Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
The Washington Post: Hospital Food Is A Punchline. In New York, Fine-Dining Chefs Are Redefining It
The kitchens at these hospitals, including Lenox Hill, have undergone a dramatic transformation over the past five-plus years, ditching institutional frozen foods in favor of meals freshly prepared by chefs who previously spent their careers catering to heads of state and one-percenters, not patients in medical gowns. (Carman, 2/27)
Philadelphia Inquirer: A Jefferson Surgeon Ran Through The Philadelphia Half Marathon Route To Get A Liver For His Patient
With the clock ticking on his precious cargo of a human liver for transplant surgery, a van driver made good time on his way from New York to Philadelphia on a Saturday morning in November. Until he ran into thousands who were racing against a different clock: runners competing in the Dietz & Watson Philadelphia Half Marathon. (Avril, 2/24)
The New York Times: This Revolutionary Stroke Treatment Will Save Millions of Lives. Eventually
Kris Walterson doesn’t remember exactly how he got to the bathroom, very early on a Friday morning — only that once he got himself there, his feet would no longer obey him. He crouched down and tried to lift them up with his hands before sliding to the floor. He didn’t feel panicked about the problem, or even nervous really. But when he tried to get up, he kept falling down again: slamming his back against the bathtub, making a racket of cabinet doors. It didn’t make sense to him then, why his legs wouldn’t lock into place underneath him. He had a pair of fuzzy socks on, and he tried pulling them off, thinking that bare feet might get better traction on the bathroom floor. That didn’t work, either. (Holland, 3/1)
AP: How Officials Cracked Case Of Eyedrops That Blinded People
The investigation started in May in Los Angeles County, California. A patient who’d recently been to an ophthalmologist came in with a bad eye infection. A month later, local health officials got a second report. Another bad eye infection, same eye doctor. Two more cases were reported in the county before the summer was over. The patients’ eyes were inflamed with heavy yellow pus that obscured most of the pupil. Among the four, two had complete vision loss in the affected eye. (Stobbe, 2/28)
The Washington Post: A Writer With Aphasia Explains Its Devastating Effects On Communication
Imagine that you’re trying to talk, but you can’t get the words out — and then, if you finally do, no one understands what you’re saying. And you don’t understand what others are saying to you. That’s what it’s like to live with aphasia. Aphasia results from damage to the brain that affects speech and language comprehension. Frequently, aphasia follows a stroke, but it can also result from a traumatic brain injury; in my case, I suffered a “coup contrecoup injury with diffuse axonal shearing of the brain” — and, consequently, aphasia — when a drunk driver plowed into a parked car that I was sitting in one Tuesday morning in 2006. (Weiss, 2/25)
The Wall Street Journal: How Peptide Injections Became The Answer To Everything
After decades of turning to diet pills, steroids and plastic surgery to alter their bodies inside and out, people are increasingly open to an alternative method: injecting themselves with peptides at home. Proponents say that peptides—a broad category of substances including FDA-approved drugs, supplements and experimental treatments—can help them build lean muscle, shed weight, increase energy and get a dewy glow. Though the term has appeared on a range of consumer products for years, injectable peptides are getting more attention as celebrity doctors and influencers share stories of physiological transformations that go beyond diet and exercise. (O'Brien, 3/2)
Politico: Dodgy Science, Poor Access And High Prices: The Parallel Medical World Of Medicinal Marijuana In America
Jayden Carter is one of Michigan’s 207 minors with medical marijuana cards. He’s been a cardholder since he was 9 years old, qualifying for nausea, migraines and eventually autism. Jayden was diagnosed with Asperger’s, ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder when he was 2 years old. But the drug the Carters consider a lifesaver carries burdens of its own: Medical marijuana is legal for certain conditions in 39 states, four territories and the District of Columbia. Each has different requirements and regulations, but generally patients need a recommendation from one or two doctors to qualify for a medical marijuana card. Beyond that, however, patients who use medical marijuana in legal states do so almost entirely outside the traditional medical system. (Fertig, 2/27)
Reuters: Medical Tourism Looking Sickly As Patients Watch Their Spending
For years, travelling abroad to clinics in countries like Hungary and Turkey has been an option for British and North American patients who face long waits, high costs or both for dental and medical procedures at home. Operators had hoped for a rapid bounce back after curbs on travel were lifted. But inflation fueled by soaring energy and food prices since the Ukraine war started a year ago has left people with little money to spare, especially for cosmetic procedures. (Plucinska, 2/27)
