Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Will Supreme Court Make Smart Decision On Mifepristone?; Let's Reframe Alzheimer's Diagnosis
In March, the Supreme Court heard a case about access to mifepristone, one of two pills used for a medication abortion. Just weeks before that, though, a scientific controversy roiled the debate: Some of the scientific studies underlying the legal challenge to the abortion pill were retracted by Sage, the academic publishing company, over methodological and ethical concerns. The Supreme Court is expected to rule in a matter of days or weeks. (Katelyn Jetelina and Heidi Moseson, 6/10)
Through watching my mother, and through volunteer work I鈥檝e done writing minibiographies for people who are losing their memories, I鈥檝e learned that many of the more than six million Americans with Alzheimer鈥檚 have a relatively tolerable experience. They shouldn鈥檛 be referred to as 鈥渧ictims,鈥 鈥渟ufferers鈥 or even necessarily as 鈥減atients.鈥 They鈥檙e still individuals in pursuit of happiness. (Stephen Gettinger, 6/8)
When our son Peter was diagnosed with an ultra-rare form of muscular dystrophy at the age of 10, the first question we asked was: Is there a treatment? The answer was no. By the time our daughter Maggie, then just 6, received the same diagnosis, that answer hadn鈥檛 changed. We soon learned that our situation is tragically common. (Joe and Courtney Dion, 6/10)
Under questioning by a congressional subcommittee, top officials from the National Institutes of Health, along with Dr. Anthony Fauci, acknowledged that some key parts of the public health guidance their agencies promoted during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic were not backed up by solid science. What鈥檚 more, inconvenient information was kept from the public 鈥 suppressed, denied or disparaged as crackpot nonsense. (Zeynep Tufekci, 6/8)
Many factors drive America鈥檚 obesity epidemic 鈥 environment, genetics, eating habits, and more. Solving the problem isn鈥檛 solely about getting people to lose weight. What鈥檚 also needed is overcoming the stigma and systemic bias directed at people living with obesity. (W. Franklyn Richardson, 6/10)