Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Caregivers In Prison; Medicare For All; Drunken Driving Laws
The New York Times Magazine: Where Both Patients And Caregivers Are Prisoners
Inked in tattoos from neck to knuckle, Kevion Lyman rose from his bunk at dawn, pulled scrubs over his skinny frame, stepped out of his cell and set out for work. The 27-year-old strolled down the long central hallway connecting the different wings of the prison, past the dining hall, the solitary-confinement unit for violent offenders and the psych ward. Pushing open the big steel doors, he reported for his morning shift in the hospice. (Suleika Jaouad, 5/16)
CBS News: Gynecological Mesh: The Medical Device That Has 100,000 Women Suing
There is tremendous controversy about a surgical device implanted in more than two million American women. It's a strip of plastic called gynecological mesh. (Scott Pelley, 5/13)
BuzzFeed News: The Medicare For All Debate Isn't Settled For Democrats In Many Swing Districts
When some moderate and left-leaning voters say “Medicare for All” sounds like a pretty good idea, they aren’t actually thinking about single-payer health care. Instead, they're thinking about simply expanding the program to include more seniors or children, or offering a public option that people can buy into. (Molly Hensley-Clancy, 5/15)
The Atlantic: The New Ebola Outbreak Could Take 'Three Months' To Control
The Democratic Republic of Congo is currently fighting its ninth Ebola outbreak—and Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum is as calm as ever. Warm, round-faced, and preternaturally chill, Muyembe was the first scientist to encounter Ebola during the first-ever outbreak in 1976, and he has been involved in studying and fighting the disease ever since. (Ed Yong, 5/11)
Mother Jones: How The Booze Lobby Has Helped Kill A Law That Would Save 1,800 Lives Every Year
On a Thursday morning in late February, Utah state Sen. Jim Dabakis (D) had breakfast, downed a couple of mimosas, and caught a ride to the state capitol, where he introduced a bill to to delay the implementation of the nation’s strictest drunk-driving law. Passed in March 2017, the measure would lower the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit for drivers from .08 to .05 percent. (Stephanie Mencimer, 5/11)
The New York Times Magazine: Trying To Put A Value On The Doctor-Patient Relationship
The question of what the role of a primary-care physician should be, and how it should be valued, has perhaps never been more urgent. That figure, typically a general practitioner, family doctor or internist, is a patient’s first and often most personal connection to the rest of the health care system. But well-known corporations are betting that Americans would prefer to have health care “delivered” by a trusted brand rather than a trusted physician. (Kim Tingley, 5/16)
The New York Times: Where Both Patients And Caregivers Are Prisoners
Inked in tattoos from neck to knuckle, Kevion Lyman rose from his bunk at dawn, pulled scrubs over his skinny frame, stepped out of his cell and set out for work. The 27-year-old strolled down the long central hallway connecting the different wings of the prison, past the dining hall, the solitary-confinement unit for violent offenders and the psych ward. Pushing open the big steel doors, he reported for his morning shift in the hospice. (Suleika Jaouad, 5/16)
