Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: The Worst Extreme Heat Is Yet To Come; Why Is Mental Health Care So Hard To Access?
USA Today: Extreme Heat Deaths Are Spiking. And The Worst Is Yet To Come
There is no longer an excuse to be unprepared for the deadliness of extreme heat. The American Southwest is facing record stretches of days over 110 degrees, and Florida has measured sea-surface temperatures nearing 100. On July 6, Algeria recorded the highest nighttime low temperature in African history – just over 103 degrees. A powerful heat dome has descended on Europe, bringing land surface temperatures to 140 degrees in Spain. (Richard C. Keller, 7/21)
The Washington Post: Insurance Should Cover Mental Health Care Better
Americans are in pain, mentally as well as physically, and inadequate insurance is making it worse. Simply finding a therapist is absurdly difficult, and the care itself is often unaffordable. Here’s proof. (Kate Woodsome, 7/21)
The Atlantic: Being Anxious Or Sad Does Not Make You Mentally Ill
According to the World Health Organization, “In 2019, 1 in every 8 people, or 970 million people around the world were living with a mental disorder.” In other words, seven in eight people aren’t living with a mental disorder. But how would you find out whether you are the one or among the seven? (Arthur C. Brooks, 7/20)
The Washington Post: What Cautious Adoption Of AI In Medicine Looks Like
Many readers wrote in the past week to express their worries about the artificial intelligence revolution in health care in response to my recent column on the topic. “My doctor already spends the entire visit with eyes glued to a computer,” Tom from Vermont wrote. “I don’t want the next step to be the computer doing the talking.” (Leana S. Wen, 7/20)
The Star Tribune: Affordability Is Key For Birth Control Pill
Many medications have made the move from prescription-only to over the counter.It's about time that the birth control pill joined the list that already includes allergy and heartburn medications, topical antifungals and a smoking cessation aid. (7/20)
KFF Health News: Medical Debt Is Making Americans Angry. Doctors And Hospitals Ignore This At Their Peril
For Emily Boller, it was a $5,000 hospital bill for a simple case of pink eye that took four years to pay off. For Mary Curley, it was the threatening collection letters from a lab that arrived more than 2½ years later, just as her husband lost his job and the family was fighting to save their home. For Cory Day, it was a $1,000 fee he was charged at an emergency room outside Los Angeles, even though he only checked in and then left before being seen. “I feel like the hospital is a predator,” Day said. “This is a place that’s supposed to be looking after you.” (Noam Levey, 7/21)
Scientific American: The Supreme Court Should Back Firearms Restraints That Save Lives
At my county coroner’s office, I regularly review cases of murdered women. They are victims of domestic violence, overwhelmingly ones shot to death by ex-husbands, ex-boyfriends or other men they knew. The Supreme Court is now poised to decide whether to put guns more easily into the hands of these abusers-turned-murderers, which would enshrine domestic violence as a warped historical privilege of the U.S. Constitution. (Jane K. Stoever, 7/20)
Dallas Morning News: Parkland’s New Weapons Detection System A Welcome Improvement
Parkland will soon install new touchless screening stations that will require those entering its facilities to simply walk naturally through sensors designed to differentiate between common metallic items, like keys, and weapons. Numerous people can pass through at the same time, doing away with the need to routinely stop, empty pockets and endure long, demeaning security lines. (7/21)
Stat: Reframing The Conversation Around Gain-Of-Function Research
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve heard a lot about gain-of-function research, and some of its risks, particularly regarding the possible creation of dangerous pathogens. But there’s a lot more to this field than that, including research that could potentially be quite beneficial to human society. If we focus solely on the risks, we may miss those benefits. (Saskia Popescu, Yong-Bee Lim and Angela Rasmussen, 7/21)
Newsweek: Billions In Taxpayer Dollars Are Funding The Obesity Epidemic. It Ends Now
Obesity is one of the leading health challenges in the U.S., and as the month of September rapidly approaches, Congressional leaders will again be faced with a one-in-five-year chance to negotiate funding levels for SNAP, Americas' largest food relief program. As it stands, Congress is careening toward this deadline without a clear plan to solve a decades-long problem: the billion-dollar federal government subsidization of sugar sweetened beverages and junk food in the SNAP program. (Rep. Andy Harris and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, 7/20)
