Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medics Scrutinized For Not Doing More To Help Tyre Nichols After Beating
The New York Times: Video Of Tyre Nichols Beating Raises Questions About Medical Response
Tyre Nichols writhed in pain on the pavement after being beaten by Memphis police officers. His back was against a police car, his hands were cuffed and his face was bloody. He was groaning, and he kept falling over. A few feet away, two emergency medical workers looked on. They helped Mr. Nichols sit up a few times after he had slumped to his side, but then, for nearly seven minutes, they did not touch him. At one point, they walked away. (Bogel-Burroughs, Kolata and Walker, 1/29)
The Washington Post: Black Memphis Police Spark Dialogue On Systemic Racism In The U.S.
Though some studies have shown that police officers of color use force less frequently against Black civilians than their White counterparts, analysts say the improvement is marginal. “Diversifying law enforcement is certainly not going to solve this problem,” said Samuel Sinyangwe, president of Mapping Police Violence. He pointed to many factors in the policing system that lead to a disproportionate response against people of color: directives to work in neighborhoods where more people of color live and a system that relies on the discretion of the officer to enforce things like traffic stops, opening the door for internal biases to play a role. (Klemko, Foster-Frau and Davies, 1/29)
The New York Times: 71 Commands In 13 Minutes: Officers Gave Tyre Nichols Impossible Orders
Police officers unleashed a barrage of commands that were confusing, conflicting and sometimes even impossible to obey, a Times analysis of footage from Tyre Nichols’s fatal traffic stop found. When Mr. Nichols could not comply — and even when he managed to — the officers responded with escalating force. The review of the available footage found that officers shouted at least 71 commands during the approximately 13-minute period before they reported over the radio that Mr. Nichols was officially in custody. (Stein and Cardia and Reneau, 1/29)
More on the gun violence epidemic —
Fierce Healthcare: Kaiser Permanente Earmarks $25M For Gun Violence Prevention
Kaiser Permanente has unveiled a five-year, $25 million commitment and new partnership that will scale up its research and community-based work into gun violence prevention. The investment—announced during a gathering of healthcare leaders, gun safety advocates and researchers—will support the Center for Gun Violence Research and Education that was established by the organization last summer. It was initially funded with $1.3 million to explore and collaborate on possible gun violence prevention strategies in collaboration with other nonprofit partners. (Muoio, 1/27)
KHN: When Gun Violence Ends Young Lives, These Men Prepare The Graves
It was a late Friday afternoon when a team of men approached a tiny pink casket. One wiped his brow. Another stepped away to smoke a cigarette. Then, with calloused hands, they gently lowered the child’s body into the ground. Earlier that day, the groundskeepers at Sunset Gardens of Memory had dug the small grave up on a hill in a special section of this cemetery in a southern Illinois community across the river from St. Louis. It was for a 3-year-old girl killed by a stray bullet. (Anthony, 1/30)
In updates on the mass shootings in California —
The New York Times: California Has More Than 100 Gun Laws. Why Don’t They Stop More Mass Shootings?
California bans guns for domestic violence offenders. It bans them for people deemed a danger to others or themselves. There is a ban on large-capacity magazines, and a ban on noise-muffling silencers. Semiautomatic guns of the sort colloquially known as “assault weapons” are, famously, banned. More than 100 gun laws — the most of any state — are on the books in California. They have saved lives, policymakers say: Californians have among the lowest rates of gun death in the United States. (Hubler and Harmon, 1/29)
San Francisco Chronicle: Half Moon Bay Massacre: Leaders Call For Mental Health Access For Chinese Farmworkers, Gun Control
Four days after a farmworker fatally shot seven people at two Half Moon Bay mushroom farms, local lawmakers and Asian American community leaders called for stricter gun laws and better working conditions for farmworkers, and urged Asian Americans to reject the longheld cultural stigma of seeking mental health services. (Ho, 1/27)
The Washington Post: $100 Repair Bill Put Half Moon Bay Gunman Over The Edge, Prosecutor Says
More details have emerged about the workplace dispute that led Zhao Chunli, 66, to allegedly kill seven people and attempt to kill another at two mushroom farms in Northern California a week ago. Zhao told investigators that his Half Moon Bay shooting was sparked after his boss asked him to pay a $100 repair bill for damage that had been done to heavy construction equipment, according to local news reports confirmed by San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. (Bonos and Lau, 1/30)
