Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: U.S. Pediatric Hospital Care Is In Crisis; Is Cryogenically Freezing Our Bodies The Future?
Bloomberg: Treating Sick Kids Shouldn't Be This Hard
Parents across the US are experiencing the unthinkable: There simply aren’t enough hospital beds to treat their sick children. (1/6)
Stat: Bias In Medical AI Products Often Runs Under FDA's Radar
Although artificial intelligence is entering health care with great promise, clinical AI tools are prone to bias and real-world underperformance from inception to deployment, including the stages of dataset acquisition, labeling or annotating, algorithm training, and validation. These biases can reinforce existing disparities in diagnosis and treatment. (Enes Hosgor and Oguz Akin, 1/9)
Bloomberg: Want To Avoid Death? Maybe Cryonics Isn't Crazy
The field of cryogenics has been gaining ground over the last few decades, albeit very slowly and amid endless ridicule by scientists. To date, about 500 people have been put in cryogenic stasis after legal death, with the majority of them in the US. (Parmy Olson, 1/8)
NBC News: Why A New Autism Diagnostic Aid Leaves Me Conflicted As A Scientist And A Mom
Despite the fact that childhood autism diagnoses have more than doubled in the past 20 years, the condition can be difficult to spot. It can take years to manifest in such a way that it is noticeable, and even once it becomes so, it can still look wildly different — from children who can’t speak and who stim (using repetitive motor movements or speech) to those who might just have trouble figuring out social cues. (Sarah Gundle, 1/8)
The Wall Street Journal: ‘Experts’ Are Fueling Distrust In Vaccines
Nearly half of Americans believe Covid vaccines have probably caused a significant number of unexplained deaths, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey last week. In December, Rasmussen reported that a near equal proportion worry that Covid vaccines may have major side effects (57%) as believe they are effective (56%). People can hold both views at the same time. (Allysia Finley, 1/8)
The New York Times: Damar Hamlin And What CPR Is For
Days after his heart stopped and he collapsed motionless on a football field, Damar Hamlin is reportedly awake, moving his hands and feet and communicating. This young man could have died, but he is alive and appears to be recovering — a testament to the power of high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. (Daniela J. Lamas, 1/7)
The New York Times: Football Is Deadly, But Not For The Reasons You Think
As a former college football player and neuroscientist who has advocated better protections for athletes for the last 20 years, I am encouraged by the outpouring of support for Mr. Hamlin, a talented player and a role model, and for his family. But as alarming as his injury was, the terrifying incident carries a secondary risk: It is focusing attention on a single, dramatic outlier rather than the chronic medical conditions that pose by far the greatest danger to players. (Chris Nowinski, 1/9)
The Washington Post: Food As Medicine? It’s Not As Simple As It Sounds.
Ever since I was a doctor fresh out of residency, I have prescribed food to my patients to prevent and treat chronic health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease. But health insurance had never covered the cost of a healthy meal, which means some patients cannot afford the healthy diet I’ve given them. (Daphne Miller, 1/8)
