" of children and adolescents who identify as transgender. When announcing the new document, Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine went so far as to state "there is no argument among medical professionals—pediatricians, pediatric endocrinologists, adolescent medicine physicians, adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, etc.—about the value and the importance of gender-affirming care." (David Gortler, 5/19)
