Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: More Steps Backward In Women's Reproductive Rights; Did Your Brain Forget On Purpose?
鈥淲e mothers stand still so our daughters can look back to see how far they鈥檝e come.鈥 That quote from Barbie creator Ruth Handler 鈥 or at least the one written for the actress playing her 鈥 in the new 鈥淏arbie鈥 movie had me reflecting on just how far we鈥檝e come from my grandmothers鈥 generations. Sadly, when it comes to reproductive freedom, we鈥檙e moving in the wrong direction. (Lilian Bui, 9/18)
Forgetting is a fact of life鈥攐ne that many people find frustrating. But mounting evidence pushes back at the notion that a slip or lapse in our recollection is inherently bad. Indeed, forgetting can sometimes help people cope psychologically or let go of useless knowledge. (Daisy Yuhas, 9/15)
Moderna Inc. made a pitch to investors this week at its annual R&D day that the unprecedented success of its Covid vaccine wasn鈥檛 a one-off, and the company is well on the way to becoming a big biotech contender. (Lisa Jarvis, 9/15)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed another round of updated coronavirus vaccines for everyone 6 months and older. While some have rightly criticized the recommendation for being overly broad, federal health officials made the right call given the many competing factors they had to weigh. (Leana S. Wen, 9/15)
The era of rampant, unconsented, and unregulated online data collection may finally be winding down for consumer health data. But the advances in consumer privacy have not yet fully reached the millions of people with health information related to their drug use, substance use disorder treatment, or recovery. (Jacqueline Seitz, 9/18)
The global response to the substance use epidemic is failing. It鈥檚 not only opioids. Every year we throw billions of dollars at this issue; yet, more and more people die from the use of addictive聽drugs. (Judy Grisel and Marvin Seppala, 9/18)
The terror began the morning of May 22, 2021, when the respiratory therapist inserted the ventilator tube down my throat. It was like swallowing a vacuum cleaner hose. Paralytic drugs were injected to keep me from instinctively yanking it out. I futilely tried to blink out an SOS and searched for my husband with my eyes. It felt like I was trapped behind soundproof glass. Disembodied voices murmured above me as I lay on an emergency room gurney. 鈥淪urgery 鈥 and a colostomy 鈥 perhaps a tracheotomy,鈥 I heard. There was talk of sending me to a trauma center 75 miles away. Was I dying? (Jackie Duda, 9/16)