Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Nation's Organ Donation Network Wants To Make Liver Transplants 'A Little Bit More Equal'
NPR: Liver Transplant Allocation Proposal Sparks Debate
Himanshu Patel ran a convenience store in Georgia until about a year ago, when his liver failure got so bad he had to quit. "I just couldn't stand up on my feet at all," says Patel, 39, of Waycross, Ga. "I just had to stop working." Now, he's waiting anxiously to find out if his doctors have found a liver for him so he can undergo a transplant. (Stein, 9/26)
Modern Healthcare: Sepsis Mortality Rate On The Rise
While the number of cases of sepsis—one of the most deadly and costly conditions at hospitals—remained flat over a five-year period, mortality from the condition was worse than previously estimated, a new JAMA study has found. Sepsis was present in 6% of hospitalizations from 2009 to 2014. At the same time, sepsis accounted for roughly 15% of in-hospital deaths and 6.2% of discharges to hospice. Prior estimates of sepsis-related deaths were around 10%. (Castellucci, 9/25)
The Wall Street Journal: The Benefits Of Early Childhood Education And Health Programs May Last Longer Than A Lifetime
New research suggests programs aimed at helping low-income U.S. children, such as Head Start early childhood education and Medicaid health coverage, may have benefits not only for participating children but for their children as well. A recent working paper found the 1980s expansion of Medicaid programs to cover more low-income pregnant women led, years later, to their children giving birth to healthier babies. Another working paper found childhood access to Head Start led to better long-term outcomes in the next generation, including higher high-school graduation rates and reduced criminal behavior. (Leubsdorf, 9/25)
Kaiser Health News: Nowhere To Go: Young People With Severe Autism Languish In Hospitals
Teenagers and young adults with severe autism are spending weeks or even months in emergency rooms and acute-care hospitals, sometimes sedated, restrained or confined to mesh-tented beds, a Kaiser Health News investigation shows. These young people — who may shout for hours, bang their heads on walls or lash out violently at home — are taken to the hospital after community social services and programs fall short and families call 911 for help, according to more than two dozen interviews with parents, advocates and physicians in states from Maine to California. (Jewett, 9/26)
The Washington Post: Doula Help With Pregnant Women Aims To Reduce Black Infant Mortality
This city has opened a new front in its effort to give black newborns the same chances of surviving infancy as white ones: training doulas to assist expectant mothers during pregnancy, delivery and afterward. The initiative is the latest salvo in the Baltimore City Health Department’s seven-year-old effort to combat high mortality rates among black newborns. (Ollove, 9/25)
The Washington Post: FDA Halts Monkey Research Denounced By Jane Goodall As ‘Shameful’
The Food and Drug Administration has suspended experiments on the effects of nicotine in squirrel monkeys, research aimed at better understanding one of the most pernicious of addictions. Two weeks ago, British primatologist Jane Goodall wrote to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, urging an end to what she called “cruel and unnecessary” and “shameful” research. (McGinley, 9/25)
