Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Maine Chosen For Pfizer's Lyme Disease Vaccine Trial
AP: Pfizer To Conduct Lyme Disease Vaccine Trial In Maine
Pfizer has partnered with a Maine health care system to conduct the third phase of a Lyme disease clinical trial to test the efficacy of the company’s vaccine. The trial, held at Northern Light Health system in Brewer, will span over 13 months and require patients to take two shots two months apart. In March, the patients will need to take a booster shot before the next summer’s tick season , The Bangor Daily News reported last week. (6/1)
In related news about Lyme disease —
AP: West Virginia Governor Confirms Lyme Disease Diagnosis
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said blood tests confirmed that he has Lyme disease. Justice announced the diagnosis Wednesday night, more than a week after he began feeling ill after events in Wheeling and Blacksville. The Republican governor said he will remain on antibiotics for several weeks to continue fighting the infection. (6/2)
In news about alopecia —
AP: Pinkett Smith Talks Hair-Loss 'Shame,' Outcome Of Oscar Slap
Jada Pinkett Smith turned her husband’s Oscar-night blowup into a teachable moment about alopecia areata, the hair-loss disorder affecting her and millions of others that, in some cases, can impact a person’s sense of identity. ... The actor said she chose to use “this moment to give our alopecia family an opportunity to talk about what it’s like to have this condition” and what it is. Her guests included the mother of a 12-year-old girl, Rio Allred, who was bullied over her hair loss and died by suicide, and a physician who explained the different types of the disorder. Before tackling the subject, Pinkett Smith addressed events at the March 27 Academy Awards. She and husband Will Smith, a best-actor nominee, were in the audience as presenter Chris Rock cracked a joke at Pinkett Smith’s expense. (Elber, 6/1)
AP: EXPLAINER: Alopecia Affects Millions, Including Kids
Alopecia can come on quickly, is unpredictable and can be incredibly tough to deal with mentally, said Brett King, a hair loss expert at Yale Medicine, told The Associated Press in March. “Imagine if you woke up today missing half of an eyebrow,” he said. “That unpredictability is one of the things that’s so mentally treacherous and awful because you have no control of it ... it’s a disease that strips people of their identity.” (Whitehurst, 6/1)
On wheelchair usage —
Stateline: Wheelchair Users Say States Should Spend New Road Money On Safety
On a Sunday afternoon in May 2021, Patsy Ellison left her Knoxville, Tennessee, apartment in her motorized wheelchair and started to cross a nearby street, as she often did. She never made it. Even though there was a stop sign, a Dodge Ram pickup truck turning into the intersection struck and killed Ellison, who was 62. The driver told police he didn’t see her in the roadway. “We were just devastated. She was such a good person. It’s still hard,” her great-niece Destiny Dozard said in an interview with Stateline. “I have a 5-year-old, and he talks about it every day. He’s still traumatized.” (Bergal, 6/1)
KHN: Despite A First-Ever ‘Right-To-Repair’ Law, There’s No Easy Fix For Wheelchair Users
Robin Bolduc isn’t the type of person who takes “no” for an answer — particularly when it comes to fixing her husband’s wheelchair. Her husband, Bruce Goguen, 69, is paralyzed from multiple sclerosis. And without his chair, he would be stuck in bed, at risk of developing pneumonia or pressure sores that could lead to sepsis and death. When components of the chair wear out or break down, the road to repair is littered with obstacles. Recently, the Broomfield, Colorado, residents had to replace a button that Goguen presses with his head to control his wheelchair. They considered going through his wheelchair supplier for the repairs. (Hawryluk, 6/2)
Also —
The Washington Post: ‘Body Doubling,’ An ADHD Productivity Tool, Is Flourishing Online
One day in April of 2021, Lindsey Bee decided it was time to deal with the laundry “doom piles” that had formed around her house. So she did what many people do when faced with a boring task. She turned to TikTok. But she wasn’t there to procrastinate. For an hour, Bee, a teacher in her 30s, live-streamed herself sorting the clothes on her account dedicated to ADHD: brainsandspoons. As the live stream went on, viewers jumped in to do their own laundry “with” her. “Everybody was so encouraging,” said Bee, who learned she has ADHD as an adult. “It made it really feel like a group project, not just me by myself on camera. It definitely made the time go by faster.” The ADHD community calls the practice “body doubling.” (Ables, 6/1)
Roll Call: Proposed Menthol Ban Highlights Debate Over ‘Sin Tax’ Revenue
A proposed federal ban on menthol cigarettes has underscored the tension lawmakers face in using so-called “sin tax” revenue to fund critical social programs at the state and federal levels. For decades, states have used sin taxes — excise taxes placed on things like tobacco, alcohol and gambling — for health, education and other public programs. Revenue has fallen over the years along with smoking rates, and the Food and Drug Administration’s recent proposal to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars could trigger an even sharper decline. (Clason, 6/2)
