Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Veterans Exposed To Burn Pits Deserve Treatment; Is Ketamine An Effective Anti-Depressant?
NBC News: A Memorial Day Appeal To Congress: Help Service Members With Toxic Burn Pit Exposure
Thirty years after Operation Desert Storm and nearly 20 years after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, Congress may be on the verge of delivering Veterans Affairs disability and health care benefits to thousands of veterans who were sickened by exposure to burn pit toxins while serving in combat zones. ... It’s time for the federal government to acknowledge and help treat those who suffered from this exposure while serving their country. (Gen. David Petraeus, Dr. David J. Shulkin and Jeremy Butler, 5/30)
Los Angeles Times: How The VA Has Illegally Denied Healthcare To Thousands Of Veterans
A veteran with a fever and hacking cough that suggest a possible coronavirus infection tries to make a doctor’s appointment, only to be turned away by a receptionist who personally decides the would-be patient can’t see a physician. A former service member and sexual assault survivor at risk of suicide is denied access to mental health services by a bureaucratic gatekeeper stationed at the therapist’s front desk. These are two of thousands of examples of veterans seeking the Veterans Affairs healthcare they’re legally entitled to — and being wrongly refused it. This is due to a pervasive misunderstanding, and misapplication, of the rules regarding other-than-honorable discharges. (Dana Montalto, 5/31)
The New York Times: Ketamine As A Depression Treatment Saved Me
The summer I was 26 years old, I moved into my parents’ home in the Chicago suburbs because I could no longer care for myself. I had been severely depressed for most of my life, but that summer five years ago, even the most mundane tasks became insurmountable. I spent days on the couch where I rarely spoke, my mind so dull I struggled to form words. I lay awake at night thinking, I can’t go on like this. Some people experience episodic depression, but since the onset of my illness in early childhood, I sank far and fast and never truly surfaced. By age 10, I found myself overcome with inexplicable dread, so ill at ease I could hardly sit through a television show. By the time I was a teenager, I awoke every morning to an immutable sadness and sobbed on my bedroom floor. Though I was once an excellent student, I struggled to make it through class. Finally, at age 16, I dropped out of high school. (Zoe Boyer, 5/30)
Stat: If The FDA Approves Aducanumab, I Won't Prescribe It
Most visits to the memory center where I care for individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease end in disappointment. “Are there any new treatments, Dr. Karlawish?” patients or family members hopefully ask. I shake my head and say, “No.” I’ve been saying that for the past 18 years. (Jason Karlawish, 5/30)
Modesto Bee: One Solution To Lengthy Health Care Waits In Central Valley
What is the longest you have had to wait to see your doctor? Not being able to see your doctor when you need to is a serious problem in California, especially in the Central Valley. In the Health Affairs academic journal, a March 2016 survey of Californians found that 30% could not find a doctor to see them, 35% met resistance because the doctors they found were not taking new patients, 44% found a doctor’s office that did not accept their insurance type, and 67% were unable to find available appointments. Those with the highest likelihood to report problems with access to care were younger, female, Hispanic, low income, and in fair or poor health. (Robin Fredeking, 5/28)
Scientific American: As The Pandemic Wanes, Sexually Transmitted Infections Are Likely To Rise
It’s been over 100 years since the “Spanish” flu pandemic stifled our sex lives to the extent that we’ve experienced during COVID-19. As a sexual health physician and researcher, I can attest to seeing empty waiting rooms for months as people kept their social and sexual distance, their desire squelched by fear of contagion. ... As a consequence of our collective abstinence (plus a national shortage of testing kits), rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S. plummeted in the second quarter of 2020, after previously reaching record highs in 2019. (Ina Park, 5/31)
Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Members Fared Well During Pandemic, Humana Bold Goal Finds
For those of us in healthcare, we are humbled by the opportunity to partner with patients to help them solve complex and highly personal challenges. Watching the pandemic unfold, we experienced greater urgency to accelerate our efforts to connect people to resources that would alleviate their daily well-being concerns. At Humana, where our goal is to make it easier for people and communities to achieve their best health, it was a call to action; we rallied to create solutions with our community and business partners. Our newly released Bold Goal Progress Report details the results from those efforts and shows Humana Medicare Advantage Members maintained their overall health over the course of 2020 and throughout the 2020 pandemic. (Dr. William Shrank, 5/28)
