Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Lessons From Doctors On Caring For Immigrant Children's Health; Create A Team To Slow Opioid Epidemic
New England Journal of Medicine: The Suffering Of Children
Every pediatrician has his or her own tips for putting young patients at ease in the exam room. Mine include referring to even the tiniest Spanish-speaking patients as usted rather than tú, as a sign of respect, and sitting at or below their level to avoid looming over them. Most important, I examine children in a parent’s lap whenever possible. I will even vaccinate them in that position if the parent feels comfortable holding the child. For most children, there is no safer, more comforting place in the world than a parent’s embrace. That is why the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Medical Association, along with hundreds of other national organizations, have decried the U.S. government’s recent policy of tearing undocumented immigrant children from the arms of the people who would carry them to safety. (Fiona Danaher, 6/27)
Miami Herald: Child Sexual Abuse In Immigration Custody Is An Inevitable Risk
I suspect that the great majority of men and women caring for immigrant children are decent and honorable people. This is true whether federal employees, nonprofit staffers or government contractors. But I also know that 1. A single, serial child predator can do immeasurable damage to dozens of children, having accessed the right environment; and 2) Current circumstances provide an unprecedented opportunity for them. Given the reality of child sexual abuse and exploitation, there are without a doubt predatory adults looking to infiltrate the now-burgeoning system of childcare taking place along the U.S.-Mexico border. The reason is simple: Predatory people looking to sexually abuse children follow the same elementary paths of all things that hunt — those of least resistance and greatest security. (Roger Canaff, 6/27)
Des Moines Register: Congress, Nonprofits And American People Can Slow Opioid Epidemic
Some issues permeate society without regard to who you are or where you come from. Opioid addiction is one of those issues. Chances are that you or someone close to you is personally affected by this epidemic. Opioid addiction is bringing unlikely allies together in the fight against it. With continued cooperation in Congress and help from nonprofit organizations and the American people, we can limit its impact and significantly slow its progression. (Sen. Chuck Grassley, 6/27)
New England Journal of Medicine: Firearm Injuries And Violence Prevention — The Potential Power Of A Surgeon General’s Report
In the aftermath of the mass shooting at a social services center in San Bernardino, California, in 2015, President Barack Obama suggested that the relationship between firearm ownership and gun injuries might be as strong as the connection between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. The full extent of the burden of firearm injuries is incompletely understood because of historical restrictions on federal funding for research on firearm violence by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But recent increases in the frequency and lethality of mass shootings in the United States — and the approximately 90 gun deaths that occur each day — argue for efforts to reframe the national debate about firearms as a public health issue. (John Maa and Ara Darzi, 6/27)
Houston Chronicle: How Can Trauma Surgeons Prevent Gun Violence?
When Roger arrived at Ben Taub Hospital’s Trauma Center, he had been shot — twice. One bullet had torn through his lung and narrowly missed his heart. Another ripped holes in his intestines before exiting through his back. Tragically, he was only 1 of 5 victims of violence my surgical team operated on that night. And we would repeat the ritual the next night and the next in what seems a never-ending stream of tragedies. Was Roger’s injury that night inevitable? Could it have been prevented? He was only 20 years old. Will he be one of the many repeat patients we see with barely healed scars from past gunshot wounds, until one day we won’t be able to save him? We don’t know the answers to those questions because research into the causes and prevention of gun violence is hard to come by. (R. Mario Vera, 6/28)
The New York Times: America Is Guilty Of Neglecting Kids: Our Own
It’s not just the kids at the border. America systematically shortchanges tens of millions of children, including homegrown kids. The upshot is that American kids are more likely to be poor, to drop out of high school and even to die young than in other advanced countries. (Nicholas Kristof, 6/27)
