Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hospital Bills Due To Gun Injuries Cost $6.6 Billion Over Last 8 Years
Los Angeles Times: Gun Injuries Cost Americans $730 Million A Year In Hospital Bills
Americans paid more than $6.6 billion over eight years to care for victims of gun violence, according to a new tally of hospital bills. And U.S. taxpayers picked up at least 41% of that tab. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, say the authors of a study published this week in the American Journal of Public Health. Their sum does not include the initial — and very costly — bill for gunshot victims’ care in emergency rooms. Nor does it include hospital readmissions to treat complications or provide follow-up care. The cost of rehabilitation, or of ongoing disability, is not included either. (Healy, 3/22)
The New York Times: 9 Deaths Are Linked To Rare Cancer From Breast Implants
A rare cancer first linked to breast implants in 2011 has now been associated with nine deaths, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday. As of Feb. 1, the agency had received a total of 359 reports of the cancer associated with the implants. The deaths were not caused by breast cancer, the agency said, but by a rare malignancy in the immune system, anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. (Grady, 3/21)
Denver Post: Englewood Doctor Studying Drugs Aimed At Fighting Lewy Body Dementia
[Dr. Rajeev] Kumar explained that Lewy body dementia is caused by the accumulation of the protein, alpha-synuclein, in the brain. The abnormally processed protein clumps together and impacts patients’ cognitive functions including the ability to plan and process information, ability to pay attention and ability to get rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep. Patients are known to physically act out their dreams, sometimes violently. The disorder is also linked to Parkinsonism — stiffness, tremors, slowness that come with the disease’s better-known related disorder, Parkinson’s disease. Behavior and mood problems including depression and anxiety and even hallucinations and delusions may develop. (Rubino, 3/21)
The New York Times: Vitamin E And Selenium Fail To Prevent Alzheimer’s
Some research has suggested that vitamin E and selenium supplements might lower the risk for Alzheimer’s disease, but a new long-term trial has found no evidence that they will. (Bakalar, 3/21)
The Washington Post: FDA OKs New Drug As Add-On Treatment For Parkinson’s
U.S. regulators have approved the first new drug in a decade for Parkinson’s disease, a chronic neurological disorder that causes tremors and movement difficulties. The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it has approved Xadago for use when a patient’s regular medicines aren’t working well. The pill was tested in two six-month studies that included about 1,200 patients taking a standard treatment, levodopa. (Johnson, 3/21)
The Washington Post: Health Leaders Call For Immediate Action To Curb Smoking In The U.S.
Every year cigarette smoking contributes to about 1 in 5 deaths in the United States. A group of prominent health leaders called for the immediate implementation of national action to reduce the number of smokers in the country by 15 million in a report published last week. (Naqvi, 3/21)
WBUR: Harvard Scientists Call For Better Rules To Guide Research On 'Embryoids'
How far should scientists be allowed to go in creating things that resemble primitive human brains, hearts, and even human embryos? That's the question being asked by a group of Harvard scientists who are doing exactly that in their labs. They're using stem cells, genetics and other new biological engineering techniques to create tissues, primitive organs and other living structures that mimic parts of the human body. Their concern is that they and others doing this type of "synthetic biology" research might be treading into disturbing territory. (Stein, 3/21)
The Washington Post: A Big Thing Marijuana Opponents Warned You About Is Definitely Not Happening
A state-run survey of 37,000 middle and high school students in Washington state finds that marijuana legalization there has had no effect on youngsters' propensity to use the drug. The Washington State Healthy Youth Survey found that the 2016 rate of marijuana use was basically unchanged since 2012, when the state voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use. In the survey, researchers used the measure of “monthly use,” asking students across all grade levels whether they'd used the drug within the past month. (Ingraham, 3/21)
Orange County Register: What Lifestyle Prevents Heart Disease? California Cardiologist Looks To The Amazon For Answers
A Southern California cardiologist’s study of indigenous South Americans found that an extremely healthy lifestyle appears to prevent coronary artery disease, a leading cause of death in the U.S. Dr. Gregory Thomas, medical director of the Heart and Vascular Institute at Long Beach Memorial, helped lead the research project that was published Friday, March 17, in the British journal The Lancet. Researchers took CT scans of the hearts of 705 Tsimane adults who live in the Bolivian Amazon. (Perkes, 3/21)
Seattle Times: Rare, Often Fatal, Respiratory Disease Carried By Mice — Hantavirus — Confirmed In King County
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) is the severe respiratory disease in humans caused by infection with hantavirus. Anyone who comes into contact with rodents that carry hantavirus is at risk, according to the CDC. Rodent infestation in and around the home remains the primary risk for hantavirus exposure. There are no reported cases of hantavirus in the U.S. in which the disease was transmitted from one person to another, according to the CDC. (Young, 3/21)
Stat: For Insect Detectives, The Trickiest Cases Involve The Bugs That Aren't There
Officially, as a scientist in the state Experiment Station’s insect inquiry office, Gale Ridge’s job is to help the public with many-legged creatures that actually exist. She has an “open-door policy”: Anyone can walk in, ring the service bell, and benefit from her expertise...But her most difficult cases haven’t involved spiders or bedbugs or chiggers or mites. Instead, the hardest bugs she has to deal with are the ones that aren’t really there. She labels these cases DP, short for delusional parasitosis. Some entomologists prefer Ekbom syndrome, because it carries less stigma. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which most psychiatrists use, the condition is listed as one kind of delusional disorder, defined as an unshakeable belief that you are being attacked by bugs or parasites even when there is no evidence of infestation. (Boodman, 3/22)
