Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Makers Of Lyme Disease Vaccine Say It Has 70% Efficacy, Will Seek FDA's OK
The Washington Post: Lyme Disease Vaccine Shows 70 Percent Efficacy, Pfizer Says
Four doses of an experimental vaccine to protect against Lyme disease reduced the number of tick-borne infections by more than 70 percent, according to Pfizer and Valneva, the pharmaceutical companies developing the shot. Pfizer said in a statement the companies are “confident in the vaccine’s potential” and plan to submit the data to regulatory authorities seeking approval. If successful, it could become the only Lyme disease vaccine available for people — although it would not be the first. (Johnson, 3/23)
More health and wellness news —
AP: Jehovah's Witnesses Ease Church Policy Against Blood Transfusions
Leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses are modifying their prohibition on receiving blood transfusions on religious grounds, now allowing members to decide whether to allow their own blood to be drawn and stored in advance for such things as a scheduled surgery with a risk of significant blood loss. But the organization is retaining its wider prohibition against receiving transfusions of others’ blood — a procedure routinely used with patients after accidents, violence or other blood loss. This long-held prohibition is one of the most distinctive and controversial teachings of the movement, which is headquartered in New York state and well-known for its assertive public proselytizing. (Smith, 3/20)
The New York Times: No Pills Or Needles, Just Paper: How Deadly Drugs Are Changing
The body lay slumped on the jail floor, curled around a metal toilet. Investigators found no evidence of homicide, just a few scraps of rolled-up paper, singed and scattered on the floor like scorched confetti. For months, inmates had been falling ill at the Cook County jail in Chicago. Officials said they had heard rumors that extremely toxic drugs were infiltrating the facility, delivered on something so ordinary that it seemed impossible to stop. Then the body appeared, and “something clicked,” said Justin Wilks, the head investigator at the jail. The paper itself must be the culprit — and it was deadly. (Ahmed and Richtel, 3/21)
San Francisco Chronicle: Early Schizophrenia Signs May Hold Key To Preventing Psychosis
The earliest signs of schizophrenia aren’t subtle. People may start hearing voices in their head, or becoming suspicious of others. They may feel like they’re being followed or wonder if a chip has been implanted in their brain. These symptoms are troubling, but on their own, they don’t necessarily mean someone has schizophrenia. Not yet. (Allday, 3/22)
CNBC: Menstrual Products Prices Skyrocketing From Inflation, Tariffs
Rising inflation and ever-changing tariff policies have led to higher prices across store shelves over the past few years, squeezing consumers’ budgets. An often overlooked example: menstrual products. (Neelakandan, 3/22)
Newsweek: Parents Warned After Unsafe Levels Of Toxic Lead Found In Kids’ Clothing
Parents may want to take a closer look at what their children are wearing after new research found unsafe levels of toxic lead in some items kids’ clothing—particularly those linked to fast fashion. Preliminary findings from the study conducted by undergraduate researchers show that several children’s shirts sold by popular retailers contained lead levels exceeding U.S. federal safety limits. (Gray, 3/23)
NBC News: Can You Trust Calorie Counts On Food Labels? What Nutrition Scientists Say
The math it took to calculate the number of calories in your favorite snack involved a lot more guesstimation than you may think. The Food and Drug Administration began requiring standardized nutrition labeling — including the number of calories per serving — on most packaged foods in 1990. Obesity rates skyrocketed in the United States over the next few decades, spurring a 2016 change to the rule to list calorie counts on nutrition labels in a large, bold font. (Sullivan, 3/22)
San Francisco Chronicle: Gut Microbiome May Shape Healthy Aging, Experts Say
The gut microbiome — the trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in your gastrointestinal tract — is having a moment. Research into the field, which is only about 20 years old, is booming, generating excitement among scientists and a curious public. (Ho, 3/22)
In obituaries —
The Washington Post: J. Michael Bishop, Who Illuminated Genetic Roots Of Cancer, Dies At 90
J. Michael Bishop, a microbiologist who shared a Nobel Prize in 1989 for research that illuminated the genetic roots of cancer, and who later served as chancellor of the University of California at San Francisco, died March 20 at a hospital in San Francisco. He was 90. The cause was pneumonia, said his son Eliot Bishop. (Bass, 3/22)
The New York Times: David Botstein, Gene-Mapping Pioneer, Dies At 83
David Botstein, a molecular biologist who changed the course of genetics by discovering a method for locating genes in human DNA — allowing researchers to find disease-causing genes and to map the entire, sprawling human genome — died on Feb. 27 in Palo Alto, Calif. He was 83. The cause of death, at an assisted living facility, was Parkinson’s disease, his wife, Renee Fitts, said. (Kolata, 3/20)
The Washington Post: Judith Rapoport Dies At 92. Her Best-Selling Book Introduced Readers To OCD
Samuel Johnson, the 18th-century man of letters, may have suffered from it, counting steps as he walked through the streets of London, compulsively touching every post he passed. Howard Hughes, the germ-averse aviation tycoon, is believed to have had it, too. Yet for years, few Americans had ever heard of obsessive-compulsive disorder, in which patients find their lives upended by intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors — washing and counting, looking and hoarding — that they feel compelled to repeat over and over, again and again. (Smith, 3/21)
