Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Teens 'Improvising' On Condoms, Contraceptives, Pediatrician Says
CNN: Teens Need Easy Access To Condoms And Contraception, Say Pediatricians
Plastic wrap. Plastic bags. These are some of the workarounds teens use to protect themselves from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, pediatrician Dr. Laura Grubb, a specialist in adolescent medicine, has been told. "They're just improvising," said Grubb, the author of new American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines on adolescent barrier protection during sex published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. (LaMotte, 7/20)
WBUR: Safe Pregnancy As COVID-19 Surges: What's Best For Mom And Baby?
In some ways, she says, there are a few convenient aspects to being pregnant now – starting with being able to work from home. Before the pandemic, she and her husband both commuted 90 minutes each way to their jobs in the city — driving to the subway, then taking the train downtown. Because she's now working from home in her job in the subscriptions department at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Helmer is able to get more sleep — and has been able to combat morning sickness with ginger ale and crackers. "On the Metro, you're not allowed to eat or drink at all," she says. (Wamsley, 7/17)
AP: Cancer Doctor's Victims Get Restitution Years After Sentence
More than $4 million has been distributed to hundreds of people who were victims of a Detroit-area doctor’s bogus diagnoses. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said restitution from Farid Fata was recently completed for his former patients, five years after he was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Fata poisoned patients through needless cancer treatments that wrecked their health and, in some cases, contributed to their death, according to the government. He pleaded guilty to fraud, money laundering and conspiracy in 2014. (7/19)
Sacramento Bee: Sutter County Reports Rising West Nile Activity In Mosquitoes
Sutter County officials reported Friday that West Nile virus activity now is increasing in their area, as a second mosquito sample tested positive for the virus. Stephen Abshier, the manager of the Yuba-Sutter Mosquito Vector Control District, cautioned Yuba and Sutter county residents: “Protect yourself by applying a good mosquito repellent and by wearing long sleeves and pants at dawn and dusk when mosquito activity is high. This will go a long way in preventing mosquito bites.” (Anderson, 7/17)
Kaiser Health News: An Ickier Outbreak: Trench Fever Spread By Lice Is Found In Denver
Dr. Michelle Barron, medical director of infection prevention and control at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, received an unusual call last month from the microbiology lab: confirmation of the third case this year of trench fever, a rare condition transmitted by body lice that plagued soldiers during World War I. Barron’s epidemiological training kicked in. “Two is always an outbreak, and then when we found a third — OK, we clearly have something going on,” Barron recalled thinking. (Hawryluk, 7/20)
