Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Ideas To Remedy The Nursing Shortage; Fentanyl Overdoses Only Declined In Some Areas
Nationally, according to a 2022 survey of nurses, the median age of a registered nurse was 46 years old, and more than one-quarter of all nurses reported that they planned to leave nursing over the next 5 years. (9/27)
Last year over 70,000 Americans died from taking drug mixtures that contained fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. The good news is that recent data suggests a decline in overdose deaths, the first significant drop in decades. But this is not a uniform trend across the nation. To understand this disparity, it鈥檚 important to examine how we got here. (Maia Szalavitz, 9/26)
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act promised relief for these veterans. But tragically, since August 2022, of the more than聽500,000 Camp Lejeune claims filed, less than 200 have been settled 鈥� and not a single one has gone to trial. Now, unless there is urgent action by Congress, the justice due to Camp Lejeune鈥檚 survivors is in further peril. It is incumbent upon members of Congress from both parties to ensure our government cares for our nation鈥檚 veterans. (Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) and Rep. Deborah K. Ross (D-N.C.), 9/26)
For years, I鈥檝e been a fervent advocate for moving more care to the home. In a previous role leading聽CareMore Health, I presided over what was then one of the largest hospital-at-home programs in the country and launched home-based primary care in several markets. (Dr. Sachin Jain, 9/26)
We've entered an era where major U.S. health systems are peddling patients' de-identified data for profit, sidelining the patients themselves. These data repositories include intimate details about patient care, ranging from disease diagnoses to digital heartbeats, which companies harness to train artificial intelligence (AI) systems to detect various health issues. Is this the path we wish to tread for the future of health care? (Samuel Browd, 9/25)