Viewpoints: Lessons Learned From Opioid Crisis And A Path To Ending It; Azar At The HHS Helm

Bloomberg: A Seven-Step Plan For Ending The Opioid Crisis
The opioid epidemic is now a full-blown national crisis, yet the federal government continues to dawdle. President Donald Trump declared opioid addiction a public health emergency, and he talks a tough game. But he has not taken forceful action. If he will not lead, Congress must -- and now, before the crisis grows even worse. Opioid overdose deaths rose 28 percent in 2016, to 42,000 men, women and children. Some 2.6 million more Americans are addicted to opioids, and communities in every region of the country are suffering from the resulting trauma. Largely as a result, life expectancy declined in 2016 for a second straight year -- something that has not happened since the early 1960s. (Michael R. Bloomberg, 1/10)

JAMA: Lessons From The Opioid Epidemic To Reinvigorate Tobacco Control Initiatives
As devastating as the opioid epidemic is, however, its toll is modest compared to that of another substance: tobacco. Even though tobacco use has rarely made headlines in recent years, cigarette smoking is associated with an estimated 480 000 deaths in the United States annually .... Public outcry over the opioid crisis is by no means misplaced, but the contrast between the relative attention garnered by the opioid epidemic compared with tobacco use highlights the extent to which concern over tobacco has receded, despite the enormous adverse effects of tobacco on the health of society. (Ilana Richman and Harlan Krumholz, 1/8)

Stat: Alex Azar Has The Temperament, Judgment, And Focus To Lead HHS
Despite significant policy differences, we believe that Republicans and Democrats agree more than they disagree when it comes to health care. We all want a high-performance, high-value health care system with greater access, better quality, and lower cost. In order to achieve this goal, we need a person of integrity and competence at the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services. The good news is that President Trump has nominated just such a person, Alex Azar, who we both have come to know. (Bill Frist and Tom Daschle, 1/9)

The Washington Post: What A Presidential President Would Have Said About His Health
President Trump is scheduled to undergo a routine physical examination on Friday. In the run-up to the exam, the president rebutted questions about his mental health by tweeting that he “would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!” Here’s what a more presidential president would be saying this week about his health, mental and physical: “I know that, at 70, I was the oldest president ever to be sworn in for his first term. Although I believe I am in good shape, the public cannot help but wonder about my health. Media reports about my eating and sleeping habits, as well as my own admission during the campaign that I could lose a few pounds, can only contribute to the concern. The days in which a president could hide health problems, even major ones, from the public are rightly gone." (1/9)

Des Moines Register: Maybe Trump Is A Very Stable Genius President
Michael Wolff’s new semifictional book about the Trump White House has sparked a renewed wave of overwrought speculation about the president’s mental fitness. Not one to shy away from a fight, President Trump punched back that not only is he a successful chief executive, he's a “very stable genius” to boot. Dilbert creator Scott Adams took the matter a step further by arguing that proclaiming himself a “very stable genius” or “VSG” was itself a genius Trump move because that will be his “forever name.” Whether people use the expression VSG admiringly or sarcastically, the words “Trump” and “genius” are going to be kept in close proximity. (James S. Robbins, 1/9)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Sessions Says Feds Can Still Save America From The Scourge Of Marijuana
Aside from being a futile attempt to put the legalized-marijuana genie back in the bottle, it’s a mark of hypocrisy for Jeff Sessions, a former Alabama senator who had long championed the right of states to set their own laws without being big footed by an oppressive federal government. Missouri is among 46 states that allow at least some limited use of cannabis extracts for medical purposes. Congress could fix this easily enough by revisiting the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, where marijuana is listed as a Schedule I drug alongside heroin. Schedule I drugs must have no acceptable medical use, as marijuana surely does, and a high potential for abuse. Marijuana is sometimes abused, but far less than alcohol, which is not on the controlled substance list at all. The perfect irony would be if Sessions’ rash action wound up prompting Congress to pass rational marijuana laws. (1/10)

Spectrum: Why Too Many Children With Autism End Up In Foster Care
Foster care is intended as a temporary solution for children whose parents cannot care for them. At any one time, about half a million children in the United States are in foster homes. The foster care system has a reputation as a place for children who are victims of abuse or neglect; this reputation is only partially deserved. About half of children in foster homes have a chronic disability that can make caring for them difficult. In fact, many of these children enter foster care because they have complex medical needs that their families cannot manage, often because of limited resources. (David Mandell, 1/9)

The New York Times: A Memory Shortcut, With A Little Help From Friends
“Always remember everything,” my mother is fond of saying. Of course, as she knows, this is impossible, even with advanced memory techniques. That’s why we take notes and use calendars. These are components of our external memory, which are parts of our extended minds. That your mind may not be entirely housed within your skull may be difficult to grasp. (Austin Frakt, 1/8)