Viewpoints: Examining The First-Ever Malaria Vaccine; ‘Better Safe Than Sorry’ Not Always Best In Medicine
Editorial writers weigh in on these public health issues.
Stat:
Malaria Vaccine Brings Hope But The Fight Is Far From Over
Historic yet imperfect. That’s how I think of the World Health Organization’s recent endorsement of the long-awaited malaria vaccine, officially known as RTS,S/AS01, or simply as RTS,S. This recommendation follows careful determination by two of the WHO’s high-level advisory panels, one on immunization and another on malaria, that RTS,S provides significant protection against disease and deaths and that it is safe and cost-effective. (Fredros Okumu, 10/17)
Bloomberg:
Reversal On Daily Aspirin Shows Medicine's Weak Spot
There’s a pattern to medical reversals that can help explain this week’s seeming U-turn on that age-old advice to take an aspirin a day to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Evidence had actually been building for some time that this might do a lot of people more harm than good. This latest news shouldn’t serve as an indictment of medicine but as a warning to be skeptical of certain kinds of recommendations. That includes any medical intervention aimed at healthy people — especially treatments that aren’t backed by multiple controlled clinical trials. (Faye Flam, 10/15)
Los Angeles Times:
I’m Recovering From Disordered Eating. My Schools Failed Me
I first heard the term “hypothalamic amenorrhea” — a condition in which people stop menstruating from excessive exercise, stress, weight loss, or a combination of these factors — from my pediatrician in February. I’d missed periods for over a year and dropped 15 pounds since my last physical. But until my pediatrician’s diagnosis, I saw nothing wrong with doing two hours of high-intensity interval training on top of 3-mile runs daily. Perpetually cold and tired, I thought I was in the best shape of my life. (Juliet Fang, 10/18)
Newsweek:
How The New Texas Abortion Ban Will Make Miscarriages Even More Devastating
I was shocked when I heard the words no pregnant woman wants to hear: "I'm afraid there is no heartbeat," my OB/GYN said in a toneless voice, while waving the ultrasound over my ten-week pregnant belly. It was devastating to go to the doctor for a routine checkup—the one after we'd heard the heartbeat—only to discover that our planned pregnancy, the one we were so excited about, was no longer. (Amy Klein, 10/15)
Modern Healthcare:
Long-Term Care Needs Long-Term Solutions
Mothers, fathers, grandmas and grandpas, these are the people in our long-term care facilities. For the past 19 months, they and the millions of front-line heroes who have watched over them night and day have been at the center of this once-in-a-century public health crisis. Thanks to safe and effective vaccines, we've made considerable progress in our fight against COVID-19. While there is still a long road ahead, there is an important lesson we've learned: When long-term care has the support of federal and state governments, positive outcomes are achieved. (Mark Parkinson, 10/15)
The Baltimore Sun:
Why Is Hopkins Limiting Its Medicare Advantage Enrollment?
I am a retired employee of Johns Hopkins University. Upon retirement, my wife and I joined the Johns Hopkins Advantage MD program which can be used instead of regular Medicare. This wonderful program provides everything that regular Medicare provides but with lower co-pays and other additional benefits and is available to everyone not just Hopkins employees. The cost was $20 per month for surrounding counties and was free for city residents. (10/15)
Chicago Tribune:
Illinois Regulated Chemical Restraints Use In Nursing Homes. Other States Should Do The Same
After seeing several recent reports that nursing homes throughout the nation are improperly using antipsychotic medications to “chemically restrain” residents with dementia, I feel compelled to point out that this is an area where Illinois can and should serve as a national model. Since the 1980s, the media and watchdog groups have documented nursing homes — particularly understaffed facilities — using antipsychotic medications to deal with aggressive and confrontational patients, who often suffer from dementia. (Jacqueline Y. Collins, 10/15)
