Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Congress Must Act Quickly Creating New Antifungals; What Makes Ultraprocessed Foods So Addictive?
Stat: Addressing C. Auris And The Looming Fungal Crisis
Fungus-caused infections — real ones, not the ones sparking the zombie apocalypse on the popular show “The Last of Us” — pose a growing threat in the United States and around the world. Mississippi has become the latest state to report residents infected with Candida auris, a highly contagious fungus that thrives in hospitals and nursing homes. It won’t be the last and, without dedicated effort, infections and deaths will continue to pile up. (Henry Skinner, 2/9)
CNN: Why We Can't Stop Binging Ultraprocessed Foods, According To An Expert
In the US, a whopping 58% of adults’ daily calories, and 67% of kids’ daily calories, come from ultraprocessed foods, according to cancer epidemiologist Fang Fang Zhang. But when we reach for that bag of Doritos in the larder, do we realize we are indulging in an ultraprocessed snack? What about when we toss plant-based meat alternatives into a stir fry? Do we truly understand what makes a food “ultraprocessed”? (Kirsi Goldynia, 2/8)
The Boston Globe: The White House Wants To End The Public Health Emergency. Is The Country Prepared?
Three years after the federal government officially declared COVID-19 both a public health and national emergency, the White House is ready to relinquish the extra powers that came with those proclamations. Last week, the Biden administration announced that it will end the twin emergencies on May 11, a move that would trigger some major changes in how people access COVID vaccines, treatments, and testing. (2/9)
Stat: Mr. President, Health Care Has A Data Problem
President Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address outlined the administration’s plan to reduce health care costs for Americans, including lowering health insurance premiums and expanding the $35-a-month cap on insulin costs to anyone who needs it. He boldly declared that cuts to Medicare and Social Security are off the table, and said he would veto any attempt to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act or institute a national ban on abortion. (Steven Lane, 2/8)
Bloomberg: Bird Flu Outbreak Is A Wake-Up Call For Agriculture
Perhaps we can blame Covid fatigue for numbing us to the risks of other viruses. But it should be bigger news that a bird flu has mutated to spread through mammals and is ominously appearing among wild and domesticated animals around the globe. (Faye Flam, 2/8)
Los Angeles Times: Can The Healthcare Worker Shortage Be Fixed?
Last week, the Biden administration announced that it will end the COVID-associated national and public health emergencies on May 11. That means stopping payments for COVID-19 tests and vaccines for some Americans depending on their insurance status, other people losing benefits such as Medicaid and some hospitals receiving less funding — placing higher burdens on our already depleted healthcare workforce. (Saad B. Omer, 2/9)
The Washington Post: Long Covid Will Be With Us A Long Time And Presents New Challenges
It is not yet known how many people have long covid, why and what their prospects for recovery are, let alone what the long-term impact on society will be. The U.S. government reported in August that “no laboratory test can definitively distinguish” long covid from other causes of illness. (2/8)
The Washington Post: Super Bowl Ads Are Not Where Hospitals In Crisis Should Spend Money
For many health-care workers watching the Super Bowl in recent years, the hardest hits have often come not during gameplay but in the commercial breaks. (Farzon A. Nahvi, 2/8)
