Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Organ Transplants Had Plummeted, But Are Slowly Starting To Come Back In Parts Of U.S.
The Associated Press: Organ Transplants Dive Amid Virus Crisis, Start To Inch Back
Organ transplants plummeted as COVID-19 swept through communities, with surgeons wary of endangering living donors and unable to retrieve possibly usable organs from the dead -- and hospitals sometimes too full even when they could. Deceased donor transplants -- the most common kind -- dropped by about half in the U.S. and 90% in France from late February into early April, researchers reported Monday in the journal Lancet. (Neergaard, 5/11)
The Wall Street Journal: Twitter To Add Labels To Disputed Coronavirus Posts, As Misinformation Proliferates
Twitter Inc. said it would start adding labels to tweets that have disputed information about the coronavirus, a step that comes as a new survey shows that 78% of Americans believe that misinformation about the virus is a major problem. The move is the latest of many efforts from Silicon Valley to try to slow the spread of false claims related to the pandemic, with mixed results, including last week when a conspiracy-laden video racked up millions of views before the tech platforms pulled it down. (Wells, 5/11)
CIDRAP: Study: 38% Of Kids In ICU With COVID-19 Needed Ventilation
Eighteen (38%) of 48 COVID-19 patients younger than 17 years hospitalized in 14 pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in the United States from Mar 14 to Apr 3 required mechanical ventilation, but all but 2 survived, according to a multicenter, cross-sectional study published today in JAMA Pediatrics. Thirty-three patients (69%) were seriously or critically ill, and 12 (25%) needed drugs to regulate their blood pressure. Thirty-nine patients (81%) required respiratory support, and 21 (44%) received noninvasive ventilation. Six patients (13%) needed additional modes of ventilation or life support. (Van Beusekom, 5/11)
The Washington Post: Viral Photo Of Crowded United Flight Shows The Potential Risk Of Flying Right Now
Ethan Weiss, a San Francisco-based cardiologist, was worried. For the past two weeks, Weiss had been in New York, the epicenter of the U.S. novel coronavirus outbreak, volunteering at hospitals to help care for patients infected with the virus. But as Weiss tells it, he was about to face an even more daunting task this weekend: the plane trip back to San Francisco. (Chiu, 5/11)
Stateline: Fear, Isolation, Depression: The Mental Health Fallout Of A Worldwide Pandemic
Nationwide, mental health call and text centers, the first lines of defense for many people feeling jittery during a crisis, offer an early picture of how Americans are coping with the coronavirus pandemic. Many crisis centers are reporting 30% to 40% increases in the number of people seeking help. The helpline at Provident is experiencing a tenfold increase compared with this time last year, when no national disaster was occurring. So far, the nation’s most heavily used helpline, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, has not seen a spike in call volume. (Vestal, 5/12)
Stat: Covid-19 Has Streamlined Addiction Medicine. Will The Changes Stick?
Nicole Godinez’s monthly visit to an addiction clinic typically takes several hours: To start, there’s the 35-minute drive to a Nashville suburb, the waiting room, and the paperwork. Then the repetitive questioning from a drug counselor, then the drug test. Finally, there’s the in-person visit with a doctor who refills her 28-day prescription for Subutex, a common but highly controlled medication used to treat opioid dependence. (Facher, 5/12)
Kaiser Health News: ‘No Intubation’: Seniors Fearful Of COVID-19 Are Changing Their Living Wills
Last month, Minna Buck revised a document specifying her wishes should she become critically ill. “No intubation,” she wrote in large letters on the form, making sure to include the date and her initials. Buck, 91, had been following the news about COVID-19. She knew her chances of surviving a serious bout of the illness were slim. And she wanted to make sure she wouldn’t be put on a ventilator under any circumstances. (Graham, 5/12)
Kaiser Health News: Millions Stuck At Home With No Plumbing, Kitchen Or Space To Stay Safe
In nearly half a million American homes, washing hands to prevent COVID-19 isn’t as simple as soaping up and singing “Happy Birthday” twice while scrubbing. In many of those homes, people can’t even turn on a faucet. There’s no running water. In 470,000 dwellings in the United States — spread across every state and in most counties — inadequate plumbing is a problem, the starkest of several challenges that make it tougher for people to avoid infection. (Ungar and Lucas, 5/12)
