Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: We Must Tackle Cost, Access For New HIV Shot; Canada Gets Addiction Treatment Right
Revolutionary. A game changer. Spine chilling. Those are some of the words experts used to describe fresh data for lenacapavir, a twice-yearly shot developed by Gilead Sciences for the prevention of HIV. (Lisa Jarvis, 6/27)
As a Canadian-born physician who has treated people with opioid use disorder on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, I know that if I ever needed addiction treatment I鈥檇 head to the Great White North. Deaths from drug overdoses are twice as high in the U.S. as in Canada. Some of that difference stems from how people with opioid use disorder are treated in the two countries. (Safina Adatia, 6/27)
For the second time in two years, an abortion-related decision from the Supreme Court has appeared before its due date. Unlike the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, leaked by a person or persons still unknown, the latest case, about Idaho鈥檚 harsh abortion ban, got out by accident when someone at the court briefly posted the opinion on the court鈥檚 website. (Noah Feldman, 6/26)
It is clear that our health care system needs a lot of work. The average American faces the looming threat of financial ruin in the event of illness or a serious accident. And hospital billing is a huge factor in the rising cost of employer-sponsored health plans. (Josh Gottlieb, 6/25)
Heart disease is the leading killer in America, causing 1 in every 5 deaths. In recent years, the country has been largely losing the battle against it. It's especially tragic given that an estimated 80 percent of cardiovascular disease (including heart disease and stroke) can be prevented. The economic costs are severe as well, reaching an estimated $422 billion a year. (Ben Green, 6/26)