Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Gun Research; Kentucky's Medicaid; And Missouri's Death Penalty
Politico Magazine: What’s Missing From the Gun Debate
In March 1999, President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno called a meeting of representatives of several federal agencies to discuss what to do about school violence levels, which were high but not increasing. I showed the group a large poster on which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where I was then the director of the injury center, had plotted the frequency of school shootings involving multiple deaths. It showed a steady and frightening increase. I had hoped that this would move the Clinton administration to take rapid steps to prevent more such shootings. (Mark L. Rosenberg, 2/18)
NBC News: Work For It. What Trump’s Tough New Medicaid Rules Mean.
Every day that Steve Olshewsky can convince himself to get out of bed and face the world is a small victory in his eyes. After a series of panic attacks forced him out of work in 2009, Olshewsky returned to his hometown to recover with family. He's made great strides since then, thanks to medication and his work at Participation Station, a peer-run outpatient clinic for serious mental illness. There, he sits in on group sessions, teaches tai chi to members, and talks clients through rough days on the clinic phone line. (Benjy Sarlin, 2/20)
BuzzFeed News: Missouri Fought For Years To Hide Where It Got Its Execution Drugs. Now We Know What They Were Hiding.
The state of Missouri has engaged in a wide-ranging scheme — involving code names and envelopes stuffed with cash — to hide the fact that it paid a troubled pharmacy for the drugs it used to execute inmates. (Chris McDaniel, 2/20)
NBC News: #MeToo In Medicine: Women, Harassed In Hospitals And Operating Rooms, Await Reckoning
Sexual harassment against women in medicine has been studied for decades: A 1995 study found 52 percent of all women in academic medicine said they had been sexually harassed. But unlike Hollywood and other industries where allegations against powerful men have recently shined a light on inappropriate behavior, medicine has yet to have its #MeToo moment. Nonetheless, women in the field are hopeful that that is about to change. (Elizabeth Chuck, 2/20)
Philadelphia Magazine: Larry Krasner Sues Big Pharma, Drops All Marijuana Possession Charges
On the same day a Philly.com op-ed was published in which Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (and Mayor Kenney) admitted the failure that was the “War on Drugs,” in the 1980s and ’90s, the DA’s office announced that it is suing 10 pharmaceutical companies in connection with the opioid epidemic and is dropping all outstanding marijuana possession charges. (Joe Trinacria, 2/16)
Wired: Apple's Move To Share Health Care Records Is A Game-Changer
In late January, Apple previewed an iOS feature that would allow consumers to access their electronic health records on their phones. Skeptics said the move was a decade too late given a similar (and failed) effort from Google. Optimists argued that Apple was capable of translating health data into something meaningful for consumers. (Aneesh Chopra and Shafiq Rab, 2/19)
