Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Why Is It So Hard To Run A Private Doctor's Office?; We Need The FDA To OK More Drugs, Not Fewer
Stat: Small Doctor-Owned Practices Like Mine Are Simply Unsustainable
Like most doctors, I always felt a calling to care for people. Quitting early wasn’t my plan, but our broken health system left no other option. December 2024 marked the close of my 27-year, solo, OB-GYN practice, leaving 2,500 Ohio women looking for a new doctor. My only available choice was to retire. (Lisa Bohman Egbert, 3/11)
The Baltimore Sun: RFK Jr. Has It Wrong — The FDA Approves Too Few Drugs
To some pundits and politicians, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recklessly approves medications that harm patients while padding the pockets of shareholders. For example, the new Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has tried to get proven vaccines pulled from the market, casts dispersions on “pills and the potions and the powders” plaguing the health care system and thinks there’s some serious corruption between Big Pharma and the FDA. However, fresh evidence from the HHS’ watchdog shows the problem is not a pushover FDA. If anything, the problem is a risk-averse agency too eager to say “no.” (Ross Marchand, 3/10)
The Wall Street Journal: My Daughter Was Dying. Could I Let Her Go?
In her debut memoir, ‘Firstborn,’ Lauren Christensen must make a choice: continue with a pregnancy that could put her life at risk, or leave the state to terminate. “FULMINANT HYDROPS,” the doctor said to me on the morning of January 25, 2023, in the maternal-fetal medicine department of Duke University Hospital. (Lauren Christensen, 3/10)
The Baltimore Sun: Beverage Taxes Are Bad News For Healthier Diets
As our nation starts a debate about how to make America healthier, we need to make sure we aren’t impairing access to healthier beverage choices. A bill moving through the Maryland General Assembly would do just that by taxing any drinks with caloric or non-caloric sweeteners. (Seth Goldman, 3/9)
Stat: Trump Tariffs Will Raise Prices On Heart-Healthy Foods
President Trump was elected in part on a promise to make America healthy again. But over the past two months, the new administration’s actions have made it clear that public health is no longer a priority. The situation may become even worse because of the escalating trade war the U.S. is waging on Mexico, Canada, and China. (Vishal Khetpal, 3/10)
Stat: Who Is To Blame For The Broken Health Care System?
The murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson horrified me. I did not know him. I thought first about his wife and young sons and the shock and grief they — and his colleagues — must feel. I then realized that they must now live in fear for their lives. I was also not at all surprised by those who saw this differently. (Elliott S. Fisher, 12/5)
