Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Poor Americans Will Be Hit Hard By New E-Cig Regulations; Years Of Silence After Abuse Is Sadly Common
RealClearHealth: E-Cig Regulation Likely To Burn Low-Income Americans
The FDA is ostensibly committed to protecting Americans from harmful substances. However, the commissioner should also consider whether the FDA is interested in protecting poor Americans from regressive regulation. Evidence suggests e-cigarettes are an easy way for poor American smokers to improve their health. Unfortunately, future restrictions may change that. (Vanessa Brown Calder, 9/27)
Boston Globe: Sadly, Not Reporting Abuse Is Common
I suppose you can excuse the ignorance of those who keep asking why Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s teenage accusers waited so long to speak up about his alleged sexual misconduct. But you can’t in Boston, ground zero of the Catholic sex abuse scandal. We know better. Not telling for decades is typical — not rare, not suspicious, not disqualifying. (Margery Eagan, 10/1)
The Hill: Sexual Trauma And Memory — We Remember Pieces As Opposed To Complete Storylines
At a hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, psychologist Christine Blasey Ford described her alleged sexual assault 36 years ago by Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. Some skeptics wondered why she hadn’t come forward years earlier. Other doubters called her “mixed up” and questioned the veracity of her memories.But some of us were very impressed by Dr. Ford, a research psychologist at Stanford University of Medicine and a psychology professor at Palo Alto University. Dr. Ford’s ability to speak about her memory — not just in terms of recollection, but in terms of the actual mechanisms that make memory function within our brains — was inspiring. (Joan Cook, 9/28)
Axios: Corporate Health Care Costs Don't Look Like A Crisis
The conventional wisdom is that corporate America has a renewed, almost crisis-level concern about rising health costs. But, in a puzzle I am struggling to solve, the data don’t suggest a basis for a new level of urgency about health costs in corporate America. Why it matters: In fact, just the opposite is true. There's just not that much change — so any solution that's designed for a crisis will probably miss the mark or could unnecessarily harm workers. (Drew Altman, 10/1)
The Hill: To Protect Women And Babies We Need A New Approach To Labor And Delivery
If the U.S. wants to lower our dismal maternal mortality rate, we cannot continue a model in which the status quo is acceptable. The traditional model of labor and delivery (and postpartum care) can — and must — be improved upon by policymakers and hospitals. First, U.S. health policymakers should follow Texas’ lead in promoting implementation of safety protocols developed through the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM), a national data-driven maternal safety and quality improvement initiative. (Mark Simon and Rakhi Dimino, 9/29)
The New York Times: A Promising Step In Tackling Childhood Cancer
Like most of the boys in his San Salvador neighborhood, Gabriel Alessandro Mayorga Hernandez — Gabo, to his family and friends — loves soccer. But in 2014, just before he turned 12, he found himself exhausted by even a short game. Eventually he became too tired to play at all and started having headaches so severe they made him vomit. When he developed chest pains and difficulty breathing, his grandmother took him to the doctor, where X-rays and blood work indicated that he had acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or A.L.L., a blood cancer that develops most often in young children. (9/29)
Bloomberg: Amarin's Vascepa: Fish-Oil Heart Drug A Rare Breakthrough
Monday’s results from Amarin Corp.’s test of purified fish oil Vascepa in people at risk for heart diseases are an exception — and one more likely than any recent drug outcome to affect the average person reading this column. Vascepa was shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack or stroke by 25 percent in high-risk patients, much more than analysts hoped for, and without side effects. Add to that its relative cheapness, and it’s a result that could affect millions, change how heart disease is approached, and justify the more than tripling of Amarin’s share price Monday morning.In fact, it may be the rarest success of all: a breakthrough that cost-conscious, health-care gatekeepers don’t hamper, but embrace. (Mark Gongloff, 9/29)
Philadelphia Inquirer: Doctor: Soda Tax Is Working
It is a good thing that Philadelphia stores are carrying fewer sugary beverages and more bottled water; it is a good thing consumers are changing behaviors; and it's a good thing jobs have not been impacted. (Paul Mather, 10/1)
The Hill: Lonely People Cost A Lot Of Money
Some of us are more vulnerable than others. Older adults with lower incomes are at higher risk, as are those who may be acting as unpaid caregivers to a loved one. And, perhaps surprisingly, the LGBTQ community is now facing a higher rate of loneliness among its aging population. Yet reaching out to those in need can be as simple as connecting a person with a community activity or simply chatting across a fence. (Lisa Marsh Ryerson, 9/28)
The Wall Street Journal: A Republican Governor Shoots Himself In The Foot
For a small state, Vermont has a way of getting noticed. It was the first state to recognize same-sex civil unions and the first to experiment with a single-payer health-care system. Two Vermont politicians—Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Gov. Howard Dean—have sought the White House in recent years. This year, Vermont Democrats made Christine Hallquist the first transgender candidate for governor in any state. Ms. Hallquist’s Republican opponent, Gov. Phil Scott, has gone from being one of the nation’s most popular governors to one of its least liked. The reason? Guns. (Norman, 9/28)
Las Vegas Sun: Another Year Is Too Long To Go Without Meaningful Gun Reform
A year after the Oct. 1 shooting, bump stocks remain legal in Nevada. So do high-capacity magazines. So do assault-style weapons and tracer bullets. And all can still be purchased without a background check if the transaction doesn’t involve a licensed gun dealer but instead is between unlicensed individuals. In other words, not much has changed in terms of gun policy in Nevada one year after the worst mass shooting in modern history. That’s shameful. (10/1)
The New York Times: Uber, Lyft And The Urgency Of Saving Money On Ambulances
An ambulance ride of just a few miles can cost thousands of dollars, and a lot of it may not be covered by insurance. With ride-hailing services like Uber or Lyft far cheaper and now available within minutes in many areas, would using one instead be a good idea? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer in many cases is yes. (Austin Frakt, 10/1)
