Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: We Are Starting To See Climate Change For The Health Danger It Is; How To End Hospital Violence?
New England Journal of Medicine: Supporting Climate, Health, And Equity Under The Farm Bill
The summer of 2023 will most likely be remembered as a time when people worldwide pivoted away from understanding climate change as a primarily environmental issue to experiencing it as a growing health crisis for which communities were unprepared. In many parts of the United States and the world, people confronted long and intense periods of extreme heat as well as wildfire smoke blanketing new regions, with associated hospitalizations and deaths. (Lisa Patel, M.D., M.E.Sc., and Linda Rudolph, M.D., M.P.H., 10/21)
The New York Times: ‘Violence Has Become A Daily Occurrence In Our Hospitals’
Crushing chest pain, an itch that festers into torment, an inconsolable baby, no place to sleep at 3 a.m., an ankle twisted on a jog, a fentanyl overdose, a car crash, the need to tell someone, “I feel sad and lonely.” The only place that tends to this kaleidoscope of needs is the emergency room, its doors perpetually open to all. (Roland Kielman, Ryan Mercer and Helen Ouyang, 10/24)
Stat: How AI Can Help Patients Find Reliable Information About Doctors
Almost as soon as ChatGPT was released to the public, doctors began focusing on how they could harness artificial intelligence to improve patient care. Yet even as AI is providing doctors with increasingly sophisticated data, the information available to patients has stagnated. (Michael L. Millenson and Jennifer Goldsack, 10/23)
Scientific American: To Understand Sex, We Need To Ask The Right Questions
Within academia, disagreements about sex recently came to a head when the American Anthropological Association (AAA), the world’s largest professional organization for anthropologists, and the Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA) removed a panel discussion entitled “Let’s Talk about Sex Baby: Why Biological Sex Remains a Necessary Analytic Category in Anthropology” from their upcoming annual meeting. (Charles Roseman and Cara Ocobock, 10/24)
Houston Chronicle: How Ben Taub Hospital Helps Us All — Including The Rich
On Nov. 7, Houstonians will decide whether to increase funding to our local public health care system, Harris Health, with a bond worth $2.5 billion dollars. If passed, the money will be used to rebuild Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, expand Ben Taub, and add primary care clinics in medical deserts around the county. (Ricardo Nuila, 10/21)
In abortion news —
USA Today: Michigan's Outdated Abortion Laws Cause Women To Suffer. Repeal Them
When Michigan voters overwhelmingly passed Proposal 3 last year, enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution, I felt incredible relief. However, as a physician who provides comprehensive reproductive health care, including pregnancy and abortion care, I knew my work as an advocate for my patients was far from over. (Dr. Charita L. Roque, 10/23)
Kansas City Star: MO AG Bailey Puts Personal Abortion Beliefs Over Voters’
The job of the Missouri attorney general is to support both the U.S. Constitution and the constitution of the state. It says so right there in the first line of the oath of office. But the current occupant of that office — Andrew Bailey, a Republican appointed by Gov. Mike Parson — says he can’t be expected to fulfill his obligations if voters amend the state’s governing document to expand and protect abortion rights. (10/24)
