Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Ultrasonic Signals Are Everywhere, But U.S. Diplomats' Mysterious Illness Has Experts Reevaluating Their Side Effects
The Wall Street Journal: Can Ultrasonic Noise Make You Sick?
Can what you don’t hear hurt you? Researchers are studying whether the largely inaudible interplay of ultrasound beams from sensors and other devices can trigger headaches and dizziness. Those were among symptoms reported by some U.S. diplomatic personnel stationed in China and Cuba who returned home in the past year after becoming incapacitated. Ultrasonic signals are almost everywhere but the side-effects from so many transmissions remain a mystery, several experts said. (Hotz, 6/16)
Los Angeles Times: Scant Abortion-Related ER Visits Suggest There's No Medical Basis For Restrictive Laws, Study Says
Abortions send women to hospital emergency rooms at lower rates than such routine procedures as colonoscopies and surgeries to have wisdom teeth removed, new research has found. In fact, for every 100,000 abortions provided, about 108 women sought out emergency care for what they thought was a complication of the procedure. (Healy, 6/15)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Risk Factors Alone Can't Predict Suicide
We’ve known that much since at least 2016 when researchers studied risk factors — depression, previous suicide attempts, stressful life events and substance abuse — and expert’s ability to predict suicidal thoughts and behaviors over long periods of time. Predicting if someone will attempt to take his or her own life is only slightly better than chance and has not significantly improved during the last five decades. (Bonds Staples, 6/15)
The Hill: Harvard Scientists: Trump Environmental Policies Could Result In 80,000 More Deaths Per Decade
A new essay from two Harvard University scientists concluded that the Trump administration’s environmental policies could result in an additional 80,000 deaths per decade. The research, from public health economist David Cutler and biostatistician Francesca Dominici, pointed specifically to the health impacts of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) policies on air pollutants and toxic chemicals. (Anapol, 6/16)
The New York Times: Salmonella Outbreaks Affect Kellogg’s Honey Smacks Cereal And Cut Fruit
As a salmonella outbreak that sickened dozens forced a recall of some cereal products this week, federal officials announced that a separate outbreak linked to cut fruit has expanded to almost two dozen states. The outbreak linked to Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal had sickened 73 people in 31 states as of Thursday, according to a statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 24 of them had been hospitalized and no deaths had been reported. (Hauser, 6/15)
The Washington Post: Educational Toys May Not Buy More Brains
It’s easy to look down at your bundle of joy and imagine a glowing future. Surely your child will be the best and brightest — and if you care about their intellectual development, you might try to smooth their path with an educational toy that promises to develop baby’s skills. But are those toys a smart buy? Science writer Erik Vance takes on that question in the June edition of Scientific American. His article, “Sorry, Mom and Dad, Toys Cannot Supercharge Your Baby,” cuts down to size an industry that makes outsize promises and rakes in billions, and it may make you think twice before buying a toy that promises to make your baby a brainiac. (Blakemore, 6/17)
The Washington Post: Little By Little, Domestic Violence Shelters Become Pet-Friendly
Her boyfriend became abusive about six months after they met. He would drink himself into a stupor and tear the house apart while screaming and insulting her, once even threatening to snap her neck. She worried for herself, but also for her beloved golden retriever, Cody, whom she had rescued from an abusive former owner. “The biggest argument I had with him in the beginning was saying, ‘Do not raise your voice in front of the dog. Don’t scream and yell in front of her. Don’t throw things around her,’ ” recalled K., a steely 44-year-old who spent two decades in the military. “ ‘These things traumatize her.’ ” (Strauss and Brulliard, 6/15)
