Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Kids Are Struggling Without Adequate Therapists; What Is Causing BA.5 Numbers To Decrease?
The New York Times: Kids’ Mental Health Is A ‘National Emergency.’ Therapists Are In Short Supply
At the beginning of the year, I started hearing from readers across the country that there were long waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health providers. Many of their kids were really struggling, often with anxiety and depression. (Jessica Grose, 8/10)
Bloomberg: The Omicron BA.5 Wave Is Starting To Ebb. We Need To Know Why
The Covid wave fueled by the omicron BA.5 surge is finally starting to ebb in the UK and in some of the harder-hit parts of the US. But why? It’s no longer tenable to argue that disease waves peak and fall primarily because people start taking precautions. (Faye Flam, 8/10)
Stat: PCR Testing Can Guide Covid-19 Return To School Or Work Policies
President Biden’s recent case of Covid-19, its rebound, and his extended isolation offers an opportunity to consider how more precise interpretation of viral load via PCR testing might be used to safely return people to work or school earlier. (Robert B. Darnell, 8/10)
Chicago Tribune: Politicians Have Failed To Deal With Gun Violence. Give Medical Officials A Chance.
Politicians have had their chance. Let someone else take the wheel — namely, the medical community. (Sheldon Jacobson, 8/10)
The Washington Post: Pregnancy Humbles Everyone. Even Serena Williams
The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade prompted a renewed conversation about what pregnancy — so often lauded as natural, as what women are built for — does to the person who experiences it. (Alyssa Rosenberg, 8/10)
The Tennessean: Patient Advocates Demand Accountability For Medical Error In RaDonda Vaught Case
In 2017, Vaught gave 75-year-old Charlene Murphey the incorrect medication. Murphey died as a result. While the medication error was added to the internal patient safety incident reporting system at Vanderbilt, a decision was made to omit it from the patient’s medical record and coroner’s report. (Susan E. Sheridan and Beth Daley Ullem, 8/10)
Stat: Decriminalizing HIV: Scientifically Proven And Morally Correct
One hundred thirty-four. That’s the number of countries that currently criminalize or prosecute people based on general criminal laws of HIV transmission, non-disclosure, or exposure. (Mandeep Dhaliwal, 8/11)
Bloomberg: Medicare Spending On Dialysis Is Out Of Control
More than 800,000 Americans suffer from life-threatening kidney failure. Paying for treatment of this condition costs the government more than $50 billion a year, and a recent Supreme Court decision risks driving the price tag even higher. (8/10)
Stat: Implementation Science Helps Usher Innovation Into Health Care
The test of a new team-based way to treat bipolar disorder was, by all estimations, a highly successful research effort. Yet within a year of the end of the studies, not a single one of the 15 sites that had taken part in the two trials had incorporated team-based care into their standard work flows. (Mark S. Bauer, 8/11)
