Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: RFK Jr. Misrepresents FDA Melanoma Drug Rejection; Trump Team Taking Steps To End Title X
The Wall Street Journal: Oncologists Vs. The FDA And RFK Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doesn’t like our criticism of the Food and Drug Administration’s rejection of Replimune’s life-saving drug for metastatic melanoma. But the Health and Human Services Secretary’s statements at a House hearing last Thursday were as bewildering as the FDA rejection. (4/21)
The New York Times: The Trump Administration Is Coming After Birth Control Access In A Terrifying New Way
The new Title X guidance from the Trump administration mentions contraception only once. (Jill Filipovic, 4/20)
The Boston Globe: The GOP's New Target — Birth Control And Title X
The latest assault on Title X is also about abortion — one of the recently proposed changes is to cut off all funding to Planned Parenthood. But what’s more striking is the direct attack on birth control, something socially conservative politicians and activists have long been circumspect about undertaking. Not anymore. (Mary Ziegler, 4/22)
Stat: Space Travel Is Tough On The Immune System
In the aftermath of the successful Artemis II mission, NASA is moving forward with the next steps of its plans to establish a base on the moon. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, crews will be operating at the lunar base within the next decade with an even more ambitious long-term goal: Mars. Human health in the space environment will be an important factor in these efforts. Among the concerns NASA should consider is the potential impacts of immunology and infectious disease. (Scott E. Solomon, 4/22)
Stat: Happy 75th Birthday To The CDC’s ‘Disease Detective’ Program
The phone rings on the evening of Feb. 28, 2020. “We need you to deploy to Seattle. Meet your team at Roybal tomorrow and additional details will be provided.” For weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been tracking the spread of the novel coronavirus closely. (Eric J. Chow, Ariella Perry Dale and Matthew Donahue, 4/22)
