Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Inevitable Path of Vaccine Denialism Is Dotted With Warning Signs; Most Favored Nation Policy Dims Hope For Children With Rare Diseases
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The Bill Comes Due For Vaccine Denialism
If history someday defines our current political era as one in which America inexplicably allowed preventable, once-defeated diseases to reemerge and ravage society — and that narrative is growing today with alarming clarity — the most baffling part of the story will be how we failed to see it coming. (6/10)
Kansas City Star: Most Favored Nation Drug Pricing Risks Medical Innovation
My family’s life changed the moment we learned our child was diagnosed with an SLC6A1-related disorder, a rare neurological condition that can cause seizures, developmental delays, cognitive impairment and lifelong challenges for affected children and their families. Most people have never heard of SLC6A1-related disorders, and today, there are still no approved cures. (Kimberly Fry, 6/9)
The CT Mirror: Medically Complex Children Wait A Lifetime On A Waitlist
I snap on my gloves and silence my work phone, taking a breath and mentally preparing for another initial palliative care consult. Another family carrying the impossible weight of loving a medically complex child in a world that makes them fight for every ounce of support. But before I knock, I hear laughter and celebration. (Kristen Campbell, 6/8)
Stat: How Long Covid Research Went So Wrong
Mitchell Miglis had two months left. The Stanford University neurology professor had spent two years studying what long Covid does to the human nervous system — why patients’ hearts race when they stand, why their blood pressure collapses, why their bodies lose the ability to regulate themselves. His National Institutes of Health RECOVER grant was weeks from completion, data collected, analysis underway. (Steven Phillips, 6/11)
Stat: Open-Access Fees Keep NIH-Funded Research From Public
In June 2025, I led a study that was accepted for publication in Nature Medicine. The cost to publish this manuscript, which reported the results of a randomized clinical trial, was zero dollars. The paper underwent rigorous peer view and extensive edits and copy editing by the editorial staff. This study was the result of years of work by a large team of staff and investigators at Johns Hopkins and was funded by a combination of philanthropy and grants from the National Institutes of Health (your and my tax dollars). (Elizabeth Selvin, 6/11)
