Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Olympic Figure Skating's Dark Side; Action Plan For Preventing Drug Overdoses
The Washington Post: Kamila Valieva’s Quad, Controversy And The Tragedy Of Women’s Figure Skating
This week, 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva became the first woman to complete a quad jump — with four rotations — in an Olympics. Not so long ago, quads in the senior women’s competition felt like a pipe dream. Now, multiple other female skaters will be attempting quads in next week’s individual event, including Valieva’s 17-year-old compatriots Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova. Valieva’s feat was soon shadowed by reports in Russian media alleging that she had tested positive for a banned heart medication. But the quad revolution raises a broader concern about elite women’s skating: Although the sport can provide moments of athletic triumph, the system that produces them is a tragedy. (Mili Mitra, 2/10)
USA Today: President Biden Should Withdraw FDA Nominee Because Of Opioid Record
Since OxyContin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1995, more than 500,000 Americans have died from overdoses related to opioids and synthetic opioids. Nearly three decades later, more than 101,000 Americans – over 1,500 West Virginians and nearly 2,500 Hoosiers – died between June 2020 and June 2021. It’s clear that not much has changed in the way the FDA approves and manages these highly addictive, destructive drugs killing Americans at an astonishing rate. (Sens. Joe Manchin and Mike Braun, 2/11)
Stat: To Prevent Overdose Deaths, Focus On Demand Reduction In The U.S.
Americans’ use of illicit drugs is fueling twin public health crises on both sides of the border between the U.S. and Mexico. In the U.S., more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in the last 12 months, a 30% increase from the year before and the highest number on record. In Mexico, the murder rate remains alarmingly high, with more than 33,000 people killed in 2021, many of them related to the drug trade. A proposed approach to dealing with these connected crises provides a welcome shift in tone, but in many ways seems to be an old-wine-in-new-bottles approach. (Jim Crotty, 2/11)
The New York Times: Biden’s Hidden Health Care Triumph
A Republican member of Congress said something epically stupid the other day. No, I’m not talking about Marjorie Taylor Greene’s warning about Nancy Pelosi’s “gazpacho police.” If you ask me, Greene was performing a public service; we all need some good laughs, especially given the demise of the borscht belt. I’m talking, instead, about Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who tweeted out a novel argument against universal health care: “Over 70% of Americans who died with Covid, died on Medicare, and some people want #MedicareForAll?” (Paul Krugman, 2/10)
The CT Mirror: The Power Of Human Connection
For a long time, healthcare has been focused on reacting to symptoms. When people notice something feeling different, or are having trouble that isn’t going away, they — correctly — see their doctor. They may come away with a prescription for medication or referral for a procedure. But how much of our physical and mental health is affected by how we live? How can we change the way we approach healthcare so that we can avoid problems that require medical treatment? How we treat our bodies and how our bodies treat us is all connected, but what has become clearer is how our ability to live a healthy life is influenced by what we call Social Drivers of Health (SDoH). (Dr. Michael Jefferson, 2/9)
The CT Mirror: My Short Shelf Life And The Connecticut General Assembly
My medical records declare that I am a cancer survivor – twice over no less. I got through treatment for breast cancer and malignant melanoma feeling confident and grateful. But in March 2021, I was diagnosed with late-stage Fallopian tube cancer. It is very rare. It is also the most lethal type of gynecologic cancer. With my diagnosis has come a resolve to put in place a plan for living what I now think of as my ‘short shelf life.’ I am using what time I have left to do the things I’ve always wanted to do—and one of them is to advocate for medical aid in dying, aka MAID. I simply want the right to have a say in the timing and manner of my death when I reach the point where my disease or the pain and suffering it causes robs me of the quality of life that is essential to me. (Lynda Shannon Bluestein, 2/10)
The Baltimore Sun: With Cancer, I’ll Take All The Luck I Can Get
I am not a superstitious person. I believe in science and cold hard facts. But how could I not take it as a sign of good luck when a pressed four-leaf clear clover fell out of an old dictionary I found at a used book store? I thought about the significance of that four-leaf clover as I packed my to-go bag for an upcoming appointment at The Hillman Cancer Center’s Radiology Department. This will be scan No. 14. (Debby Tepper Glick, 2/10)
