Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Watchdog Calls For Federal Crackdown Following Yearlong Investigation Into Fertility Supplement Industry
Stat: Watchdog: No Evidence Fertility Supplements Help Women Get Pregnant
A health and science watchdog group petitioned federal regulators on Monday to take enforcement action against 27 manufacturers of dietary supplements marketed as helping women become pregnant, but for which the makers provided no scientific evidence of efficacy. In letters to the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest said its nearly yearlong investigation of 39 “fertility” supplements — pills and powders with names such as Fertile CM, Pregnitude, FertilHerb for Women, OvaBoost, and Pink Stork — found no evidence they increase a woman’s chance of conceiving. (Begley, 11/18)
The New York Times: Poverty Impacts Access To Health Care. These Women Are Trying To Change That.
In the United States, wealth buys health. Consider: In 2000, in Boston’s upscale Back Bay community, a typical resident could expect to live nearly 92 years. But just a few miles away in the South Boston and Roxbury neighborhoods, the average person could not expect to celebrate a 59th birthday. Access to health care plays a big role in this disparity, said Howard Koh, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who was an assistant secretary for health in the Obama administration. That’s why that administration pushed so hard for the Affordable Care Act, Dr. Koh said. “Poverty is the major driver of health inequities.” (Weintraub, 11/19)
The Wall Street Journal: More Female Athletes Talk About A Taboo: Their Periods
In May 2017, elite marathon runner Shalane Flanagan tweeted a very personal piece of information. In all her years of training and competing against the best in the world, she wrote, she had never missed a menstrual cycle. Five months later, she won the New York City Marathon. Flanagan’s tweet was startling because many athletes don’t even talk to their coaches about their periods—much less the world. It was also surprising because of the long-held perception that it’s normal, even preferable, for women in distance sports to be so lean that they no longer menstruate. (Bachman, 11/18)
