Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Why Are Medical Students Skipping Class?; US Health Disadvantage Is Getting Worse
NPR: Medical Students Aren't Showing Up To Lectures, So How Do Med Schools Teach Them?
During my first two years as a medical student, I almost never went to lectures. Neither did my peers. In fact, I estimate that not even a quarter of medical students in my class consistently attended classes in person. (Alexander P. Philips and Philip Gruppuso, 6/1)
The Washington Post: American Life Expectancy Is Dropping — And It's Not All Covid's Fault
But plotting life expectancy in the United States against that of other wealthy countries reveals three dark insights: Our life spans lag behind those of our peers; our life expectancy was already more or less flat, not growing; and most other countries bounced back from covid-19 in the second year of the pandemic, while we went into further decline. (Steven H. Woolf and Laudan Aron, 6/1)
The Washington Post: Next Pandemic, Let Cuba Vaccinate The World
How can humanity prevent the next pandemic from being as disastrous as this one, in which as many as 15 million people have died? This past week, countries of the World Health Organization met in Geneva to begin debating a pandemic preparedness accord. A primary aim is to quickly develop new cures and vaccines, and the capacity to deliver them to everyone on the planet. (Achal Prabhala and Vitor Ido, 6/1)
Miami Herald: When The Charge For Tylenol Is $4,000, It's Clear The U.S. Health System Is Failing Us
Across the country, higher co-pays and deductibles are making healthcare unaffordable even for patients with insurance. But for Hispanics, who are statistically less insured than the general population and suffer from preventable chronic illnesses such as heart disease, obesity, mental health, HIV/AIDS, diabetes and strokes, the crisis is even worse. This leads many to take risks and make tradeoffs when managing their health. (Kelsey Bolar and Judy Pino, 5/31)
East Bay Times: Medicare Creates Unprecedented Barriers To Alzheimer's Treatment
Imagine knowing while one U.S. government agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has approved a treatment for this devastating disease that another agency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is keeping that treatment out of reach for patients who don’t have the financial means to pay the estimated annual cost of $26,500 out of pocket. That’s the harsh reality Alzheimer’s patients like me face every day. (Lilienthal, 5/31)
The Boston Globe: With Carbon Capture, It’s Important Not To Forget The Upfront Health Costs
Air pollution from producing oil and gas costs roughly $77 billion in health impacts every year in the United States alone. According to research conducted by Harvard University and others, the burning of fossil fuels “was responsible for about 1 in 5 deaths worldwide in 2018.” Air pollution increases the risks of Alzheimer’s disease; many cancers; heart, kidney, and lung disease; premature births; pregnancy complications; and much more. (Gina McCarthy and Kari Nadeau, 6/1)
Dallas Morning News: We Know How To Improve Kids’ Mental Health. Let’s Act
It took six hospital staffers to stop 11-year-old Lucia from bloodying her face on the emergency department floor. She thumped her head against the linoleum tile over and over until she passed out. Her family felt they could no longer keep her, or their other children, safe at home. Doctors had spent years cycling Lucia through various medications to treat her depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, but nothing made a real difference. (Mary Beth Bennett and Michael Hole, 6/1)
CNN: The Good News About Lower HIV Infections Comes With A Big Caveat
Newly released US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that as a nation, we are continuing to make significant strides toward ending the HIV epidemic in the US. However, there are stark racial and ethnic disparities. As of 2019, Black people accounted for 40% of people with HIV, and Hispanic and Latino people accounted for nearly 30%, according to the CDC. And shockingly, in 2021, only 11% and 20% of Black and Hispanic people, respectively, who would potentially benefit from PrEP, were prescribed it. Whereas nearly 80% of White at-risk individuals received a prescription. (Lala Tanmoy Das, 5/31)
