Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
India Says Cough Syrup Factory Linked To Child Deaths Can Reopen
India's Uttar Pradesh state has permitted the resumption of most production at a factory owned by Marion Biotech, whose cough syrups Uzbekistan linked to the deaths of 65 children last year, according to an order seen by Reuters. Marion is among three Indian companies whose cough syrups the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies have linked to the deaths of 141 children in Uzbekistan, Gambia and Cameroon since the middle of last year, in one of the world's worst such waves of poisoning. (Das, 10/11)
Israel's health minister instructed the country's public hospitals not to treat wounded members of Hamas. Israeli Health Minister Moshe Arbel urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to instruct all public hospitals to abide by the directive "immediately," according to the Jewish News Syndicate. The reasoning behind the order was that hospitals should focus on treating Israeli civilians and Israeli Defense Forces soldiers. (Knox, 10/11)
United States physicians make far more on average than their counterparts in 10 other countries, according to Medscape's survey of physicians in North America, South America, and Europe. Whereas US doctors averaged $352,000 per year in salary, the country closest in pay was Canada ($273,000). The lowest-paying country was Mexico, at $19,000. In Germany, which has the highest pay among the European countries in the survey, doctors make $160,000 on average. (Frellick, 10/11)
An African American combat medic who was wounded while聽landing on Omaha Beach聽during the聽D-Day invasion聽in northern France but went on to tend to dozens of troops was posthumously honored Wednesday in a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. His family and supporters聽continue to push聽for an even higher recognition they believe his heroism is owed. ... Waverly B. Woodson Jr. was a 21-year-old Army medic assigned to the only African American combat unit to land in Normandy, across the English Channel from Britain, on June 6, 1944. (Santana and Wolf, 10/11)