Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Prosecuting Nurse Will Have Consequences; Climate Change Hurts Health Of Minority Communities
The Tennessean: RaDonda Vaught Trial: Prosecuting Ex Nurse May Worsen Hospital Safety
The criminal trial of RaDonda Vaught, charged with homicide and elderly abuse for a medical error, further erodes the safety of patients and staff in Tennessee and across the nation. Ms. Vaught’s trial underscores the failure of both the Tennessee Board of Health and Board of Nursing and also of Glen Funk, Nashville's district attorney general to understand patient safety and the prevention of medical errors. (Dana Kellis, 3/25)
Stat: HHS's Failure To Address Health Harms Of Climate Crisis Is Environmental Racism
The 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination against recipients of federal funding, including those covered by Medicaid and Medicare, along with actions that have racially disparate impacts. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, which is responsible for enforcing civil rights laws, has never addressed, much less recognized, the climate crisis despite the fact that communities of color disproportionately suffer innumerable and unrelenting climate-related health harms. Failing to address this injustice constitutes both environmental and institutional racism. (David Introcaso, 3/28)
Dallas Morning News: Dallas’ Biotech+ Hub Strengthens Our Future As Biomedical Leader
On a brisk, windy day in Dallas last week, our city took what we hope will be a major step forward in combining the outstanding public scientific research taking place at UT Southwestern Medical Center with private investment and philanthropy. Mayor Eric Johnson, philanthropist Lyda Hill and U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson were among those at the ribbon-cutting for the BioLabs facility at the Biotech+ Hub at Pegasus Park. The project, on a 23-acre campus anchored by what was the Exxon Mobil headquarters off Stemmons Freeway near the Design District, has the potential to become a national center of biomedical and pharmaceutical advancement, attracting the best minds in medicine and science. (3/28)
Bloomberg: How Crispr Technology Could Transform How We Test For Disease
The last two years of enduring nasal swabs for Covid have all of us thinking a lot more about the way in which we test for infectious diseases. You helped found Mammoth Biosciences in 2018, fresh from getting your Ph.D. under Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna, one of the pioneers of the gene-editing technology Crispr. At the time, most Crispr companies were focused on finding treatments and cures for human diseases. You were pitching the idea that Crispr could transform how diseases are identified in the first place. How can Crispr make a difference in detecting disease? (Lisa Jarvis, 3/27)
Modern Healthcare: Why The Latest Federal Spending Bill Matters To Digital Health Equity
On March 15, President Joe Biden signed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill that included a variety of new initiatives, including aid to Ukraine, infrastructure investment and the renewal of community project funding. That funding includes about $10 billion in congressionally directed spending projects throughout the country. A CPF request I submitted, backed by Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) along with the support of 16 regional stakeholders for a Digital Health Equity Program, was included in the bill. (Dr. Joshua Elder, 3/25)
