Viewpoints: Many Suffer From Long Covid But Not Able To Access Benefits
Editorial writers tackle these public health issues.
The Boston Globe:
As Long COVID Turns Three, Americans Play Disability Roulette
While society yawns, impatient to move on from the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans still play disability roulette. About 1 in 10 of the 110,000 people who catch COVID this week in the United States, many for a second or third time, will be left lastingly ill. (Wes Ely, 5/26)
Dallas Morning News:
Texas Legislature Is Risking Postpartum Care
Texas lawmakers are close to the finish line with a bill that will have a major impact on low-income Texas mothers. It’s bipartisan legislation that will extend Medicaid from three months of postpartum care to 12 months. (5/25)
Stat:
Conduct More Clinical Trials In Safety Net Clinics
A recent report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (of which one of us, GC, is an author) shows that underrepresentation of population subgroups in clinical research is bad for the health of Americans. For instance, recent research showed that appropriate dosing for an often- prescribed blood thinner, warfarin, differs due to genetic variants. People with African ancestry require higher average doses (6 mg per day) than those with Asian ancestry, who require lower average doses (about 3.4 mg per day). (Gloria Coronado and Leslie Bienen, 5/26)
New England Journal of Medicine:
U.S. Law And Discrimination In Health Care
Although discrimination both by clinicians and by patients and families is well documented, occurs relatively commonly, and may be based on characteristics other than race, the laws that can be used to address these two types of discrimination differ substantially. (Kimani Paul-Emilie, J.D., Ph.D., 5/25)
Cincinnati Enquirer:
Drop In Vaccinations Related To More Infectious Outbreaks
Medical providers and the community alike are asking: "Are we seeing more emerging infections? And what can we do to stop future outbreaks?" (Felicia Scaggs Huang, 5/25)
