Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: RFK Jr. In Public Health Would Be Disastrous; We Need An Outbreak Warning System
Mr. Kennedy has no meaningful claim to health expertise beyond an impressive geriatric six-pack and a do-your-own-research mantra. Nonetheless, he has gone from a fringe voice to the national leader of a rising “health freedom” movement powered by conspiracist thinking, resentment against the public health establishment and anti-vaccine fervor. (Rachael Bedard, 9/30)
“Just like we made our buildings more resistant to hurricanes and earthquakes and fires, we have to do that kind of stuff in our society for infectious diseases,” says epidemiologist Jennifer Nuzzo, head of the Pandemic Center at Brown University. “They’re just going to keep coming.” (F.D. Flam, 9/28)
The note was only a few paragraphs long, but sent shockwaves through the community of sickle cell disease specialists: Pfizer Inc. was pulling the drug Oxbryta off the market based on evidence its benefits no longer outweighed its risks. (Lisa Jarvis, 9/28)
IVF has taken center stage as a women’s reproductive rights issue, as it should. But with all this rhetoric, it’s clear there is a big misunderstanding about IVF just being a women’s issue. In almost half of all infertility cases in the United States, the man is a contributing cause. (Bill Meincke, 9/27)
How people think about rare events—especially unwelcome ones such as traumatic medical episodes or distressing diagnoses—seems to vary considerably depending on whether they have been directly affected by one. (Amanda Montanez, 9/27)