Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: American Health Is Declining Under RFK Jr.; Congress Can't Let Medicare Miss Innovations
Newsweek: America Is Getting Sicker, Not Healthier, Under Trump And RFK Jr.
"President Trump and RFK Jr. promised to 'Make America Healthy Again.' But instead, the administration has done quite the opposite." (Edward J. Markey and Rochelle Walensky, 3/14)
Stat: Medicare Must Cover Breakthrough Medical Technologies
Safe and effective medical technologies can improve people’s lives only when they are accessible. As a physician and inventor, I am acutely aware that the more treatment options available to a provider, the better equipped they are to alleviate suffering and save lives. (Josh Makower, 3/16)
Stat: With Trump In Office, An ALS Cure Seems Farther Than Ever
For almost a decade, I’ve fought for a cure for a disease I don’t even have yet. In 2018, when my mom was dying of the fatal neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), I learned that I carried the same mutated gene, C9orf72, that caused her disease. That means I will likely either develop ALS or frontotemporal degeneration (FTD), another disease that is caused by the C9 mutation. (Mindy Uhrlaub, 3/16)
Miami Herald: Conflict At The Drugstore: When Pharmacists' And Patients' Values Collide
Imagine walking into your pharmacy, handing over your prescription and having it denied. Now imagine that the reason is not insufficient insurance coverage or the wrong dose, but a pharmacist who personally objects to your medication. What right does a pharmacist have to make moral decisions for their patients? (Elizabeth Chiarello, 3/14)
The Atlantic: When Mentally Ill Teenagers Ask To Be Put To Death
A Dutch psychiatrist gave lethal injections to patients with mental suffering, some of them teenagers. Does that make him a hero—or something else? (Charles Lane, 3/15)
