Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: E-Cigarette Industry Put On Notice That A Crackdown Is Coming; With Rising Temps Comes Rising Humidity -- And The Health Problems That Come With It
The Washington Post: We Cannot Let E-Cigarettes Become An On-Ramp For Teenage Addiction
At the Department of Health and Human Services, we are deeply concerned about the risks that e-cigarettes pose for children, given how quickly teenage use of these products has accelerated. Using a small battery to heat a liquid that contains nicotine, e-cigarettes turn the liquid into an inhalable vapor. Since 2014, they have been the most popular nicotine product among American teenagers. And e-cigarettes' popularity is accelerating: From 2017 to 2018, according to new preliminary data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey, the number of high-school-age children reporting use of e-cigarettes rose by more than 75 percent. Use among middle-schoolers also increased nearly 50 percent. That is an epidemic. (HHS Secretary Alex M. Azar and FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, 10/11)
The New York Times: Heat And Humidity Are A Killer Combination
After enduring another scorching summer — the fourth-hottest on record for the contiguous United States — it may be hard to imagine conditions getting much worse. But as a new report from the United Nations’ panel on climate change warns, we are locked in to additional warming and other changes like sea level rise. And we are running out of time to avert potentially catastrophic outcomes. One critically important and underreported fact is that as temperatures rise, absolute humidity, the total amount of moisture in the air, will also increase. That may create combinations of heat and humidity so extreme that the evaporation of human sweat won’t sufficiently cool our bodies, leaving even healthy adults at risk of death from overheating. (Ethan Coffel, Radley Horton and Colin Raymond, 10/11)
Stat: U.S. Biodefense Strategy Undermined By Policies On Health Insurance, Immigration
President Trump’s new National Biodefense Strategy contains welcome tactics for protecting the health of Americans when “biological incidents” such as the 2001 anthrax attacks or the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa occur. Some of the plans, however, are at odds with the administration’s policies on health insurance and immigration. Reconciling the two is essential for the strategy to match its promise. (David Beier and Devabhaktuni Srikrishna, 10/11)
Stat: A Widely Used Guideline Said My Risk Of Breast Cancer Was Low. It Was Wrong
Are my breast cancer and I on the wrong side of statistics, or just caught in the confusing and potentially devastating conflict between medical societies about when women should start breast-cancer screening? One morning more than a year ago, it didn’t seem like either. As both of my kids cuddled in bed with my husband and me, I started the conversation I’d been dreading. (Leda Dederich, 10/12)
The Hill: World Mental Health Day — Let's Remember Our Veterans
Today is World Mental Health Day. The day’s objective, as stated by the World Health Organization, is to raise “awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobiliz[e] efforts in support of mental health.” Although mental health is an important topic for all citizens, it is of particular importance for our nation’s veterans, many of whom struggle with mental health issues that stem from combat, deployment, declining physical health, and readjusting to civilian life. (Rory E. Riley-Toppings, 10/10)
The Hill: Clusters Of Polio-Like Illness In The US Is Not A Cause For Panic
In several states there are reports of children developing cases of a mysterious polio-like syndrome known as Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM).A cluster of six cases in Minnesota has prompted Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) to request an investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In total 16 states are reporting cases. While it is understandable that the news of a polio-like illness appearing, seemingly, in clustered outbreaks across the United States is concerning, it is important to emphasize how rare such cases are and how they occur. (Amesh Adalja, 10/11)
Los Angeles Times: Forcing Starbucks To Put A Cancer Warning On Your Coffee Cup Would Violate The 1st Amendment
Eight years ago, an organization called the Council for Education and Research on Toxics commenced a lawsuit against coffee vendors in California, maintaining that to comply with Proposition 65, cancer warnings must be placed on lattes, cold brews and plain old cups of joe they sell in the state. Hundreds of millions dollars in damages have been sought from companies such as Starbucks for not including such warnings previously. New warnings are sought advising potential purchasers that coffee contains a chemical called acrylamide that can cause cancer. (Floyd Abrams, 10/11)
The Washington Post: Trump Seems To Think Kanye West Speaks For Black Americans. But Kanye Speaks For Kanye.
When the White House mentioned that hip-hop artist Kanye West would be meeting with President Trump on Thursday, it was presented as a plan to discuss issues that are of great significance to many voters — jobs, prison reform and gun violence in Chicago, the hometown of the multi-platinum artist. But in trying to draw attention to these issues, West, using profanity while discussing a broad range of subjects with little clarity, appeared to mainly draw attention to himself — and perhaps, specifically, how ill-equipped he is to discuss the issues he longed to address most. (Eugene Scott, 10/11)
