Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trauma From Gun Violence A Long-Lasting Threat To Survivors' Health
Chicago has been pummeled with near constant gun violence this year. An estimated 3,600 shootings have taken place, on average鈥攖hat's about 10 shootings a day. During the recent Halloween weekend alone, 17 people died and 41 were wounded.And while politicians and policy makers struggle to find ways to create policies to address America's violence, another related crisis is slowing growing. Most of the shootings are concentrated in impoverished communities. The virtual war zones are home to people who suffer from poor health and lower rates of insurance coverage, leaving them at a disadvantage when they are injured, either physically or tangentially, by gun violence. (Johnson, 11/5)
A 鈥渃ulture of shaming鈥 is now permeating psychology, and science in general, according to a former president of the Association for Psychological Science.In an essay in the society鈥檚 house organ, the Observer, Princeton psychologist聽Susan聽Fiske claims that the 鈥渘ew media鈥 鈥渃an encourage a certain amount of uncurated, unfiltered denigration. In the most extreme examples, individuals are finding their research programs, their careers, and their personal integrity under attack.鈥 (Oransky and Marcus, 11/4)
This kind of behavior was no mere one-off for the future author of 鈥淐harlie and the Chocolate Factory.鈥 While Dahl is known around the world for his exuberant children鈥檚 books ... he also held a quieter, parallel fascination with medicine that spanned his entire adult life. That passion not only crept into Dahl鈥檚 fiction over the years, but even led to the writer鈥檚 making some legitimately groundbreaking contributions to the field. He led vaccination awareness campaigns and invented a medical device that was implanted in thousands of children. And when his first wife suffered a stroke, Dahl, who would have turned 100 in September, came up with a treatment whose legacy he couldn鈥檛 have foreseen. (Hingston, 11/6)
In other news, Janet Reno has died from聽complications related to Parkinson鈥檚 disease聽鈥
Janet Reno, the first woman to serve as U.S. attorney general, has died at age 78.Her godddaugher, Gabrielle D鈥橝lemberte, told The Associated Press that she died early Monday from complications related to Parkinson鈥檚 disease. Reno was sworn in as聽the first female attorney general on聽March 12, 1993, under the administration of Bill Clinton.聽She served in the role until 2001. (Onyanga-Omara, 11/7)