Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Meth Use Cited As A Factor In 1 In 5 Heat-Related Deaths In US
AP: Hot Days And Methamphetamine Are Now A Deadlier Mix
On just one sweltering day during the hottest June on record in Phoenix, a 38-year-old man collapsed under a freeway bridge and a 41-year-old woman was found slumped outside a business. Both had used methamphetamine before dying from an increasingly dangerous mix of soaring temperatures and stimulants. Meth is showing up more often as a factor in the deaths of people who died from heat-related causes in the U.S., according to an Associated Press analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Snow and Wildeman, 10/9)
NPR: 250 Companies, Schools And Organizations Pledge To Provide Overdose Antidote Naloxone
White House officials say more than 250 companies, universities, labor groups and other organizations have joined a national effort to reduce drug overdose deaths. They’ve agreed to stock free doses of the medication naloxone, also known as Narcan, that quickly reverses most fentanyl-opioid overdoses. The list of participants joining the national naloxone push includes major corporations like Amazon, the National Hockey League, and United Airlines as well as some universities. Labor and contractor organizations have also signed on, along with restaurant and hospitality trade groups. (Mann, 10/8)
The Washington Post: Exoskeleton Helped Man Walk, But Maker Stopped Offering Repairs
An exoskeleton gave Michael Straight the ability to walk again after a horse racing accident left him a paraplegic. Over the course of 10 years, Straight walked more than a half-million steps while paralyzed, helping to pioneer a field. But in June, his machine stopped working, and the manufacturer refused to repair it. For the first time in a decade, Straight couldn’t walk. “It was like being paralyzed all over again,” he said. (Edwards, 10/8)
The New York Times: Her Face Was Unrecognizable After an Explosion. A Placenta Restored It.
In the aftermath of a propane explosion at her mother’s house in Savannah, Ga., in 2021, Ms. Townsend spent more than six weeks in an induced coma in a burn trauma unit. She had second- and third-degree burns over most of her body, and her face had become unrecognizable. Searching for a way to help her, surgeons turned to a rarely utilized tool: human placenta. They carefully applied a thin layer of the donated organ to her face, which Ms. Townsend said was “the best thing they could have done, ever.” She still has scars from grafts elsewhere on her body, but the 47-year-old’s face, she said, “looks exactly like it did before.” (Morgan, 10/8)
Newsweek: Your Toothbrush Is Teeming With Unknown Viruses, Say Microbiologists
In a new study published in Frontiers in Microbiomes, researchers from Northwestern University collected samples from 32 toothbrushes and 92 showerheads across the United States and found hundreds of different viruses on their surfaces, many of which had never been seen before. "We may think of our toothbrushes and showerheads in one way, but in another sense, they are a habitat for microbes, a place where microbial ecology happens," the study's lead author, Erica Hartmann, told Newsweek. "It's a microbial world; we just live in it." (Dewan, 10/9)
USA Today: Jenna Fischer Reveals Breast Cancer Battle, Is Now Cancer-Free
"The Office" star Jenna Fischer has revealed her battle against an aggressive form of breast cancer. Fischer, 50, on Tuesday shared an Instagram post detailing her cancer journey, which began 10 months ago with a Stage 1 triple-positive breast cancer diagnosis. The cancer was detected early, before it could be felt, through diagnostic imaging, and Fischer is now "cancer-free" while still taking medications for treatment. (Robinson, 10/8)
KFF Health News: Asian Health Center Tries Unconventional Approach To Counseling
In her first months as a community health worker, Jee Hyo Kim helped violent crime survivors access supportive services and resources. When a client with post-traumatic stress disorder sought a therapist, she linked him to one that fit his needs. She helped clients afraid to leave their homes obtain food delivery vouchers. As one client described her, Kim was a “connector.” Then, Kim learned to go further. (10/9)
