Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: We've Been Thinking About Weight All Wrong; We Could See Another Baby Formula Shortage
In his 2017 book, 鈥淭he Hungry Brain,鈥� Stephan Guyenet, a neurobiologist, argues that weight gain is less about willpower than it is the product of an evolutionary mismatch between our brains, our genetics and our environments. Now a new class of weight loss drugs is raising the possibility that we can change our brains to fit this new environment. (Ezra Klein, 2/28)
Many of the babies who wanted for infant formula during the U.S. shortage in 2022 have moved on to solid foods. But a year on from the events that left shelves empty for months, the possibility of a repeat disaster remains. (Alyssa Rosenberg, 2/27)
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, building on the American Rescue Plan, permanently allowed states to extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum women to one year. Yet at least a dozen states have not done so. (Matthew Alexander, 2/27)
I still remember the raspy voice of the wizened cancer patient with the hole in her throat. So addicted to the poison that was killing her 鈥屸�� cigarettes 鈥屸�屸�� she interspersed her words of warning about the dangers of smoking with taking puffs of a cigarette through her tracheostomy hole鈥屸��. (Elisabeth Rosenthal, 2/28)