Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
The Atlantic: We're About To Find Out How Much Americans Like Vaccines
Empowering Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will test one of American public health’s greatest successes. (Engber, 11/20)
The Wall Street Journal: How Froot Loops Landed at the Center of U.S. Food Politics
Many companies over the years have sought to shed additives to appease consumers’ desire for simpler ingredients. But U.S. shoppers have sometimes revolted when food makers switched to more natural, but less colorful and less tasty, alternatives. At the same time, some companies sell dye-free versions of U.S. products in other countries. Some overseas governments restrict the use of certain food dyes. (Newman, 11/21)
Undark: The Delicate Path Of Treating Addiction Among Doctors
The darkest moment in Courtney Barrows McKeown’s path to recovery came when she considered driving over a bridge. As she tells it, she had been drinking from a bottle of wine and contending with feelings of hopelessness and shame; a routine test had come back positive for alcohol, and she had just learned she’d been fired from her surgical fellowship as a result. After half an hour, she decided to call her psychiatrist, who set in motion a series of supports that brought McKeown back from the edge. She said it was a relief. (Klotz, 11/20)
The Wall Street Journal: $500,000 Pay, Predictable Hours: How Dermatology Became the ‘It’ Job in Medicine
Four-day workweeks, double the salary of some colleagues and no emails at night. If those perks sound like they belong to a few vaunted tech jobs, think again. Dermatologists boast some of medicine’s most enviable work lives, and more aspiring doctors are vying for residency spots in the specialty. “It’s ungodly competitive,” says Dr. Lindsey Zubritsky, a dermatologist in Ocean Springs, Miss., who finished her residency in 2018 and now splits her time between clinical work with patients and her social-media feed, where the “dermfluencer” has three million followers on TikTok and Instagram. (Chen, 11/18)
PBS NewsHour: How A New Fungi Study Could Affect How We Think About Cognition
A species of wood-eating fungus didn’t need a brain to pass a cognitive test with flying colors, and researchers say this first-of-its-kind discovery could have broader implications for understanding consciousness and intelligence in a variety of life forms. A team of researchers at Japan’s Tohoku University, led by Yu Fukasawa, associate professor in the Graduate School of Agricultural Science, set out to determine whether fungi could recognize shapes. (Hoang, 11/21)
