Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Up To 59 Percent Of Nursing Home Residents Could Be 'Colonized' With Superbugs
The Wall Street Journal: The Bug Problem In Nursing Homes
There’s a bug problem in some nursing homes, and it’s not what you think. Residents of long-term care facilities are vulnerable to drug-resistant infections known as superbugs and can easily spread the deadly germs to others. (Lagnado, 5/15)
The New York Times: A Strong Case Against A Pesticide Does Not Faze E.P.A. Under Trump
Some of the most compelling evidence linking a widely used pesticide to developmental problems in children stems from what scientists call a “natural” experiment. Though in this case, there was nothing natural about it. (Rabin, 5/15)
The Wall Street Journal: Where Kids Aren’t Allowed To Put On Sunscreen: In School
The Sunbeatables curriculum, designed by specialists MD Anderson Cancer Center, features a cast of superheroes who teach children the basics of sun protection including the obvious: how and when to apply sunscreen. There’s just one wrinkle. Many of the about 1,000 schools where the curriculum is taught are in states that don’t allow students to bring sunscreen to school or apply it without a note from a doctor or parent and trip to the nurse’s office. (Reddy, 5/15)
The Washington Post: The Painful Truth About Teeth
As the distance between rich and poor grows in the United States, few consequences are so overlooked as the humiliating divide in dental care. High-end cosmetic dentistry is soaring, and better-off Americans spend well over $1 billion each year just to make their teeth a few shades whiter. Millions of others rely on charity clinics and hospital emergency rooms to treat painful and neglected teeth. Unable to afford expensive root canals and crowns, many simply have them pulled. Nearly 1 in 5 Americans older than 65 do not have a single real tooth left. (Jordan and Sullivan, 5/13)
Consumer Reports: Your Biggest C-Section Risk May Be Your Hospital
The most common major surgery performed in the U.S isn’t to remove an appendix or replace a knee. It’s to deliver babies by cesarean section, or C-section. Roughly one out of every three babies born in this country—or about 1.3 million children each year—are delivered this way, instead of vaginally. Yet the vast majority of women prefer to deliver vaginally, according to a January 2017 study in the journal Birth. So what’s going on? (Haelle, 5/16)
San Francisco Chronicle: A New Era For Genetic Testing, Especially In Pregnancy
A year and a half ago, few health insurers would cover a noninvasive prenatal test — which draws blood from a pregnant woman to analyze fetal DNA — unless the pregnancy was considered high-risk, which usually meant the woman was over 35. The test, which screens for chromosomal abnormalities linked to genetic disorders like Down syndrome, seemed less essential for women with average- or low-risk pregnancies. Today, at least 30 major U.S. insurers — including Anthem, Cigna and more than a dozen Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates nationwide — cover the test for average-risk single-gestation pregnancies, expanding access to millions more people. (Ho, 5/15)
The Washington Post: She Thought She’d Pulled Hip Muscles, But Six Doctors Couldn’t Diagnose Her Pain
As she rose from the dinner table one night in February 2016, Annie Karp winced as she felt a penetrating ache deep in her hips. Unable to straighten up for a minute or two, she took small steps toward the medicine chest in her parents’ Florida home in search of an over-the-counter painkiller. Karp assumed she had pulled several muscles during an overzealous workout earlier in the day. (Boodman, 5/15)
The New York Times: Red Meat Increases Risk Of Dying From 9 Diseases
The more red meat you eat, the greater your risk of dying from one of nine diseases, according to a new report. Researchers studied more than 536,000 men and women ages 50 to 71, tracking their diet and health for an average of 16 years. They recorded intake of total meat, processed and unprocessed red meat (beef, lamb and pork), and white meat (poultry and fish). (Bakalar, 5/15)
San Jose Mercury News: Early Menopause May Impact Women’s Heart Disease Risk
Women who entered menopause at an earlier age or who never gave birth may be at higher risk for heart disease, according to a new study by UC San Francisco researchers. In a study of more than 28,000 women without heart disease over an average of 13.1 years, researchers found that while only 5.2 percent of the women were hospitalized for heart failure during the study, those who never gave birth were 2.75 times more likely to develop diastolic heart failure. (Seipel, 5/15)
Kaiser Health News: Segregated Living Linked To Higher Blood Pressure Among Blacks
For African-Americans, the isolation of living in a racially segregated neighborhood may lead to an important health issue: higher blood pressure. A study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine suggested blacks living in such areas experienced higher blood pressure than those living in more diverse communities. Moving to integrated areas was associated with a decrease in blood pressure, and those who permanently stayed in localities with low segregation saw their pressure fall on average nearly 6 points. (Heredia Rodriguez, 5/15)
