Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Unregulated Crisis Pregnancy Centers Actively Deceive Women
The Hill: Women Need Compassionate, Comprehensive Health Care — Not Lies
As health-care providers who work day in and day out with women, we are deeply worried about the unregulated growth of fake health centers that seek to actively deceive women facing unplanned pregnancies. These so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” often advertise free pregnancy testing and pregnancy-options education. But once a woman steps into the facility she is presented with factually inaccurate and misleading information, often by untrained staff pretending to be medical personnel, to dissuade her from pursuing an abortion. (Albert G. Thomas and Jaime Beers, 6/20)
San Antonio Press-Express: Doctor Was Wrong About Planned Parenthood, Title X
This shameful gag rule restricts access to comprehensive reproductive health care. Planned Parenthood trusts women, and Planned Parenthood refuses to give up its commitment to providing women with the information they need to make decisions about their bodies and their health care. (Kathy Armstrong, 6/19)
The Hill: Opioid Crisis Sending Thousands Of Children Into Foster Care
The opioid epidemic ravaging states and cities across the country has sent a record number of children into foster and state care systems, taxing limited government resources and testing a system that is already at or near capacity. An analysis of foster care systems around the country shows the number of children entering state or foster care rising sharply, especially in states hit hardest by opioid addiction. The children entering state care are younger, and they tend to stay in the system longer, than ever before. Among states hardest hit by the epidemic, the populations of children in foster or state care has risen by 15 percent to 30 percent in just the last four years, The Hill’s analysis shows. In other states, the number of children referred to child welfare programs has ballooned, even if those kids do not end up in foster care. (Emily Birnbaum and Maya Lora, 6/20)
The New York Times: Congress Is Writing Lots Of Opioid Bills. But Which Ones Will Actually Help?
If the opioid crisis could be solved by the sheer weight of proposed legislation, Congress would be able to pat itself on the back. Last week, the House began two weeks of voting on what will be more than 50 bills about the epidemic, and the Senate has its own stack of opioid bills wending through the chamber. (Margot Sanger-Katz and Thomas Kaplan, 6/20)
The Hill: Here's How We Can Use Better Data To Combat Opioids
As a former Governor and Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I care deeply about and continue to work on the widespread epidemic of both illicit and prescription drug abuse which is fueling the opioid crisis nationwide. In 2017, the Aspen Institute’s Health Strategy Group, which I co-chair, focused on the opioid epidemic in a year-long study. One of our top five recommendations to address the crisis was to invest in data and knowledge management. Health-care providers need quicker and more comprehensive access to critical information about patients’ medical history and prescription drug profile. (Tommy Thompson, 6/18)
Stat: Separating Families At The Border Is Horrible For Children’s Health
Fair and just societies protect children. The Trump administration’s unconscionable practice of separating children from their families at the border between Mexico and the United States is making me rethink what kind of society I live in. The images and the stories are heartbreaking. (Oscar J. Benavidezn 6/19)
Boston Globe: Zero Tolerance? Only For Those Who Support Cruel Separations In America’s Name
I hurried home Monday afternoon to see my 2-year-old daughter. She likes blowing bubbles and eating pie and hugging the cat. Nearly every night before dinner, she interrupts the blessing to make sure her mama prays for Elmo: “And thank you, Lord, for Elmo, who brings so much joy to our lives.” There is nothing her parents would not do to protect her. And by sheer good fortune, there isn’t much we have to do: We were born here. But I needed to see her. Because even from the safety of a stable American life, it is impossible to listen to the wails of children separated from their parents at the border, released by ProPublica, without imagining your own child. (Nestor Ramos, 6/19)
Boston Globe: The Nation’s Historical Amnesia
Anyone who believes the malicious separation of immigrant children from their parents is contrary to American values doesn’t understand what — and whom — America has always valued. It should now be abundantly clear that, in a nation that values whiteness above all else, it’s not those thousands of brown children being kept in cages. (Renée Graham, 6/19)
San Diego Union-Times: Compulsive Video Gaming Is A Mental Health Condition
Compulsively playing video games now qualifies as a mental health condition, according to the World Health Organization. The organization released the latest version of its disease classification manual on Monday and it included a definition for “gaming disorder” which has gamers, parents and even casual video game players discussing the news. (Abby Hamblin, 6/19)
Lexington Herald Leader: Why Did Trump Administration Ax Study Of Mountaintop Mining's Health Effects? No Good Reason
Remember when the Trump administration last year scrapped a long-awaited study into the health effects of living near surface coal mining? An inspector general's investigation concluded that the Interior Department could not explain its decision and had "wasted" $455,110 that already had been spent on the study "because no final work product was produced." "Departmental officials were unable to provide specific criteria used for their determination," the IG's office reported in response to an inquiry by Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee. (6/19)
