Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Synthetic rFC Urgently Needs Approval For Pharmaceutical Testing; US Is Failing Its Children
The New York Times: Horseshoe Crabs Are In Trouble. How Much Longer Can We Rely On Their Blood To Test Our Drugs?
Anyone who gets a flu or Covid shot, childhood immunization, heart stent or hip replacement — and that’s almost everyone — is protected from exposure to potentially lethal contaminants known as endotoxins by a test that uses what might seem like an odd ingredient: the blue blood of the horseshoe crab. (Deborah Cramer, 2/16)
The Washington Post: American Teens Are Unwell Because American Society Is Unwell
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data from the first Youth Risk Behavior Survey collected across the United States since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. It is devastating. (Kate Woodsome, 2/15)
Los Angeles Times: How Repeat Exposure To Shootings Like Michigan State's Traumatizes Young People - And What We Can Do About It
Exposure to gun violence at any point during childhood is an adverse childhood experience, and extensive research on exposure to these experiences shows links to dozens of negative outcomes in a person’s life. (Sonali Rajan, Charles Branas and Mark S. Kaplan, 2/16)
Stat: How ‘Empathetic Engagement’ Can Increase Access To Mental Health Care
The ability to listen to others in an emotionally validating way is largely an innate talent, not something that’s easily learned. So one way to expand the pool of potential mental health providers is to recruit people based on their talent for empathetic engagement rather than formal degrees and certifications. (Mini Kahlon, 2/15)
The Star Tribune: Follow Minnesota On Newborn Screening
A physician's instincts that something wasn't right gave the Henrikson family of St. Paul an early heads-up that Vivian, their newborn, was born infected with a serious and surprisingly widespread pathogen known as cytomegalovirus (CMV). (2/15)
The Atlantic: What Not To Ask Me About My Long Covid
The fact is, no one—including doctors (especially doctors, dear God, these doctors)—knows the right things to say to those of us who have long COVID, because no one seems to be thinking about this wretched condition in the right way. (Jennifer Senior, 2/15)
Stat: The Haunting Brain Science Of Long Covid
Matt Fitzgerald used to bike up and down 3,500 feet through the Santa Ana Mountains on three-hour rides just for fun. Now, nine months after being infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, he can’t muster walking on flat surfaces for 20 minutes without days of exhaustion. (E. Wesley Ely, 2/16)
Kansas City Star: KS, MO Lawmakers Part Of Nationwide Anti-Trans Rights Effort
It’s anti-transgender week in the Kansas Legislature. Lawmakers are holding hearings on three bills aimed at ostracizing the state’s transgender residents. (2/15)
