Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Infant Walkers Are Leading To Skull Fractures And 'Have No Benefit Whatsoever'
The New York Times: Don’t Use Infant Walkers
More than 230,000 children younger than 15 months were treated in emergency rooms for injuries incurred while using infant walkers from 1990 to 2014. An analysis published in Pediatrics has found that 6,539 of them had skull fractures, 91 percent of them from falling down stairs. The devices are banned in Canada, and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that they be banned in the United States as well. (Bakalar, 9/17)
NPR: Babies Still Injured In Infant Walkers, Doctors Call For Ban
"I view infant walkers as inherently dangerous objects that have no benefit whatsoever and should not be sold in the U.S.," says Dr. Benjamin Hoffman, a pediatrician who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention. More than 230,000 children under 15 months old were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments for skull fractures, concussions, broken bones and other injuries related to infant walkers from 1990 through 2014, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics published Monday. (Cohen, 9/17)
The Associated Press: Few Safeguards For Foster Kids On Psych Drugs
Thousands of children in foster care may be getting powerful psychiatric drugs prescribed to them without basic safeguards, according to a federal watchdog's investigation that finds a failure to care for youngsters whose lives have already been disrupted. The report due Monday from the Health and Human Services inspector general's office found that about 1 in 3 foster kids from a sample of states were prescribed psychiatric drugs without treatment plans or follow-up, which are considered standard for sound medical care. (9/17)
Concord (N.H.) Monitor: Mental Health Issues Common Among Youth At Sununu Center
New Hampshire was rocked this May when a federal investigative group reported a child with emotional disabilities suffered a fractured shoulder due to illegal physical restraint at the Sununu Youth Detention Center. Yet the issues surrounding children with behavioral health disabilities and the juvenile justice system have long been a struggle in the Granite State. (Andrews, 9/16)
The New York Times: For Kids With Concussions, Less Time Alone In A Dark Room
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a major new guideline on diagnosing and managing head injuries in children on Sept. 4, the product of years of work and extensive evidence review by a large working group of specialists in fields ranging from emergency medicine and epidemiology to sports injuries to neurology and neurosurgery. The guideline, which is the first from the C.D.C. that is specific to mild brain injury in children, advises against the long recovery period, isolated in a dark, quiet room, that has sometimes been used in treatment. (Klass, 9/17)
The Associated Press: Doctors Group Recommends Support For Transgender Children
A doctors group took a stand in support of transgender children Monday, offering advice in what it called "a rapidly evolving" field. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended support for kids who change their names or hairstyles to affirm their chosen gender identity. The group said children are more likely to have better physical and mental health with such support. (9/17)
