Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Jury Selection Begins In California's Kids' Addiction Case Against Meta
California and other states seeking more than $1 trillion in penalties and new constraints on the parent company of Facebook and Instagram went to court Wednesday over allegations the social media giant knowingly designed its sites to be addictive to minors. The states seek to prove that Meta lied to the public about the safety of its products for children. (Bollag, 8/12)
A California couple’s surrogate who went to Texas in an escalating dispute over treating a congenital heart condition gave birth Wednesday, a day after a judge in Dallas ordered life-sustaining care for the newborn. The child was receiving stabilizing care and scheduled to undergo surgery at a Texas hospital, according to an attorney for McKenna West, the surrogate mother whose case has drawn widening national support from right-to-life groups and Republican officials. (Wilder, Vertuno and Stengle, 8/13)
Patients in states without certificate of need restrictions tend to have a broader choice of providers compared with states that have those laws, research shows. States continue to narrow or repeal certificate of need laws, which require states to approve new healthcare projects or expansions of existing facilities. Construction and competition have increased since states began limiting the scope of those laws, and more states are expected to follow suit. (Kacik, 8/11)
The video clip lasted less than two minutes, but Tonya Webb remembers every second as heartbreaking. The grainy surveillance footage, dated June 29, 2024, showed a teenager in an anti-suicide smock being dragged violently by other teens across the floor at Middle Tennessee Juvenile Detention Center. As guards watched, the teens pulled the smock over the boy’s head, exposing his naked body. Then they stuffed him, limbs flailing, into a cell. (Pfleger and Swaby, 8/12)
In the competitive world of youth sports, few organizations have a reach as vast as the Amateur Athletic Union. ... To the hundreds of thousands of parents whose children play under the red, white and blue AAU badge, the organization offers more than a place to compete. The AAU promises their children will be safe — that its coaches are vetted, monitored and trained; that strict rules govern how adults interact with children; and that it responds effectively to allegations of abuse within its ranks. (Hensley-Clancy, 8/13)
