Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Opiates For Vets; Taking About Death; A Senior Moment In N.Y.
Center for Investigative Reporting: Opiates Handed Out Like Candy To ‘Doped-Up’ Veterans At Wisconsin VA
Doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Tomah, Wisconsin, hand out so many narcotic painkillers that some veterans have taken to calling the place “Candy Land.” They call the hospital’s chief of staff, psychiatrist Dr. David Houlihan, the “Candy Man.” ... Data obtained by CIR shows the number of opiate prescriptions at the Tomah VA more than quintupled from 2004, the year before Houlihan became chief of staff of the hospital, to 2012, even as the number of veterans seeking care at the hospital declined. In August, a 35-year-old Marine Corps veteran died of an overdose in the inpatient psychiatric ward. (Aaron Glantz, 1/8)
Center for Investigative Reporting: Alarm Over Wisconsin VA’s Troubles Follows Years Of Complaints
Politicians from both parties and government bureaucrats are rushing to look into allegations of rampant overmedication, retaliatory management practices and preventable overdose deaths at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tomah, Wisconsin, that The Center for Investigative Reporting revealed last week. (Aaron Glantz, 1/14)
Vox: How Americans' Refusal To Talk About Death Hurts The Elderly
This conversation isn't about death at all. "Death" is the word that confuses the conversation, that makes people too afraid, and too angry, and too frantic to keep talking. This conversation is really about autonomy. It is about what makes life worth living, and if, in keeping people alive for so long, we are consigning them to a fate worse than death. (Sarah Kliff, 1/11)
Politico Magazine: Seniors Take Manhattan
In 2007, WHO initiated an ambitious project to encourage age-friendly cities, with a range of goals that could apply to every metropolis in the world. The details included tangible things like non-slippery pavements, buildings with elevators, easy access to public toilets, and plenty of outdoor seating, along with fuzzier concepts like “respect and social inclusion.” New York was the first to join WHO’s global network of age-friendly cities. (Debra Bruno, 1/13)
