Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: New Relief For Migraines; Cosmetic Surgery Increases During Covid
The New York Times: Headache Research Advances Though Cures Are Elusive
I have headaches. Not the low-grade, annoying, “I’ve got a headache” sort of headaches. I get those, too. Most everyone does, and they are a drag. No, when I say that I get headaches, I mean that at intervals that are largely unpredictable, a knot of pain rises deep inside my head, invariably sensed behind my right eyeball. It then swiftly clicks up through the intensity scale, racing past that dull ache you might get from staring at the screen too long, leapfrogging over that doozy you had the morning after your brother’s wedding, skipping past the agonizing-but-fleeting stab of an ice-cream headache, and arriving, within a matter of minutes, at a pain so piercing and sustained that I can only grip something sturdy, rock back and forth, and grunt until it subsides. (Tom Zeller Jr., 7/23)
Newsweek: The Pandemic Won Many Over To The Cosmetic Surgery Knife
Many of us spent the pandemic months obsessing over how our mug looked on Zoom and other video-chatting services. Poor lighting was a torment, and the lack of sunshine and exercise produced what's been dubbed "lockdown face." At in-person meetings, we see only the people we're talking to. Video calls—be it via Zoom, Skype, Google Meet or some other platform—confront us with a square on the screen reserved for our own kisser. This is typically a close-up showing fine lines and droopy eyelids. Many of us didn't like what we saw, and something had to be done. Often, that something was cosmetic surgery. (Froma Harrop, 7/22)
Modern Healthcare: Want To Prevent The Next Public Health Crisis? Ensure A Strong Preventive Medicine Workforce
Face the facts: Our healthcare system was not prepared for COVID-19. From skyrocketing emergency department and intensive-care unit admission rates, to plummeting levels of critical supplies, consistent misinformation, and inconsistent testing—we were caught off guard. Prior to COVID-19, our healthcare system was already bowing under the weight of the epidemic of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and other chronic conditions that were common indicators for higher mortality with COVID-19. These diseases impact more than 129 million Americans and take more than 1.7 million lives every year–more than double the lives the pandemic claimed in the U.S. (Dr. M. "Tonette" Krousel-Wood, 7/22)
Stat: Medicine Needs To See What Disability Means, Looks Like, And Feels Like
Licensers, employers, and others have asked about my status: disabled or not disabled? The first time I read this question in my new job’s onboarding forms, I was struck by the implied permanence and the dichotomy of the two choices. At the same time, I also appreciated that the impetus for this query was the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which had protected me throughout my internal medicine residency. This landmark legislation prohibits discrimination and promises reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals who have medical, physical, and/or psychological limitations. (Maggie Salinger, 7/23)
Bloomberg: Delta, Covid, RSV, Flu: What's Worse Than A Pandemic? A Twindemic
On the list of things to worry about in the age of SARS-CoV-2, boring, old winter flu probably doesn’t rank highly. Especially not in the middle of a summer heat wave. And yet it should. Humanity has grown so accustomed to annual waves of influenza that it was the baseline comparison when Covid first arrived. (It’ll be just another flu, we said.) The implication was that levels of influenza sickness, hospitalization and death were acceptable, even inevitable. (Therese Raphael, 7/23)
Kansas City Star: Lower-Income Missourians Deserve Medicaid Expansion Coverage
Thursday, the Missouri Supreme Court — with a clear, unanimous voice — said expanded Medicaid is constitutional. That means 275,000 people now eligible for Medicaid must soon be enrolled in the program if they apply. It was a good day for the rule of law. It was a great day for the working poor, who will be able to get someone to take a look at that nagging cough or skin infection. All Missourians should celebrate. They won their case. (7/22)
Stat: Some Patient Advocacy Organizations Need A Paradigm Shift
In the wake of last month’s controversial Food and Drug Administration approval of Biogen’s Aduhelm, Alzheimer’s Association CEO Harry Johns condemned the “negative voices” concentrating on the flaws in the FDA’s approval as “not pro-patient.” The Alzheimer’s Association wasn’t the only patient advocacy organization applauding the FDA’s questionable decision, which was based on changes in a surrogate endpoint for Alzheimer’s disease — reduction of amyloid in the brain, an outcome the FDA had previously rejected and that dozens of previous studies had failed to associate with better dementia outcomes. (Michael S. Sinha and Stephen Latham, 7/23)
