Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
VIP Treatment For President Contrasts Sharply With Care Of Ordinary Patients
Stat: 'Covid Is All About Privilege': Trump's Care Underscores Health Inequalities
As the symptoms of Covid-19 took hold, President Trump got an infusion of an experimental antibody cocktail and was whisked by helicopter to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. When his oxygen levels dipped, he was quickly put on a steroid normally given to patients with severe cases of the disease. At every step of the way, the president has had a team of expert physicians carefully monitoring his care. That experience is a world away from the stressful waiting game most patients wade through after a positive test. (Ross, 10/6)
The New York Times: When The Patient Is Your Commander In Chief, The Answer Is Usually ‘Yes, Sir’
President Trump’s excursion around Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Sunday evening, his repeated requests to be discharged and his aggressive denial of the seriousness of the coronavirus underscore the highly unusual and precarious problem presented to his doctor: His patient is also his boss. In the case of Dr. Sean P. Conley, the White House physician and Navy doctor, the patient is both the boss and the commander in chief. Disobeying Mr. Trump’s wishes could be seen as tantamount to insubordination, among the military’s highest offenses. (Steinhauer, 10/5)
AP: Trump's Doctor Leans On Health Privacy Law To Duck Questions
President Donald Trump’s doctor leaned on a federal health privacy law Monday to duck certain questions about the president’s treatment for COVID-19, while readily sharing other details of his patient’s condition. But a leading expert on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act said a more likely reason for Dr. Sean Conley’s selective disclosures appears to be Trump’s comfort level in fully revealing his medical information. “That’s a little head-scratcher,” said Deven McGraw, a former career government lawyer who oversaw enforcement of the 1996 medical privacy statute. “It’s quite possible the doctor sat down with the president and asked which information is OK to disclose.” (Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/5)
The Hill: Fauci Defends Care Given To Trump, Calling It 'Optimal'
Anthony Fauci defended the doctors caring for President Trump on Monday, saying he is confident the president is getting “optimal care” while also saying he is not involved in the treatment. “My colleagues that I know, including Sean Conley, are very good physicians, and they're very qualified, so I am really confident that the President of the United States is getting the optimal care that you can get with the team over at Walter Reed,” Fauci said on CNN, referring to the president’s doctor. (Sullivan, 10/5)
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The Hill: Trump Health Official Meets With Doctors Pushing Herd Immunity
A top Trump health official met Monday with a group of doctors who are proponents of the controversial “herd immunity” approach to COVID-19, even as other experts warn of its deadly and dangerous consequences. Martin Kulldorff, a professor at Harvard; Sunetra Gupta, a professor at Oxford; and Jay Bhattacharya, a professor at Stanford, all of whom are epidemiologists studying infectious diseases, were invited to the meeting by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Scott Atlas, an adviser to Trump on whom other experts have cast doubt for his statements about COVID-19, including his endorsement of herd immunity. (Hellmann, 10/5)
