Viewpoints: The Vaccine Debate Continues; Doctors Talk About Guns
A selection of opinions from around the country.
The Wall Street Journal:
Anti-Vaccination Lunacy Won’t Stop
This week’s fare at the Angelika Film Center in New York City includes “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe,” a purported documentary that began its run on Friday. If only the theater’s schedulers had been making a droll point by choosing April Fool’s Day to launch this dangerously misleading movie falsely linking vaccines to autism. Instead, they all too eagerly snatched up the film after it had been ousted on March 26 from plans for the Tribeca Film Festival later this month. (W. Ian Lipkin, 4/3)
The Columbus Dispatch:
Anti-Vaccine Film Deserved To Be Spiked
The Tribeca Film Festival opens April 13 in New York minus one film from the original lineup: “ Vaxxed: From Cover-up to Catastrophe.” It’s a crackpot documentary purporting a connection between vaccines and autism. The decision last weekend to withdraw the film, after a public outcry, is good for the moral health of the festival — and for the physical health of children. (4/4)
Modern Healthcare:
The Therapeutic Illusion In Cardiac Care
Ever heard of the “therapeutic illusion?” I hadn't until I read a Perspective article in last week's New England Journal of Medicine that should be required reading for any healthcare executive serious about moving his or her organization from volume-driven to value-based care. Dr. David Casarett of the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine described the therapeutic illusion as physicians believing “their actions or tools are more effective than they actually are. … Their therapeutic illusion facilitates continued use of inappropriate tests and treatments.” (Merrill Goozner, 4/2)
Louisville Courier-Journal:
How Occupational Therapy And Autism Are Related
April is Autism Awareness Month and Occupational Therapy Month. The two have more in common than the month of April. According to the Autism Society, “Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disability; signs typically appear during early childhood and affect a person’s ability to communicate, and interact with others. ASD is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a 'spectrum condition' that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees.” (William K. Smithwick, 4/4)
The Boston Globe:
Doctors Should Talk To Patients About Guns
Long known for its efforts to quash research on the dangers of guns in the home, the National Rifle Association is now attempting to intrude into the doctor’s office itself. Although the case before a Florida appeals court might seem far removed from Massachusetts, it’s part of a broad-based campaign by NRA lobbyists to block any discussion of gun violence as a pervasive public health problem that transcends questions about Second Amendment rights. (4/3)
The Oklahoman:
Expansion Of Medicaid Not A Budget Cure-All For Oklahoma
The news that Oklahoma's Medicaid program may cut provider rates by 25 percent due to the state budget shortfall will undoubtedly lead some critics to insist this would not be happening had Oklahoma expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Yet while the state would have received additional federal funds for Medicaid under Obamacare expansion, that money would have been used for new enrollees, not those currently in the program. The program would still face cuts this year and provider-rate reductions would likely still be on the table. (4/4)
The Gazette:
The Dollars And Sense Of Managed Care
Iowa policymakers have ventured into the vast unknown of privatized Medicaid care with the lure of $110 million in savings for a fiscal 2017 state budget that can use all the help it can get. Three private managed-care organizations — Amerigroup, AmeriHealth and UnitedHealthcare — officially took charge Friday of handling the medical and health needs of up to 560,000 of Iowa’s most vulnerable citizens who rely on federal and state dollars for assistance. (Rod Boshart, 4/3)
Bloomberg:
Doctors Can Do More To Fight Addiction
President Barack Obama can convene all the task forces, panel discussions and summit meetings he wants, and they may actually be useful. But a lasting solution to America's opioid epidemic depends mostly on a meaningful change in physicians' attitudes about treating addiction. (3/31)
The Orlando Sentinel:
Worse Than Heroin: Fentanyl Deaths Soar
Undercover Orlando police officers don't have much trouble finding dealers who claim to be selling heroin. Recently, though, lab tests are showing that what officers are buying on the street isn't heroin, but something even deadlier — a painkiller known as fentanyl, typically prescribed after surgery or for patients with a terminal illness. It is as much as 50 times stronger than heroin. (Beth Kassab, 4/2)
Detroit Free Press:
Why Didn't Flint Treat Its Water? An Answer, At Last
Back in 2014, Flint water treatment workers expected they'd add corrosion control to the city's drinking water -- chemicals that would that would have prevented a public health crisis -- after the city switched its water supply. But the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said they didn't have to. (Nancy Kaffer, 3/31)
The Boston Globe:
Let Medicare Test Ways To Save Money
If the agency that runs Medicare can’t even test out ways of holding down spending on prescription drugs, the entire US health care system will be worse off for it. Unfortunately, interest groups within the health care industry are trying to keep the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from launching a common-sense experiment on lowering costs. (3/31)
