Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
News Media Slammed For Ableist Headlines After Fetterman-Oz Debate
At a Senate debate Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman, who is recovering from a stroke, at times stumbled over his words, jumbled his answers, and noticeably paused. In the political press, Fetterman’s performance was met with headlines about his “painful debate” and “struggles.” (Joseph, 10/26)
Advocates for people with disabilities have watched the debate over Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman’s (D) with interest, and say that regardless of his health, it raises questions about how people view those with disabilities.   “I think that most of us … conjure up an image of what it is to be disabled and oftentimes that is some sort of physical mobility disability,” said Emily Blum, executive director of Disability Lead. “That’s an image that a lot of us are very comfortable with because it’s visible.”  (Budryk and Daniels, 10/26)
In other election news —
A woman came forward Wednesday to accuse Herschel Walker, the anti-abortion Republican running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, of encouraging and paying for her 1993 abortion — an accusation that came just weeks after a former girlfriend said he did the same for her in 2009. Walker dismissed the newest allegation as “foolishness” and “a lie,” similar to his vehement denials earlier this month of the abortion alleged to have happened 13 years ago. ... "I also did not kill JFK,” Walker said in a statement later Wednesday. (Barrow and Dazio, 10/27)
On a recent evening, Ryan Hampton stood in front of a crowd of people in Spokane, Wash., urging them to see drugs and addiction as a key issue in the midterm elections. "We see these overdose numbers hitting new historic highs," Hampton said, referring to the 107,622 Americans who died after using illicit drugs last year. (Mann, 10/27)
Democrats are suddenly blasting Republicans on the campaign trail over a surprising new topic: their plans to reform Medicare. (Cohrs, 10/27)
A Wisconsin health system is suing Republican candidate for governor Tim Michels alleging his campaign refused to stop using the system's logo in campaign ads without consent, potentially jeopardizing the system's status as a tax-exempt organization. (Beck and Hess, 10/26)
