Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Indiana City's Top Medical Researcher Resigns, Cites Mayor's Meddling
Indianapolis Star: Fishers Health Department: Epidemiologist Resigns, Cites Meddling
The epidemiologist for the newly-formed Fishers Health Department has resigned, alleging Mayor Scott Fadness meddled in the agency and could be pushing schools to open classrooms too soon. "This is a level of interference I had never seen before in a public health agency,” said Eileen White, the department’s only epidemiologist who had previously worked for the Indiana and Minnesota health departments. “I have never seen a health department set up as a business before.” (Tuohy, 8/13)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: For Health Care ‘Heroes,’ Death Toll Keeps Rising
An investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that Georgia officials have undercounted deaths among health care workers by as much as 30%. At the same time, few medical facilities acknowledge the workers’ deaths in public, much less that they could have been infected on the job. (Judd, 8/14)
Kaiser Health News and The Guardian: ‘Is This When I Drop Dead?’ Two Doctors Report From The COVID Front Lines
Health workers across the country looked on in horror when New York became the global epicenter of the coronavirus. Now, as physicians in cities such as Houston, Phoenix and Miami face their own COVID-19 crises, they are looking to New York, where the caseload has since abated, for guidance. The Guardian sat in on a conversation with two emergency room physicians — one in New York and the other in Houston — about what happened when COVID-19 arrived at their hospitals. (Renwick, 8/14)
Kaiser Health News and The Guardian: Lost On The Frontline: Explore The Interactive Database
Hundreds of U.S. health care workers have died fighting COVID-19. We count them and investigate why.
KQED: Doctors And Nurses Are Not Doing Okay
The unflappable health care heroes of the current crisis are beginning to crack under the strain. Doctors, nurses and other professionals are not only fighting an intractable virus day after day, they're also coping with isolation, shifting official guidelines and limited ways to recharge. A study published in June by researchers from UCSF and other universities showed emergency medicine physicians reporting a median 60% increase in emotional exhaustion and burnout over prepandemic levels. (McClurg, 8/13)
GMA: Dentists Push Back After New Warning From WHO To Delay Routine Dental Checkups In Areas Where COVID Is Spreading
Dentists are fighting tooth and nail to get back to business amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization released its new recommendation that people should put off "routine" check-ups in areas where the virus is spreading until more is known about coronavirus transmission risk during dental procedures. (McCarthy, 8/13)
Boston Globe: Michael Apkon, Tufts Medical CEO, Steps Down After Less Than Two Years On The Job
Dr. Michael Apkon is stepping down as chief executive of Tufts Medical Center after less than two years on the job. Apkon, 60, who took the position after serving as the CEO of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, plans to work with “elected leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators to improve health care policy and accelerate change in the industry,” Tufts Medical said in a statement Thursday. He will depart next month. (Edelman, 8/13)
And in a survey of doctors, many say their practice doesn't overprescribe antibiotics —
Stat: Most Doctors Say They're Not Part Of The Problem Of Antibiotic Resistance
Amid growing concerns over antibiotic resistance, a new survey finds the vast majority of doctors acknowledge a problem exists and believe inappropriate prescribing most often occurs in physician offices. But at the same time, many doctors do not believe their own practices are to blame, a lack of recognition that contributes to a worsening public health crisis. (Silverman, 8/13)
CIDRAP: Survey Highlights Stewardship Barriers In Primary Care
A new survey of US primary care physicians shows that a vast majority recognize that antibiotic resistance and inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics are problems in the nation's outpatient settings. The issue is that far fewer see it as their problem. In the survey of 1,500 primary care physicians, conducted by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the American Medical Association (AMA) from August 2018 through October 2018, 93% agreed that antibiotic resistance is a problem in the United States, and 91% agreed that inappropriate antibiotic prescribing is a problem in outpatient healthcare. (Dall, 8/13)
