Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: New Test Is A Giant Step Forward In Parkinson's Treatment; Texas Health Care Without Doctors?
USA Today: New Parkinson's Test Is 'Monumental Leap Forward'
This week in New York City, 300 of the world’s top neuroscientists are meeting to chart the future of Parkinson's disease research. They are the leaders of the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), a major international study designed to help cure Parkinson's disease faster. (Michael J. Fox, 5/2)
Dallas Morning News: Removing Texas Physicians From The Health Care Team Would Be Harmful, Costly
Would you support a health care reform that worsens patient outcomes, increases medical costs and undermines access to quality medical care? Of course not. But this would be the consequence of several misdirected pieces of legislation currently before the Texas Legislature, including Senate Bill 1700 and House Bill 4071. (Gary W. Floyd and G. Ray Callas, 5/2)
The Washington Post: Biden Is Right To End Coronavirus Vaccine Requirements
The Biden administration announced on Monday that it will end most coronavirus vaccine mandates, including for federal workers and international travelers. This is the right decision, as it aligns health policy with updated science and evolving circumstances. (Leana S. Wen, 5/1)
Modern Healthcare: Issues Facing Doctors Treating Young Patients
Our practices continue to see more and more children and adolescents with mental health issues. ... Of course, part of the challenge with their treatment has been the shortages in the behavioral health workforce. So pediatricians and family physicians have to fill in the gaps. In some areas, there are so few child and adolescent psychiatrists that [pediatricians] often have no one to refer their patients to. (Dr. Sandy Chung and Dr. Kara Odom Walker, 5/1)
Stat: Do Masks Work? RCTs Can't Tell Us
Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, before we had vaccines and effective medical procedures, the only ways to prevent transmission of the virus were behavioral measures like face masks and social distancing. There was (and continues to be) a desperate hunger for definitive studies telling us how well specific measures would work, with specific publics, in specific settings, for specific strains of the novel and changing virus. Although the scientific community mobilized at record speeds, it could not produce studies with the desired surety. (Baruch Fischhoff, Martin Cetron and Katelyn Jetelina, 5/2)
The Washington Post: Transgender Biology Debates Should Focus On The Brain, Not The Body
In the past decade, there has been some fascinating research on the brains of transgender people. What is most remarkable about this work is not that trans women’s brains have been found to resemble those of cisgender women, or that trans men’s brains resemble those of cis men. What the research has found is that the brains of trans people are unique: neither female nor male, exactly, but something distinct. (Jennifer Finney Boylan, 5/1)
Stat: Doctor Appointment Wait Times Are Getting Worse
In 2004, the physician search firm Merritt Hawkins first issued their Survey of Physician Appointment Wait Times. That year, the national average wait to get in to see a new physician was 21 days, an unacceptable amount of time to wait to access care. But that number has only gotten worse. In their 2022 survey, the wait for a new patient appointment increased to an average of 26 days. (Oliver Kharraz, 5/2)
