Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Being Anti-Sunscreen Is A Risky Conspiracy; Why Is Childbirth So Dangerous In US?
Los Angeles Times: I Was A Teenage Tanning Addict. Now I Worry About People Being Fooled By Anti-Sunscreen TikTokers
Tanning-bed use has been on the decline for years, but the rise of the anti-sunscreen movement on social media is preying on people’s fears about product safety and pushing them to reject sun protection despite medical advice. Like the anti-vaccine universe, the anti-sunscreen world of fitness coaches, alt-medicine peddlers, “wellness” gurus and misinformed consumers crosses party lines at the paranoid juncture of the far left and far right. (Jean Guerrero, 9/11)
The New York Times: America Already Knows How To Make Childbirth Safer
Years ago, researchers discovered that American women were dying in childbirth at an alarming rate, far higher than in many other Western countries. Black women, they found, were dying at even more elevated rates. Data in hand, they called for change. (Mara Gay, 9/11)
The Boston Globe: Electric Shock Therapy Is Legal But Needs Oversight
Using electric skin shocks to modify the behavior of people with developmental and intellectual disabilities is not a first- or even a second-choice treatment. But for a small number of severely ill people, it is the only treatment that works. And in Massachusetts, where the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton is the only facility in the country currently using electric skin shocks, the treatment remains legal, according to a Thursday decision by the Supreme Judicial Court. (9/11)
The Washington Post: Covid Is Here To Stay. That Means Long Covid Is, Too
Covid-19 is now endemic, meaning the coronavirus is here to stay and health officials must pivot from treating it like a one-time emergency to managing the disease in perpetuity. The same must be true of long covid. (Leana S. Wen, 9/12)
The Tennessean: Have You Heard Of 988? The Lifeline Helps Those In Distress. Now It Needs Our Help
Across the country, between July 2022 and May 2023, 988 crisis professionals answered more than 4.5 million calls, texts and chats from Americans in distress. Since the launch of 988 one year ago, the average speed to answer across all contacts decreased from 140 seconds to just 35 seconds. (Becky Stoll, 9/11)
