Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Lawyers Claim Police Did Not Obstruct Breathing Of Prude
The Washington Post: Attorneys For Police Officers Suspended In Daniel Prude Case Challenge Autopsy Findings
Lawyers for seven Rochester, N.Y., police officers suspended in connection with the death of Daniel Prude questioned the results of Prude’s autopsy Thursday and said the tactics officers used to pin Prude to the ground were done in accordance with state-sanctioned training. The lawyers said at a news conference that the two officers who used force by pinning Prude to the pavement carried out the restraint maneuver in a by-the-book fashion after being trained by local authorities this year and when they were recruited. Lawyers claim the officers did not obstruct Prude’s breathing by covering his mouth or nose and did not apply pressure to his neck or upper back. (Jacobs, 10/1)
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US News & World Report: Experts: Tackling Poverty And Racism As Public Health Crises Requires Rapid Action
Late last month, the Healthcare Anchor Network, a coalition of more than three dozen health systems in 45 states and Washington, D.C., released a public statement declaring: "It is undeniable: Racism is a public health crisis." In the wake of the killing of George Floyd in May, many states, cities and counties across the United States issued similar declarations, according to the American Public Health Association. While it is becoming clear that ZIP code may matter more to longevity than genetic code, some public health experts have been sounding the alarm for decades. Indeed, poverty and racism have an enormous – and devastating – impact on health, according to a panel of experts brought together for a webinar hosted by U.S. News & World Report as part of the Community Health Leadership Forum, a new virtual event series. (Levine, 10/1)
NPR: The Black Doctors Working To Make Coronavirus Testing More Equitable
When the coronavirus arrived in Philadelphia in March, Dr. Ala Stanford hunkered down at home with her husband and kids. She's a pediatric surgeon with a private practice, and staff privileges at a few suburban Philadelphia hospitals. For weeks, most of her usual procedures and patient visits were canceled. So she found herself, like a lot of people, spending the days in her pajamas, glued to the TV. And then, at the beginning of April, she started seeing media reports indicating that Black people were contracting the coronavirus and dying from COVID-19 at greater rates than everyone else. (Feldman, 10/1)
Stat: A Black Doctor Returns Home After Treating Covid-19 In New York
When the tumultuous history of 2020 is written, no one will argue that Joseph Gallien didn’t have a front-row seat. In March, Gallien was finishing his residency in emergency medicine in Manhattan just as the novel coronavirus was overwhelming New York City. At 31, he was making life-or-death decisions while confronting a disease for which there was no treatment, no cure, and little knowledge. (Glaser, 10/2)
