Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Gun Manufacturers Defend Industry At Hearing; AR-15s Made Makers $1B
The Hill: Democrats, Gun Manufacturers Battle Over Violence, White Supremacy At Heated Hearing
When questioned by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on symbols of white nationalism and supremacy in their advertisements, such as the white-supremacist adopted Valknot, both CEOs denied having been aware of such symbols. But Ryan Busse, senior advisor at Gifford Law Center and former firearms executive, said the use of such imagery in marketing is “looked away from.” He added that racist imagery is “not properly controlled or addressed” in the gun industry. (Daniels, 7/27)
AP: AR-15 Style Guns Sold As A Sign Of Manhood As Shootings Rise
Gun makers have taken in more than $1 billion from selling AR-15-style guns over the past decade, at times marketing them as a way for young men to prove their masculinity, even as the number of mass shootings increases, according to a House investigation unveiled Wednesday. (Whitehurst, 7/27)
The Texas Tribune: Uvalde School Board Wants Special Legislative Session On Assault Rifle Laws
The Uvalde school board is formally urging Gov. Greg Abbott to call state lawmakers back to Austin so they can raise the legal age to buy assault rifles from 18 to 21, more than two months after a gunman used such a weapon to kill 19 elementary school students and two teachers days after he turned 18. (Edison, 7/25)
ABC News: Abbott Commits $1.25M For Trauma Counseling For Uvalde
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he will provide a $1.25 million grant to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District for counseling students and faculty impacted by the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. "As the community of Uvalde continues to heal, Texas continues working to help improve security and aid in the recovery among students and educators," Abbott said in a news release. (Grant, 7/28)
KHN: Watch: Navigating Social Media After Mass Shootings
A University of Pennsylvania professor shares advice on navigating the intersection of gun violence and social media as part of KHN’s new “Spotlight” interview series. Buffalo, New York. Uvalde, Texas. Highland Park, Illinois. Graphic imagery and news about the recent string of mass shootings has ricocheted across social media, and professor Desmond Patton shares advice on how to navigate it. Earlier this year, Patton, the Brian and Randi Schwartz university professor at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke with Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony about the wrapping of caskets in colorful images to pay tribute to young lives lost to trauma and violence. (Norman, 7/28)
In developments in HIV and AIDS —
The Wall Street Journal: Two HIV Patients Appear To Have Beaten Virus, Offering Hope For Cure
A 66-year-old man in Southern California and a woman in her 70s in Spain are the latest in a small group of people who appear to have beaten their HIV infections, providing researchers new clues to a possible cure at a time when Covid-19 and other crises are slowing progress against the spreading virus. (McKay, 7/27)
AP: Global AIDS Fight At Crossroads After Setbacks During COVID
The number of people on lifesaving HIV treatments grew more slowly last year than it has in a decade. Inequities are widening. Every two minutes last year, a teen girl or young woman was newly infected — and in sub-Saharan Africa, they’re three times as likely to get HIV as boys and men the same age. And 650,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses last year, the report found. (Neergaard, 7/27)
On vitamin D supplements —
AP: Study Casts More Doubt On Use Of High-Dose Vitamin D Pills
An estimated third of Americans 60 and older take the supplements and more than 10 million blood tests for vitamin D levels are performed annually -- despite years of controversy over whether the average older adult needs either. The newest findings -- added to other trials with similar results -- should end that debate, wrote Drs. Steven Cummings of California Pacific Medical Center and Clifford Rosen of Maine Medical Center Research Institute in a commentary in the medical journal. (Neergaard, 7/27)
The New York Times: Vitamin D Supplements Don’t Help Another Condition, Study Finds
But now, in the first large randomized controlled study in the United States, funded by the federal government, researchers report that vitamin D pills taken with or without calcium have no effect on bone fracture rates. The results, published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, hold for people with osteoporosis and even those whose blood tests deemed them vitamin D deficient. (Kolata, 7/27)
Also —
The Boston Globe: Did You Wake Up Sluggish And Irritable? Fewer Than 1 In 3 Americans Get ‘Restorative’ Sleep, Study Finds
Got seven or more hours of sleep, but still woke up feeling irritable, sluggish, and tired? You’re not the only one: Fewer than 1 in 3 Americans are getting the right of kind of sleep that leaves them feeling refreshed, energetic, and alert the next morning, a new study has found. (Pan, 7/27)
