Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Injection Of Stem Cells May Help Save Babies Born With Only One Half Of Their Heart Working
Surgeons trying a new way to save the life of a baby born with half a heart stood over her open chest and waited for the FedEx box. Doctors in Miami had sent overnight two small vials of stem cells to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Now the Baltimore surgeons would inject the cells, derived from a donor鈥檚 bone marrow, into the tiny, defective heart of 4-month-old Autumn. (Cohn, 3/12)
It was supposed to be a joyous and memorable time: Magdalena Malec was pregnant with her third child, and her other two were no doubt counting down the days until Christmas. But by the time Christmas Day arrived in 2014, Malec had miscarried and been diagnosed with聽an ectopic pregnancy. Malec, who had been sent home days earlier with medication to ease her discomfort, was now in agony and back at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, 35 miles from London, according聽to an account from her attorney. (Bever, 3/12)
The 84-year-old man arrived in the emergency room with complaints that weren't uncommon for a patient his age. He had reported feeling聽unsteady over the past several months, culminating in repeated falls in recent weeks.聽In the three days leading up to his hospital visit, his left arm and leg had noticeably weakened. Still, there were no red flags in the man's medical history. He didn't smoke. He rarely drank.聽A blood test detected nothing abnormal. (Wang, 3/12)
Kaiser Health News: Black Men鈥檚 Blood Pressure Is Cut Along With Their Hair
Amid the buzz of hair clippers and the beat of hip-hop, barber Corey Thomas squeezes in a little advice to the clients who come into his Inglewood, Calif., shop for shaves and fade cuts. Watch what you eat, he tells them. Check your blood pressure. Don鈥檛 take life so hard. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a high statistic for 鈥 hypertension and everything, and it鈥檚 something we let go by,鈥 Thomas said as he worked at the shop, A New You, on Friday. 鈥淥ur customers, they鈥檒l talk to us before they talk to anybody else.鈥 (Abram, 3/12)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been discussed for decades as a problem for war veterans. But it is also one of the most common psychological effects seen in survivors of sexual assault. (Thomas, 3/10)