Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: The Current Vaccine Discussion Is Defective; Conspiracy Theories Won't Make America Healthy
The New York Times: The Vaccine Discourse Is Broken
When researchers report an apparent side effect or adverse outcome, they can be near certain that bad actors will twist their words to undermine their meaning. Some of those bad actors will argue that side effects mean vaccines are bad for everyone. Others will say that past assurances of safety are malicious deceptions. (Dr. James Hamblin, 3/26)
The CT Mirror: Use Evidence, Not Conspiracy Theories, To Make America's Kids Healthy
Shortly after the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the new Health Secretary, the Trump Administration issued a new executive order establishing the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ (MAHA) Commission. A significant focus is on addressing the health of American children, including plans to investigate root causes of chronic disease and generate strategies for improvement. I’m a pediatrician and a mother of three young children, and I am concerned that the outlined plan will fail in helping our children achieve the administration’s goal of improving child health outcomes. (Lauren Palladino MD, 3/26)
Stat: The Consequences Of Dismantling The CDC’s Division Of HIV Prevention
In 2019, President Trump stood before Congress and the American people and pledged to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. by 2030. Now, his administration is reportedly considering dismantling a program — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of HIV Prevention — necessary to achieve that goal. Taking the CDC out of the fight against HIV would be a huge mistake. (Raynard Washington and Michelle Taylor, 3/26)
Stat: 23andMe’s Astonishing Legacy For Patient Empowerment
23andMe might have filed for bankruptcy, but the transformation it brought to health care over nearly two decades is irreversible. I’m a physician, scientist, and advocate for public health. I’ve witnessed how empowering people with knowledge about their own biology drives meaningful health decisions and actions, something millions have now experienced firsthand. (Michael Mina, 3/25)
Stat: 23andMe Bankruptcy Is Bad For Everyone
How did 23andMe go bankrupt? The same way bankruptcy was described by Ernest Hemingway in 1926: “Two ways: Gradually, and then suddenly.” (Matthew Herper, 3/24)
Also —
The CT Mirror: Where Poverty, Mental Illness Become Crimes
March 25 marks the day seven years ago that a young gentleman, father and son named J’Allen Jones was brutally slain at the hands of corrections officers at Garner Correctional Institute. Jones’ family and StopSolitaryCT have been working hard since then to get the State of Connecticut and DOC to release the video of his beating to the public. As a former corrections nurse I can attest it is of the utmost importance that people are made aware of what happened to Jones that day because brutal, neglectful and inhumane treatment resulting in unnecessary deaths continues to occur in our correctional facilities. (Karen Conley, 3/25)
