Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Nonmedical Vaccine Exemptions Need An Overhaul; CDC's Opioid Restrictions Are Dangerous
Los Angeles Times: A Dangerous Dip In Confidence In Vaccines Puts Kids At Risk From Preventable Disease
We live in an age of advanced scientific knowledge that produces vaccines that can ward off diseases such as measles, rubella, mumps and polio. We also live in an age when an increasing number of parents want the option of not vaccinating their children against these highly contagious and potentially fatal diseases. (1/5)
USA Today: CDC Opioid Guidelines Leave Chronic Pain Patients Suffering
How many innocent lives must be harmed before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changes course on prescription opioids? The CDC recently released opioid guidelines, a recommendation for physician prescribing practices, and an update to the original 2016 document, which wrongheadedly attempted – and failed – to solve the opioid crisis by preventing physicians from prescribing pain medication to patients. (Peter Pischke, 1/5)
The New York Times: Covid Testing Rules Do Little More Than Stoke Anti-Asian Hate
When the Chinese government abruptly eased its draconian Covid-19 policies in December, I felt an uncanny combination of abject horror and relief. After three years of endless PCR tests and lockdowns — “zero Covid,” which has gripped China like a vise, was finally brought to a close. (Frankie Huang, 1/5)
San Francisco Chronicle: Fauci Didn't Get The Sendoff He Deserved. So It Goes In Public Health
After more than half a century of service at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Anthony Fauci has finally retired. Regrettably, after helping to guide the country through one of the deadliest pandemics in global history, Fauci and his life’s work didn’t receive the hero’s sendoff they deserve. (Steven Solter, 1/4)
Stat: Include Dental Health Records In Interoperability Rules
As 2023 begins, health care providers in the United States must make health records more easily available or risk losing Medicare funding under the 21st Century Cures Act. While this is a win for patients, providers, and researchers, the legislation’s failure to include dental care ignores the crucial link between oral health and overall health. (Kiltesh Patel, 1/5)
