Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Recognizing The Superbug Danger; Confronting Mental Health Stigma
The New York Times: The World Wakes Up To The Danger Of Superbugs
Tuberculosis. Malaria. Syphilis. Gonorrhea. The microbes that cause these diseases are increasingly resistant, and sometimes even impervious, to antibiotics that worked in the past. Last week, amid other pressing business, 193 nations at the United Nations General Assembly signed a declaration summoning each of them to a war against a powerful and resourceful enemy: superbugs that have learned to evade science’s last remaining defenses. (9/28)
The Huffington Post: Let’s Call Mental Health Stigma What It Really Is: Discrimination
It’s no secret that there’s a veil of shame surrounding mental illness. Nearly one in five American adults will experience a mental health disorder in a given year. Yet only 25 percent of people with a psychological condition feel that others are understanding or compassionate about their illness, according to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. (Lindsay Holmes, 9/27)
Louisville Courier-Journal: Mental Illness Affects Many
Mental illness does not target one demographic or group, nor does it avoid others. It is an equal opportunity disease. Whether it impacts the life of a school teacher, a business executive, a stay at home mom, or a young college student – mental illness and its unfortunate societal stigma can have a devastating impact on a person and their loved ones. When they realize they can no longer manage the emotional pain and other consequences of the illness, one of the first questions asked is, “Where do I turn for help?” (Ramona Johnson, 9/27)
Los Angeles Times: Knott's Closes Attraction That Was Insensitive To People Who Care About Mental Health
In anticipation of Halloween, the folks who run Knott’s Berry Farm did a lousy thing, and mental health advocates were outraged. Then on Tuesday afternoon, park managers reversed course and shut down an attraction. But did they do so for the right reasons? Here’s the story; you be the judge. (Steve Lopez, 9/27)
Richmond Times Dispatch: Another Reason To Spike COPN
Like 35 other states, Virginia requires health-care providers to get the state’s permission before they can spend their own money on capital investments such as new buildings and new equipment. Big players — hospital chains especially — routinely try to game the system to thwart competition from one another and from upstart entrepreneurs who bring new ideas and approaches to the delivery of medicine. Defenders of the system claim it helps hold down costs. But as the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have long pointed out, it doesn’t. (9/27)
