Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Yorkers Who Are Mentally Ill And Homeless Will Be Involuntarily Hospitalized
The Wall Street Journal: New York City To Hospitalize Some Mentally Ill Homeless, Involuntarily If Necessary
New York City will begin hospitalizing homeless people who are severely mentally ill in an effort to move individuals off the streets to get the care they need. ... Those who are involuntarily removed will be taken to hospitals for evaluation. The new plan will also require hospitals to screen all psychiatric patients before their release for outpatient care needs. (Ansari, 11/29)
AP: Mayor Says NYC Will Treat Mentally Ill, Even If They Refuse
“These New Yorkers and hundreds of others like them are in urgent need of treatment, yet often refuse it when offered,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference, noting the pervasive problem of mental illness has long been out in the open. “No more walking by or looking away,” the mayor said, calling it “a moral obligation to act.” (Calvan, 11/29)
CBS News: New York City Mayor Eric Adams Announces New Initiative That Will Involuntarily Hospitalize More Mentally Ill People
Adams, a former police officer, said the city will be training Emergency Medical Services staff and other medical personnel to "ensure compassionate care." He said the policy he's proposing "explicitly states" when it is appropriate to use this process to hospitalize a person suffering from mental illness even if they do not want to go. (Linton, 11/29)
In other health news from across the U.S. —
AP: Big Tobacco Tries To Stop California Flavored Tobacco Ban
R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies filed a request Tuesday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to impose an emergency order to stop California from enforcing a ban on flavored tobacco products that was overwhelmingly approved by voters earlier this month. The ban was first passed by the state legislature two years ago but it never took effect after tobacco companies gathered enough signatures to put it on the ballot. But after nearly two-thirds of voters approved of banning the sale of everything from cotton-candy vaping juice to methanol cigarettes, it is set to go into effect by Dec. 21. (Watson, 11/30)
San Francisco Chronicle: Stanford President’s Neuroscience Research Scrutinized Following Allegations Of Altered Data
The European Microbiology Organization Journal, a prominent science research publisher, said in a public post last week that it was “looking into” discrepancies in a 2008 brain research paper by Tessier-Lavigne and 10 others that were highlighted on PubPeer, a website where scientists can identify suspected violations in published research. (Pascua and Mishanec, 11/29)
Houston Chronicle: Greg Abbott Fires Head Of Texas’ Child Welfare Agency
Abbott appointed Stephanie Muth, a health care consultant and former Medicaid director at the Health and Human Services Commission, to oversee the Department of Family and Protective Services starting in January. Kezeli “Kez” Wold, the DFPS associate commissioner for Adult Protective Services, will lead the agency in the meantime. (Harris, 11/29)
Detroit Free Press: Food Assistance Product Program To Lift Grocery Store Pause In January
Michigan's Double Up Food Bucks Program, which offers people on food assistance matching dollars on produce purchases and has been partially on hold since Aug. 1 at grocery stores, is expected to resume in January with a lower cap on benefits. (Rahman, 11/30)
