Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Wildfire Smoke Especially Harmful To Children; Here's How To Tackle Youth Mental Health
As physicians who specialize in respiratory health and children, our first thought last week as wildfire smoke again engulfed parts of the United States was of little ones Ian’s age and younger because their developing lungs are particularly vulnerable to smoke inhalation. (Alexander Rabin and Lisa Patel, 7/2)
As we have noted here before, governors across the country are putting the youth mental health crisis at the top of their agendas. Now, one of them has pulled together ideas for what they can do about it. (7/4)
Dr. Peter Hotez of Baylor University is a top infectious disease specialist and vaccine researcher with an autistic child, Rachel, who he famously said did not get autism from a vaccine. Hotez recently declined to debate Kennedy on host Joe Rogan's podcast and has been harassed outside his home and online since announcing that decision. (Dr. Marc Siegel, 7/5)
Start with a story. It’s the standard advice for any doctor who sets out to write, speak or advocate on behalf of her patients. Stories change minds. They change how people think about issues that can otherwise feel impersonal. Stories matter. (Christine Henneberg, 7/4)
Tennesseans are still struggling to navigate vague laws crafted at the State Capitol– laws that hold little regard for what takes place at a patient's bedside. We are seeing the health of Tennesseans continue to worsen in the wake of these laws; we are seeing families suffer. As clinicians, we need to provide support for rape victims and patients pregnant with a child with severe fetal anomalies. These patients still cannot receive abortion care in their own communities. (Laura Andreson, Nicole Schlechter, Amy Gordon Bono, Heather Maune, Katrina Green and Carolyn Thompson, 7/1)
Medicine revolves around the care of individual patients; public health, by contrast, works to protect and improve the health of entire populations, whether small communities or large countries. This encompasses researching how to prevent injuries, developing policies to address health disparities, and, of course, tackling disease outbreaks. (Craig Spencer, 6/30)
President Biden has tapped Mandy Cohen as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Her appointment is not a usual changing of the guard, but rather a chance for a fresh direction for the beleaguered agency—with implications for the health of us all. (Dave A. Chokshi, 6/30)
