Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Will Ohio Enshrine Abortion Rights?; Still No Word On Cost Of OTC Birth Control Pills
State Issue 1, which Ohio voters will decide in a special election Tuesday, looks harmless enough. But don鈥檛 be fooled: It is a brazen attempt to keep a majority of Ohioans from enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution. Anyone who believes in reproductive privacy 鈥 or in democracy itself 鈥 must vote no. (Eugene Robinson, 8/7)
The recent Food and Drug Administration approval of the Opill, a progestin-only birth control pill and the first over-the-counter daily oral contraceptive, is a milestone for teenage girls. It allows them to purchase birth control without parental consent or a doctor鈥檚 prescription. However, the war isn鈥檛 won with availability alone; affordability is the second, equally important half of this battle. (Diya Sabharwal, 8/8)
More than three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us can finally walk into a store or sit in a restaurant without the constant looming fear of COVID on our minds. That is a good thing. But for far too many people, COVID remains a dangerous threat. (Jerome Adams, 8/7)
Do hospitals and doctors embrace 鈥渉ospitality鈥?聽Doctors鈥 offices aren鈥檛 restaurants, and hospitals aren鈥檛 hotels, nor should they be. But should we aspire to send patients home feeling catered to like the fictional restaurant鈥檚 patrons? That might not be possible. (Jules Lipoff, 8/8)
On inpatient medical services, it鈥檚 common to hear patients鈥 laboratory results presented with statements sounding like 鈥淐ALCE-MAG-FOSS were normal.鈥 The efficiency of this reporting is part of the secret handshake of one insider communicating with another. But often verbal constructions and other shortcuts are tightly linked with behaviors. Not only do some physicians report the results of serum calcium, magnesium, and phosphate simultaneously, they often order these tests together 鈥 a reflex where their behavior mirrors the contractions in their speech 鈥 even though there are many more reasons to check a calcium than a magnesium. The result here is needless tests and avoidable costs. (David A. Asch and Roy Rosin, 8/8)
