Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Martin Shkreli; Howard Dean; And Faulty Mammogram Advice
The New Yorker: Martin Shkreli Is Still Talking
On a recent evening, Martin Shkreli was drinking beer at Tuttles, a bar in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan that has sticky wooden tables and sports playing on TV. He was taking a break from two activities that now consume much of his time: writing computer code for a new company he heads and meeting with his lawyers in anticipation of his upcoming criminal fraud trial. (Sheelah Kolhatkar, 4/9)
Vox: Howard Dean Was Warning People About The Opioid Crisis A Decade Ago
Certainly it’s hard to imagine the unexpected success of Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama’s campaigns without Howard Dean’s insurgent 2003-2004 presidential run. Dean inspired thousands of new youth organizers, pioneered the use of digital technologies for political campaigns, and amassed sizable funds through many modest donations. ... The doctor turned popular Vermont Governor’s catchphrase was that he was from "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," and he was blunt about both his own side’s and the Bush administration’s failings. (Alexander Bisley, 4/12)
New York Magazine: We Need To Talk About Frankie
Prescribing anti-psychotics to children is not uncommon. A 2015 Journal of the American Medical Association study found that in 2010, 418,000 kids under 12 were prescribed an anti-psychotic annually, which is not to say that that many children have psychotic disorders. According to a 2011 Pediatrics study of foster-care children given anti-psychotics, only a quarter were diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. More than half of them were diagnosed with ADHD. An increasing number of children receiving these drugs are toddlers. (Dyan Neary, 4/11)
FiveThirtyEight: Some Doctors Are Giving Mammogram Advice That Could Hurt Women
The debate over the effectiveness and use of mammography has been raging for more than two decades. Although mammograms are often promoted as an insurance policy against breast cancer, screening has potential risks as well as benefits, and the evidence shows that overall, mammograms harm more women than they help. As I’ve written previously, the decision about whether it’s worth it to undergo a test that’s much more likely to result in a false alarm or unnecessary treatment than to save a life is a value judgment, not a scientific one. (Christie Aschwanden, 4/10)
The Atlantic: What Is It Like To Regain A Sense Of Touch, Only To Lose It Again?
When Nathan Copeland came to, he knew he was paralyzed. ... A helicopter landed in the nearby baseball field. Copeland started crying. He hadn’t even wanted a driver’s license, but he needed one for the half-hour drive to Fayette, where he’d just started studying nanotechnology at a branch of Pennsylvania State University. He’d been rushing that night in the rain. He took a corner too fast. His tires hit mud, the car hit the guardrail. (Rachel Mabe, 4/10)
Vox: Why I Gave My Kidney To A Stranger — And Why You Should Consider Doing It Too
On Monday, August 22, 2016, a surgical team at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore removed my left kidney. It was then drained of blood, flushed with a preservative solution, placed on ice, and flown to Cincinnati.Surgeons in Cincinnati then transplanted the kidney into a recipient I’d never met and whose name I didn’t know; we didn’t correspond until this past month. (Dylan Matthews, 4/11)
