Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Our Bodies Are Smothered In Plastic Pollution; Cutting EPA Rules Puts Our Lives In Danger
The New York Times: You Are Contaminated
The penetration appears so complete that some researchers have begun to worry that their methods, too, are compromised by ambient contamination and plastic materials in the lab. Some have called for whole new protocols to systematically stress-test the findings of their colleagues, which seem on first blush simply impossible. But to trust their findings is to believe, for instance, that the buildup inside brain tissue has grown 50 percent in just eight years, and that, as of last year, there might be inside your skull the equivalent of a full plastic spoon — by weight perhaps one-fifth as much polymer as there is brainstem in there. (David Wallace-Wells, 8/4)
The Boston Globe: Gutting EPA Climate Rules Will Put Lives At Risk
The EPA plans to erase current limits on pollution from cars, factories, and power plants. In doing so, it plans to claim that climate regulations on automakers and other polluting industries harm human health because of higher prices and reduced consumer choice, according to a report by The New York Times. This is not true and is a reversal of fundamental economic and health data that long demonstrated these regulations save lives and help the economy. (Vanessa Kerry, 8/2)
Stat: Medicine Must Recognize The Psychological Toll Of Waiting
There is a kind of waiting in medicine that does not happen in chairs or hallways. It happens in lives, quietly, when the next step is unknown. It is not the waiting room with check-in desks and background television. It is the one that begins after a diagnosis, when a plan has been made but not yet set in motion. (Judith Eguzoikpe, 8/4)
Bloomberg: Better Lifestyle Choices Can Slow Brain Aging
This large trial gives weight to a growing body of work underscoring the connection between lifestyle and cognitive health. That link was highlighted in a study commissioned by The Lancet that found nearly half of all dementia cases worldwide could be delayed or attenuated by focusing on specific aspects of our health. (Lisa Jarvis, 8/3)
Kansas City Star: Cuts In Big Beautiful Bill Hurt Babies, Mothers, Hospitals
An unseen provision in the recent congressional overhaul of Medicaid will bankrupt poor families with sick newborns — and raise costs for us all. Hidden within the 940 pages of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a reduction in Medicaid’s ability to pay for care retroactively (care that has already been delivered) from 90 to 60 days. Shortening this window of payment targets parents of newborns, and will burden families with thousands of dollars of medical debt. (Shetal Shah and Marsha Spitzer, 8/3)
The Washington Post: Answering Your Questions About Underused Menopause Therapies
Physician and Harvard professor JoAnn E. Manson told me that women no longer eligible for systemic therapy may still experience significant relief with low-dose vaginal estrogen. She also emphasized that though hot flashes, night sweats and other symptoms treated by systemic therapies usually subside over time, GSM is a progressive condition that worsens without treatment. (Leana S. Wen, 7/31)
