Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: It's Unconscionable Not To Protect Workers From Extreme Heat; Boomers Need The Safe-Sex Talk, Too
A record-breaking heat wave is cresting across the United States, with about 100 million people under extreme heat alerts. Local TV news stations, governors and health officials advise to plan accordingly, drink water, go to cooling centers if needed and above all, refrain from excess outdoor exertion. (Terri Gerstein, 6/21)
Many readers were shocked to learn from my latest column that sexually transmitted infections are surging among older adults. But not everyone was surprised. (Leana S. Wen, 6/20)
Danyel Smith has served 21 years of a life sentence at Dooly Correctional Facility in Unadilla, Georgia, for the 2003 murder of his two-month-old son, Chandler. The sole evidence against him at trial was the testimony of three physicians who said that child abuse 鈥 in this case shaken baby syndrome 鈥 was the only explanation for his son鈥檚 symptoms. That testimony went unchallenged; no physician testified on Smith鈥檚 behalf. (Zoe Adams and Asher Levinthal, 6/21)
In 2012, the Elsevier journal Personality and Individual Differences published a special issue that included articles with titles like 鈥淟ife history theory and race differences: An appreciation of Richard Lynn鈥檚 contribution to science鈥 and 鈥淣ational IQs and economic outcomes.鈥 At a celebratory dinner at the Oxford and Cambridge Club in London, contributors to the issue awarded Lynn a ceremonial sword and a pair of horns. Lynn, an academic psychologist, was being honored 鈥渇or his long-standing contributions to Eugenics and Psychometrics.鈥 (Dan Samorodnitsky, Kevin Bird, Jedidiah Carlson, James Lingford, Jon Phillips, Rebecca Sear and Cathryn Townsend, 6/20)
Missouri is winning another race to the bottom. The latest issue is the failure of state government to provide health insurance in a timely fashion to children living in poverty. This is a basic government function. The health insurance is funded by the federal government. All Missouri has to do is sign up kids who qualify. (Tony Messenger, 6/19)