Longer Looks: The Threat To Abortion, Trump And Drug Prices & What CBD Can Do
Each week, KHN's Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
The New Yorker:
A Supreme Court Reporter Defines The Threat To Abortion Rights
Both the Georgia and Alabama laws are sure to be challenged in court, but the legal climate surrounding abortion is different than it was just last year. After the replacement of the Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy with Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Chief Justice John Roberts is the swing vote, and many conservatives have reason to hope that the Court will rule in favor of new restrictions on abortion and eventually even overturn Roe v. Wade. (Isaac Chotiner, 5/14)
The Atlantic:
Everything Trump Has And Hasn't Done About Drug Prices
Drug prices are still increasing. While growth in spending on drugs has slowed in recent years, total national spending continues to grow. Americans spend more than anyone else in the world. The average person spends $1,025 per year on medication—an inflation-adjusted increase of elevenfold since 1960. (James Hamblin, 5/10)
Wired:
'Heartbeat' Bills Get The Science Of Fetal Heartbeats All Wrong
The political aim of so-called heartbeat bills is pretty clear. Some Americans would like to ban abortion altogether, but the Supreme Court says that’s unconstitutional. So they advocate for increasingly draconian laws that walk up to that line. Less straightforward, though, is the science. What the bills call a heartbeat—it's not that. (Adam Rogers, 5/14)
The New York Times:
Can CBD Really Do All That?
When Catherine Jacobson first heard about the promise of cannabis, she was at wits’ end. Her 3-year-old son, Ben, had suffered from epileptic seizures since he was 3 months old, a result of a brain malformation called polymicrogyria. Over the years, Jacobson and her husband, Aaron, have tried giving him at least 16 different drugs, but none provided lasting relief. They lived with the grim prognosis that their son — whose cognitive abilities never advanced beyond those of a 1-year-old — would likely continue to endure seizures until the cumulative brain injuries led to his death. (Velasquez-Manoff, 5/14)
Vox:
The Sackler Family Made Their Fortune In Opioids — And Museums Are Rejecting Their Donations
Wherever you go in the art world, you’ll run into one prominent name: the Sackler family. The Smithsonian has the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a Sackler Wing; the Louvre does, too (the Sackler Wing of Oriental Antiquities). There’s a Sackler Museum at Harvard and a Sackler Center for Arts Education at the Guggenheim. (Kelsey Piper, 5/15)
