Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Steps Necessary To Be Ready For The Next Pandemic; More Secular Addiction Treatment Needed
The New York Times: The World Needs To Prepare For The Next Pandemic
Late last year, I participated in an exercise meant to play out what might happen if the world was presented with a new disease spreading quickly, with no warning. (Tom Inglesby, 3/12)
The New York Times: Faith Healing Should Not Be Mainstream Treatment For Addiction
In December, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York unexpectedly vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have required judges to inform drug court participants of their right to choose nonreligious rehabilitation. (Maia Szalavitz, 3/11)
USA Today: Teens Are Struggling With Mental Health. Why Aren't We Helping Them?
Student mental health was already at a low before lockdown; the pandemic exacerbated the issue and strained the relationship between student and counselor. Counselors say anxiety rates are up, and with a big developmental chunk missing from most student’s lives, social-emotional skills are suffering, too. This hits especially hard for teenage girls and LGBTQ students, studies say. (Nia Batra, 3/12)
Scientific American: Changing Clocks To Daylight Saving Time Is Bad For Your Health
About one-third of Americans say they don’t look forward to these twice-yearly time changes. And nearly two-thirds would like to eliminate them completely, compared to 21% who aren’t sure and 16% who would like to keep moving their clocks back and forth. (Beth Ann Malow, 3/11)
Dallas Morning News: Virtual Primary Care Can Result In Better Doctor-Patient Relationships
Twenty days. That’s how long patients in major metropolitan areas waited on average last year for an appointment with their primary care physician, according to a survey by AMN Healthcare, a firm that provides workforce solutions in the health care industry. (Geoff Rutledge, 3/13)
Bloomberg: One Covid Lesson: Masks Work, But Mask Mandates Don’t
So masks don’t work after all? That’s the conclusion many conservatives took from a comprehensive analysis of the use of masks to prevent the spread of respiratory infections such as Covid-19 — and it’s led, naturally enough, to a lot of football-spiking and I-told-you-so’s. (Matthew Yglesias, 3/12)
Kansas City Star: Medicare Must Help Rural Alzheimer’s Patients Same As Urban
The scourge of Alzheimer’s disease is dire, and especially so for rural Americans, who live farther from the metropolitan areas where research centers are concentrated. Medicare just announced it will continue to restrict coverage for cutting-edge treatments to these urban centers. If it doesn’t address the geographic inequity of care, millions of Americans living in our rural heartland will miss out on this new hope. (Betsy Huber, 3/10)
The Wall Street Journal: Need Help For Stress And Anxiety? Maybe You Shouldn’t Talk To A Therapist
What if I told you that talking to a professional about one’s psychological woes might not be the answer to every problem? Or that there might be times when therapy actually does more harm than good? To be clear, I am a fan of therapy, and as a practicing psychiatrist for almost 20 years, I have witnessed many patients improve in treatment. However, the therapy-is-the-answer model is problematic for several reasons. (Samantha Boardman, 3/10)
