Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: College Sports Pressure Is Harming Some Athletes; Will Senate Protect Abortion Rights?
USA Today: Suicide: College Sports Can Strain Student-Athletes' Mental Health
Push through it. Tough it out. Suck it up. Shake it off. Calm down. Let’s go, let’s go! And, of course, there’s “snap out of it. ”Those last four words may have worked well for Cher and Nicolas Cage in "Moonstruck," but it’s just another troublesome phrase to high school and collegiate student-athletes when they are struggling to balance their mental health with the demands of academics, social life and excelling in competitive sports – training, conditioning, practice, travel and games. (Gary E. Fendler, 5/9)
Los Angeles Times: The Senate Could Save A Woman's Right To Control Her Own Body. But It Probably Won't
With the Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe vs. Wade and allowing states to outlaw abortion, Senate Democrats will try on Wednesday to pass a national bill to protect a woman’s right to control her own body. (5/10)
The New York Times: The F.D.A.’s Ban Of Menthol Cigarettes Will Help Black Communities
As regulation of the tobacco industry has grown more and more extensive in recent decades, menthol cigarettes have been an exception. They account for more than one-third of cigarette sales in the United States and are especially dangerous because the menthol enhances nicotine’s already potent addictive effects. (Keith Wailoo, 5/11)
Stat: Primary Care Shouldn't Be An Alternative For Burned-Out ER Doctors
One of the best-known effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the stress and sense of being overwhelmed experienced by frontline health care workers. Often under-resourced and taking casualties within their own ranks, they have been straining under the weight of responsibility to care for a tsunami of Covid casualties. In the center of this relentless firestorm has been the emergency medicine physicians, who have been called to give more of themselves than should ever be asked of anyone. Their burnout and exhaustion is unsustainable. (Sara Pastoor, 5/11)
Scientific American: Air-Conditioning Should Be A Human Right In The Climate Crisis
A record-breaking heat wave is sweeping South Asia, threatening hundreds of millions of people with deadly temperatures well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. As the world heats up, billions of people need air-conditioning. This 120-year-old technology used to be considered a luxury, but in the age of climate change, it is a necessity for human survival. Understandably, this has created anxiety over the climate threat of a world overrun with ACs. But the coming boom in air-conditioning is an essential shift toward reducing the enormous gap in cooling availability that exists between rich and poor people and nations—and toward producing a more equitable world. (Rose M. Mutiso, Morgan D. Bazilian, Jacob Kincer and Brooke Bowser, 5/10)
Cincinnati Enquirer: Beleaguered Nurses Needs Support From Ky. Legislature
One of the topics most often discussed in Frankfort over the past two years has been the shortage of nurses in the Commonwealth. The long-lasting COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated what has been a dangerously growing problem in Kentucky and across the country – the lack of an adequate workforce of nurses to meet the health care needs of the population. (Donna Meador and Delanor Manson, 5/10)
Columbus Dispatch: What Can Be Done To Combat Deaths Like Ohio State Overdoses?
While we may not like to admit it, drug use is often commonplace in a college student's life. Adderall is a stimulant—other similar drugs are Ritalin and Vyvanse—and is often used to help with concentration while studying. A national study, done by The Ohio State University themselves, found that 1 in 6 college students has used a stimulant drug un-prescribed. (Avery Meyer, 5/10)
