Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: It's Time To Stop Including High BMI In Formal Diagnoses; Let's Talk About Pediatric Transition
Stat: Elevated BMI Should Not Routinely Be Listed As A Formal Diagnosis
Weight stigma has long been a challenge for the field of medicine. Patients who live in bigger bodies often describe experiences in health care settings as highly stigmatizing. This can have significant consequences for their health, often taking the form of delaying or forgoing care. But there is an under-acknowledged yet ubiquitous form of weight stigma plaguing health care: routine documentation of body mass index greater than 25 as a medical diagnosis. (Mara Gordon, Niharika Sathe and Meghan Crnic, 11/20)
The Washington Post: Questions Linger About The Safety Of Pediatric Medical Transition
In the spring, the Department of Health and Human Services published a careful, 409-page systematic review of the evidence and ethical considerations for pediatric medical transition. But one thing was missing: the names of the authors. (11/19)
Katie Couric Media: A Viral Video Reveals the Disturbing Neglect Black Mothers Face Every Day
But the truth is, for every viral video, there are countless moments we never see. Moments where Black women are treated as if their pain doesn’t matter. Moments that end in preventable complications, near-death experiences, or death itself. (Bayo Curry-Winchell, MD, MS, 11/18)
Stat: Where The Longevity Economy Should Focus Its Energy — And Dollars
We’re living in the age of the anti-aging gold rush. Biohackers are fasting and cold-plunging. They’re injecting themselves with peptides and tracking every heartbeat in the hopes of extending lifespan by months, if not years. (Michael Gurven, 11/20)
CIDRAP: RSV Prevention—A Remarkable Medical Achievement Finally Realized
Every winter, pediatric wards fill with infants struggling to breathe, their small chests retracting with each labored breath from the inflammation and obstruction that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes in their airways. RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization in US infants. For decades after we developed effective vaccines against other childhood infections, RSV remained unconquered. We could treat symptoms, offer oxygen, and wait, but we could not reliably prevent infection. Older adults faced a quieter version of the same problem, coming in with "viral pneumonia" and heart failure that, when we tested, often turned out to be RSV. (Jake Scott, 11/19)
