Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
STDs Surging In Georgia, Hit Highest Levels In A Decade
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Sexually Transmitted Diseases Surge In Georgia
Sexually transmitted diseases — particularly gonorrhea and syphilis — have climbed sharply in Georgia to their highest level in at least a decade, according to government data. Public health officials point to myriad possible reasons, including declining condom use, as they try to address the problem. (Kempner, 12/5)
Columbus Dispatch: Fourth Site Exposed To Measles Announced By Columbus Public Health
Columbus Public Health indicated Saturday that it is investigating a confirmed case of measles in a person who visited a Northland store Thursday, the fourth such public exposure announced as cases continue to spread throughout the area. (Behrens, 12/4)
AP: NY State Health Commissioner Resigning To Return To Harvard
New York’s state health commissioner will resign Jan. 1 after 13 months in the job to return to Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Mary Bassett said in a statement Friday that she was “leaving now so the next commissioner can have the chance to lead this great department for a full 4-year term under the leadership of Gov. Hochul.” (12/3)
The New York Times: How Hospitals Respond When Mentally Ill People Come In From The Streets
The most famous homeless person in New York in 1987 went by the name Billie Boggs. For a time, she lived on the sidewalk at 65th Street and Second Avenue, where she lay on an air vent for warmth and screamed racial epithets at passers-by. She was observed barefoot in winter and sometimes twirled an umbrella to keep people at a distance. Ms. Boggs, whose real name was Joyce Brown, was taken to Bellevue after Mayor Ed Koch announced a plan to clear the sidewalks of homeless people with severe mental illness. Her initial treatment involved a shot of Haldol, an antipsychotic drug. When she demanded to be released, she emerged as a test case exploring the limits of involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations. (Goldstein, 12/2)
Dallas Morning News: UT Dallas Researchers Are Using Virtual Reality To Help Amputees With Phantom Limb Pain
Every morning and night for one month, Dean Peterson donned virtual reality goggles to help him fall asleep. Once a heavy sleeper, he hadn’t slept well since he had his lower left leg amputated in 2005. The carpenter and former Navy combat medic tossed and turned in bed, kept awake by pain where his lower leg was supposed to be. The sensation, known as phantom limb pain, was manageable with the distractions of the day, but the stillness of the night made it hard to ignore. (Wolf, 12/4)
