Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Congress Should Protect Abortion Providers; Changes Needed In Pandemic Readiness Plan
USA Today: Anti-Abortion Bill Protects Fake Clinics. What About Provider Safety?
I am a board-certified OB-GYN who practices in Missouri and Illinois. I have seen firsthand the dangerous, almost immediate impacts of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. In fact, Missouri was the first to ban abortion in the minutes after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case was decided. (Dr. Colleen P. McNicholas, 1/12)
Stat: 4 Keys Gaps In Global Epidemic, Pandemic Responses
Three years after news of the first cases of Covid-19 infections and deaths began to appear, the global response to pandemics remains in a sluggish, reactive mode, waiting until dire threats emerge before initiating action. Take the latest Ebola outbreak in central Uganda. It’s been more than a month since the last case has been found, and a two-month lockdown of two districts west of the capital, Kampala, ended in mid-December. After containing the outbreak to “only” 55 deaths, everyone is ready to move on — without planning for the future. (Jerome H. Kim, 1/11)
Stat: Uganda Ebola Outbreak Highlights Need For Vaccine Stockpile
When I learned that an outbreak of Ebola was declared in Uganda last fall, I had a flashback to 2014 when I was working at Merck and an outbreak of Ebola disease caused by a different species of the virus emerged in full force in West Africa. (Swati Gupta, 1/11)
Newsweek: The DEA Needs To Do More, Not Less, To Combat Opioid Abuse
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is facing fresh scrutiny about its efforts to reduce the supply of prescription opioids. Critics of the agency claim it has been overzealous in pursuit of its mission to enforce the controlled substances laws of the United States. (Jim Crotty, 1/11)
The Boston Globe: Let Pharmacists Prescribe Addiction Medicine
Although medications like buprenorphine and methadone are safe and effective at treating addiction and preventing overdose and death, regulatory hurdles have prevented these treatments from being widely utilized. A recent national study estimated that 87 percent of people with opioid use disorder never receive any medication treatment. (Traci Green, Jeffrey Bratberg and Josiah Rich, 1/12)
Bloomberg: Tackling Homelessness Requires New Resources
With homelessness rising in several US cities, some officials are considering a controversial approach: involuntary hospitalization of the mentally ill. The policy has risks, and to have any hope of success it requires ample funding and planning. But without bold action the problem will only get worse. (1/11)
Stat: Democratizing Drug Development Will Be A Win For All
In 1992, the film Lorenzo’s Oil celebrated the true story of two parents who, despite their lack of scientific training, gathered the know-how and support they needed to develop a treatment for their son, who was suffering from adrenoleukodystrophy, a rare neurological disease. (Vanessa Almendro, 1/12)
The CT Mirror: Climate Change Can Affect Mental Health
“Climate change is projected to cause 83 million excess deaths by 2100.” Statistics such as this depict a grim future for humanity and the planet alike, and are more frequently being shared across news networks, social media platforms and stream-able documentaries. The reality of these projections can negatively affect individuals’ mental health, and threatens to devalue the importance of individual actions in the fight against the changing climate. (Mitchell Manware, 1/12)
