Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Lyft's First Safety Report Reveals 4,000 Sexual Assaults Over 3 Years
The Washington Post: Lyft Releases First Safety Report Finding More Than 4,000 Sexual Assaults Dating Back To 2017
Lyft collected more than 4,000 reports of sexual assault on its app dating from 2017 through 2019, in its long-promised first safety report showing the extent of the safety problems on it app. The company quietly released its safety report on Thursday — nearly two years after rival Uber released a similar set of data for its app — which tabulated five categories of sexual assault in an effort to make clear the extent of the dangers on the ride-hailing app. It included data for nonconsensual kissing, touching and penetration, as well as attempted sexual penetration and nonconsensual kissing of nonsexual body parts. (Siddiqui, 10/22)
In other public health news —
UNC Media Hub: Naloxone Shortage Could Lead To Thousands Of Overdose Deaths
It was New Year’s Eve. Devin Lyall sat in the back bedroom of her drug dealer’s house. Her thin fingers fumbled with the syringe. Her fingers weren’t the only frail thing about her—in the past few months she had lost about 40 pounds, leaving her practically skin and bones. She was using Opana, a strong narcotic, melting the small, circular pills into a liquid that she could inject. (Mudd, 10/22)
KHN: ‘Down To My Last Diaper’: The Anxiety Of Parenting In Poverty
For parents living in poverty, “diaper math” is a familiar and distressingly pressing daily calculation. Babies in the U.S. go through six to 10 disposable diapers a day, at an average cost of $70 to $80 a month. Name-brand diapers with high-end absorption sell for as much as a half a dollar each, and can result in upwards of $120 a month in expenses. One in every three American families cannot afford enough diapers to keep their infants and toddlers clean, dry and healthy, according to the National Diaper Bank Network. For many parents, that leads to wrenching choices: diapers, food or rent? (Gold, 10/22)
Houston Chronicle: Scientists Want To See If Humans Can Hibernate Like Squirrels While Traveling In Deep Space
Books and movies have long conveyed the image of people slumbering in transparent pods as they hurtle through space. That future is far away, but a Houston research institute is providing $4 million in grants to bring that vision a little closer. Four teams of researchers will investigate clues to hibernation. One group will look to squirrels; another to prehistoric humans for clues about hibernation. A third team will put volunteers into 20-hour-per-day cold sleeps, and the final group will submerge liver tissues to test the notion of submerging astronauts in a below-freezing liquid to halt all bodily functions. The research could have immediate practical implications on Earth as well as for future space travel. (Leinfelder, 10/21)
