Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Dying In The US? It'll Cost You More Now Than Pre-Pandemic
Axios: The Average "Cost Of Dying" In The U.S. Shot Up 14.3% In 2020
If anything is certain in life, it's death and taxes. And in some states, the former is a heck of a lot more expensive, according to data released by Self Financial. Using 2020 figures from the National Funeral Directors Association and the CDC, the group looked at the average 'cost of dying' across the U.S. based on the price of end-of-life care, funerals and cremations. (Reed, 5/12)
In other public health news —
The Washington Post: Are ‘Covid Nails’ A Sign You Had The Virus? Experts Weigh In.
news reports and social media posts have documented visible changes in the nails of some covid-19 survivors, most commonly in the form of horizontal grooves. Dubbed “COVID nails” by a U.K.-based epidemiologist who tweeted about the markings earlier this month, the anecdotal reports have prompted assertions that it could be a way to tell whether you’ve had the virus. Other experts, however, caution against relying on your nails as proof that you may have been infected. “Whether it comes to nail changes or skin rashes or hair loss, these are not necessarily things that covid does because it’s covid,” said Jeffrey Weinberg, an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai in New York. Those symptoms, Weinberg said, “could happen with anything that perturbs the body.” (Chiu, 5/12)
The Washington Post: JetBlue Passenger Faces $10,500 Fine After Coughing And Blowing His Nose Into A Blanket
The Federal Aviation Administration announced this week that it had proposed a civil penalty of $10,500 against a JetBlue passenger whose disruptive behavior on a flight included coughing and blowing his nose into a blanket. “The FAA alleges the passenger repeatedly ignored, and was abusive to, flight attendants who instructed him to wear a face mask,” the agency said in a news release. “The passenger’s disruptive behavior diverted flight crew members from their duties.” (Sampson, 5/12)
KHN: Another Pandemic ‘To Do’ On The List For Schools: Contact Tracing
Chris Hodges, the principal of Gaylord High School in Otsego County, Michigan, never thought he’d be a contact tracer. “I definitely thought, you know, ‘Why — why am I doing this?’” he said with a laugh. “That’s not what I went to school for.” In what has become a regular part of his school day, Hodges fields reports on his charges such as hearing from the Health Department of Northwest Michigan that a student had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was in school for three days when she might have been contagious. (Dahlberg, 5/13)
Also —
Philadelphia Inquirer: Fewer New Prescriptions For Addiction Treatment Drug Were Written During The Pandemic, As Overdose Deaths Have Spiked
Even as overdose deaths rose nationwide last year, new prescriptions for buprenorphine -- widely considered the gold standard for opioid addiction treatment -- were lower than usual, a Princeton University study has found. The study, published recently in JAMA Network Open, projected what prescribing levels for buprenorphine and opioid painkillers would have been in 2020 had the COVID-19 pandemic not taken place, based on prescribing data from previous years. (Whelan, 5/12)
AP: Report On Campus Doctor Raises Flags About Iconic Coach
A report about the stunning lack of action at the University of Michigan while a rogue doctor was sexually assaulting hundreds of young men has cast an unflattering light at one of the school's giants, the late football coach Bo Schembechler, whose bronze statue stands on campus. Schembechler, who led the team from 1969-89, was vividly told by at least four people that Robert Anderson had molested them during routine physicals or other exams, according to the report commissioned by the university. Yet, the report says, he took no direct steps and even told one man to "toughen up." (White and Householder, 5/12)
KHN: Behind The Byline: The Quest To Bring Spanish Language To KHN
About 37 million people in the United States speak Spanish at home and consume information in Spanish, according to one estimate. Knowing this, and building on decades of experience as a health journalist, ethnic media editor Paula Andalo developed a strategy to bring KHN’s coverage to Spanish speakers. She has forged partnerships with Spanish-language news outlets across the United States and in Latin American countries. (Andalo, 5/13)
