Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Fourth-Year Med Student Unprepared To Treat Chronic Diseases; Filling Top Spot At CBER Is Tough Feat
Stat: RFK Jr. Is Right About Medical School And Preventive Care
The first patient I met as a medical student was a middle-aged delivery man and a former track athlete. He was recovering from his second amputation due to uncontrolled type 2 diabetes. When he told me he never realized how much his “high sugars” could cost him, I wasn’t sure what to say. (Lauren Rice, 3/11)
Bloomberg: Vinay Prasad’s Exit From FDA Offers Relief — Not Resolution
The revolving door at the Food and Drug Administration has pushed out another top official: Vinay Prasad, the controversial head of the agency’s vaccine and gene therapy arm, will depart in April. Patients and industry alike should breathe a little easier. The FDA has spent the last year embroiled in controversy and chaos — much of it due to Prasad’s top-down approach to regulation and dysfunctional leadership style. (Lisa Jarvis, 3/10)
The Washington Post: Don’t Trust This $4 Solution For Getting A Prescription
Affordable, accessible AI prescribing could be genuinely liberating for patients and clinicians alike. It could reduce costs, eliminate barriers to routine care and free physicians to focus on cases that truly require human judgment. Four dollars to get a prescription is a cheap price. But cutting corners on evidence for AI prescribing is bound to exact a far heavier cost. (Joseph V. Sakran and Rahul Gorijavolu, 3/9)
The Washington Post: A New Way Of Identifying Ultra-Processed Food Can Clarify Food Choices
A recent Nature Medicine article proposes a different approach: Instead of trying to define what qualifies as ultra-processed, define what does not qualify. (Lena S. Wen, 3/10)
Kansas City Star: Kansas State Sen. Mike Thompson’s New Back-Door Abortion Ban
Stunningly cynical. That’s the only way to describe a proposed new antiabortion-rights measure backed by Kansas state Sen. Mike Thompson, the Johnson County Republican. The resolution — a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution, which would have to be approved by voters — obscures its intent by parading as a Sunflower State version of the late, lamented Equal Rights Amendment. (Joel Mathis, 3/10)
