Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
NJ Man First Fully Paralyzed Person To Get Brain-Computer Interface
In July, Czech became the first American and first fully paralyzed person in the world to go home with a brain-computer interface (BCI), an implant with electrodes that interprets brain waves. The device, called Stentrode, translates thoughts into commands sent to a computer. (Carino, 9/15)
In other health and wellness news —
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday reported an Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak tied to Hello Fresh meal kits that contained contaminated ground beef. So far, health officials have identified seven infections from six states. Six people were hospitalized, and none of them developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a potentially fatal kidney complication of E coli infection. No deaths have been reported. (9/5)
Frank Jones didn't see the truck that just missed him. Didn't hear it either. Though he has gone to an audiologist, he says cost has held him back from getting hearing aids. A new FDA policy could change that. (Byrnes, 9/15)
On TikTok, chiropractors are stretching chubby legs, massaging infant tailbones and tracing the tiny vertebrae of baby spines, touting a range of unproven treatments for newborns, babies and toddlers. ... The evidence that chiropractic care can soothe babies is scant. But clinicians on TikTok claim chiropractic care can offer relief to fussy babies suffering from a variety of ailments, including colic, constipation, reflux, musculoskeletal problems and even, some say, trauma babies experience in childbirth. (Amenabar, 9/15)
The event, covered in Vogue and Women’s Wear Daily, was part of an initiative to raise awareness about the lives and needs of people with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a condition in which damaged or destroyed motor neurons lead to various levels of disability. (Herper, 9/16)
KHN: A Disability Program Promised To Lift People From Poverty. Instead, It Left Many Homeless
After two months of sleeping in the Salvation Army Center of Hope homeless shelter, Margaret Davis has had no luck finding an apartment she can afford. The 55-year-old grandmother receives about $750 a month from the federal government. She’s trying to live on just $50 cash and $150 in food stamps each month so she can save enough for a place to call home. (Clasen-Kelly, 9/16)
On the spread of polio —
New York's governor has declared a state of emergency after health officials detected poliovirus in the wastewater of five counties -- evidence the disease is circulating. Understandably, these events have sparked a lot of questions: Why does one case of polio worry officials? What does it mean to find poliovirus in wastewater? Who should be worried about contracting the disease? If someone had the vaccine years ago, are they still protected now? (Chakraborty, 9/15)
KHN: With Polio’s Return, Here’s What Back-To-Schoolers Need To Know
Before polio vaccines became available in the 1950s, people wary of the disabling disease were afraid to allow their children outside, let alone go to school. As polio appears again decades after it was considered eliminated in the U.S., Americans unfamiliar with the dreaded disease need a primer on protecting themselves and their young children — many of whom are emerging from the trauma of the covid-19 pandemic. (Gounder, 9/16)
