Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Why Are We Still Quarreling Over SSRIs?; Politicians Must Address Dementia
The New York Times: Why We Can't Stop Arguing About S.S.R.I.s
What’s missing in the national conversation on mental health medication. (David Wallace-Wells, Rachael Bedard and Anthony Rostain, 9/16)
Stat: Politicians Need To Talk About Dementia
Hot summer days are fading fast, but the midterm election season is heating up. In the race up to Nov. 3, among the top issues are the economy, health care, and immigration. All three are deeply connected to another issue that needs attention: dementia. (Jason Karlawish, 9/16)
The New York Times: If You Thought Immigration Policy Couldn’t Get Any Crueler
The rule — which is set to take effect on Friday — includes both cash and noncash benefits, including Medicaid, food stamps and housing assistance. But unlike earlier efforts to use public benefits to limit immigration, this new public charge rule offers officers almost no clear standards to follow. (Stephen Yale-Loehr, 9/15)
Stat: Professor Uses Personal Cancer Diagnosis To Train Future Doctors
When I teach the structure of cancer to first-year medical students, I go well beyond the causes and mechanisms of the disease. Medicine has changed since my own siloed training in pathology. Now many medical schools leap into humanism. In addition to learning about pathophysiology, cancer genetics, bloodwork, scans, and symptoms, students where I work meet a cancer patient, the patient’s family, and oncologist. They come to understand the decisions, treatments, and emotions that followed a difficult diagnosis and prognosis. (David Elkowitz, 9/16)
Newsweek: Care Is An Economic Necessity, Not Just A Family Responsibility
Everyone depends on care. We need it when we are young, when we are sick, when we live with disability, and as we grow older. Yet much of the care that allows people to remain independent, work, learn, and participate in their communities is still treated as a private family responsibility. That assumption has economic consequences. (Kate Moynihan, 9/11)
