Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
After Mass Shootings, 'Why?' Often Becomes The Most Important Question No One Can Answer
Long after the sirens, vigils and cable news debates, the question remains. It nags at survivors and their families.聽It haunts investigators as they comb through the gunman鈥檚 belongings, text messages and the scattered pieces of his life. Even as our attention as a society fades, the mystery of motive lingers like an open, forgotten wound until the next shooting, the next cycle of grief, outrage and desperate search for answers. (Wan and Berman, 3/15)
States across the country are responding to high-profile school shootings and rising teen suicide rates by creating tip lines modeled on Colorado鈥檚. The programs aim to prevent young people from behaving dangerously, whether that means bullying, using drugs or killing someone. [Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman] said that Safe2Tell has saved lives in Colorado, and that such a system could have prevented the Parkland shooting. Nikolas Cruz, the expelled student who has admitted to shooting his former classmates at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, had a long record of disturbing behavior but it didn鈥檛 provoke a sufficient response from local authorities. A tipster鈥檚 warning to an FBI hotline was never communicated to local law enforcement. (Quinton, 3/16)
Almost immediately after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Melissa Kornhaus, a licensed mental health counselor with a specialty in trauma therapy, was looking for a way to help. So Kornhaus, who鈥檚 based in Broward County, quickly organized Professionals United for Parkland鈥攁n all-volunteer group of more than 250 licensed mental health workers providing pro-bono therapy. Her group established a referral hotline, (443) 390-8343, for anyone in South Florida affected by the shooting. (Mack, 3/15)
A lawsuit in Connecticut against a leading maker of AR-15 rifles is awaiting a pivotal court ruling over whether the gun industry can be held legally responsible for mass shootings. The Connecticut Supreme Court is deciding whether to throw out a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by families of victims killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School against the manufacturer of the semiautomatic gun Adam Lanza used in the 2012 rampage. (Gershman, 3/16)
