Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
The New York Times: Autopsies Have A History Of Costly Mistakes, Yet Change Is Slow
Emberly McLean-Bernard, born six weeks premature in rural Mississippi, weighed less than five pounds when doctors sent her home. She did not cry and barely ate, her mother said, and not two days elapsed before she began to gasp for breath. Jocelyn McLean rushed her daughter to the nearest emergency room, but the baby was already turning blue. The medical team went straight to code blue, pumping air into the baby’s lungs, trying to force an IV line into Emberly’s neck and scalp, prodding her with a rectal thermometer — but her vital signs kept failing. After four hours, they gave up. (Dewan, 6/20)
The Washington Post: After Rare Transplant, Two Women Share A Liver
Maria Contreras and Monica Davis share many things — including a vital organ. The two Ohio women, who refer to themselves as “split-liver sisters,” received a liver transplant on July 1, 2020. But it wasn’t an ordinary transplant surgery: They had a split-liver transplantation, in which a donor’s liver was divided into two distinct portions, which were then implanted into each patient. (Page, 6/22)
The Wall Street Journal: Death Of Man Who Received A Pig-Heart Transplant Remains A Mystery
Doctors can’t fully explain the death of the first recipient of a genetically modified pig heart, but they offered several theories in a new study—and said clinical trials of pig-to-human organ transplantation should begin despite the continuing mystery. (Marcus, 6/22)
The New York Times: Their Baby Died. Then A Boston Hospital Lost The Body
Everleigh Victoria McCarthy was born three months premature at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and weighed a little over two pounds. Soon after her birth on July 25, 2020, she developed massive bleeding in her brain. ... But on Aug. 6, when Everleigh was less than 2 weeks old, doctors told the couple that she would not survive. The baby was taken off the ventilator. ... When the funeral home tried to retrieve Everleigh’s body four days later, hospital employees said that they could not find her remains, according to a police report. The Boston police determined that the baby’s body “was probably mistaken as soiled linen” and discarded, officers wrote in the report. (Cramer, 6/23)
The Hill: New Remote Brain-Computer Interface Could Be Game-Changer For The Paralyzed
Researchers have made great strides toward eventually providing the more than 5 million people with paralysis in the U.S. more mobility and independence with the development of an experimental device called a brain-computer interface (BCI). In recent years, BCIs have successfully enabled dozens of study participants who lost the use of their limbs after strokes, accidents or diseases such as multiple sclerosis, to control a mouse cursor, keyboard, mobile device, wheelchair and even a robotic arm that provides sensory feedback to the patient, simply by using their own mind. The technology could be a gamechanger to help those with paralysis return to work and communicate more quickly and effectively. (Guzman, 6/21)
The New York Times: How Bad Are The Germs In Public Restrooms, Really?
“There are some health risks associated with public bathrooms,” said Erica Donner, a professor of environmental science at the University of South Australia. The size of the risk depends on many things, including how often the restroom is cleaned and how well ventilated it is, she said. But you can also take simple steps to protect yourself, said Dr. Donner, a co-author of a recent review of studies on infectious disease transmission in public restrooms. (Callahan, 6/21)
CBS News: Scientists Probe Japan's Remarkable COVID Success In Hunt For New Vaccine To Protect Some Of The Most Vulnerable
Japan's notable coronavirus pandemic resilience has generated scores of possible explanations, from the country's preference for going shoeless indoors, to the purportedly low-aerosol-generating nature of Japan's quiet conversation, to its citizens' beneficial gut bacteria. Even irreligiousness — said to have spared the Japanese from exposure to crowded houses of worship — has been touted as a virtue in the age of COVID-19. Despite having the world's oldest population, with almost one in three residents 65 or older, Japan has had fewer COVID fatalities per capita than almost any other developed nation. (Craft, 6/23)
Rite Aid shares its vision for the future —
The Washington Post: Rite Aid Wants To Put Your Pharmacist In Your Pocket Via Your Smartphone
Rite Aid President and CEO Heyward Donigan has a vision for the future of the pharmaceutical industry: People should be able to consult their local pharmacists via video or text from their smartphones. Donigan, who took on the leading role just months before the coronavirus pandemic, has been working to modernize the 60-year-old company that’s currently under restructuring. (Abril, 6/15)
Fortune: Rite Aid Was The Biggest Loser In The Pharmacy Wars. Here’s How The Former Giant Is Getting Back Into The Fight
Strolling into your local Rite Aid, there’s not much that separates the store from those of its biggest competitors, CVS and Walgreens. All the standard chain-pharmacy building blocks are there: rows of shampoo and painkillers, a snack aisle filled with brightly colored bags of potato chips, the “seasonal” section, stocked with plastic pumpkins or maybe pastel Easter baskets, and, of course, the pharmacy counter, usually tucked away near the back. But broaden the picture and that facade of similarity crumbles. Rite Aid, which was once the largest pharmacy chain in the country, is now just a minnow in the Big Pharmacy pond. (Wahba, 6/14)
