Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Waiting For The Doctor; Preventing A Mental Health Crisis
The New England Journal Of Medicine: The Waiting Game — Why Providers May Fail To Reduce Wait Times
When patients wait weeks or months for physician’s appointments, bad things happen. Some adverse consequences are emotional: patients become anxious and even angry. Some are clinical, such as medical issues that worsen, especially if patients don’t show up when their appointments finally roll around. (Jaewon Ryu and Thomas H. Lee, 6/15)
Sacramento Bee: Treat Mental Illness Before Crisis Occurs
Psychotic episodes are a defining factor in diagnosing schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, and often accompany the onset of mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder... Every year in the United States, 100,000 young adults – sons and daughters – experience their first psychotic break. (Darrell Steinberg and Cameron Carter, 6/15)
Los Angeles Times: How Trump Has Made The Department Of Health And Human Services A Center Of False Science On Contraception
Contraception policy may not be the biggest target of the anti-science right wing — climate change and evolution probably rank higher — but it’s the field in which scientific disinformation has the most immediate consequences for public health. So it’s especially disturbing that President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price have stocked the corridors of health policy with purveyors of conclusively debunked claptrap about contraception, abortion, pregnancy and women’s reproductive health generally. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/15)
The New York Times: A New Kind Of Jail For The Opioid Age
Not long ago, I visited a Narcotics Anonymous meeting where men with tattoos and short-cropped hair sat in a circle and talked out their errors. One had lived under an overpass, pimping his girlfriend’s daughter for cash to buy heroin. As the thought brought him to tears, his neighbor patted his shoulder. Others owned to stealing from grandparents, to losing jobs and children. Soon, most in the room — men with years of street addiction behind them – were wiping their eyes. (Sam Quinones, 6/16)
Real Clear Health: Stricter Regulations Are Not The Answer To Lower Smoking Rates
Regulations on the tobacco industry are nothing new to Americans. As early as the 1950s, the U.S. government has made efforts to regulate the industry, from public service announcements to advertising regulations such as the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act in 1965. It wasn’t until 2010 when the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was enacted into law that the Food and Drug Administration gained the power to regulate the tobacco industry. (Lindsay Marchello, 6/17)
