Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Mystery Deepens Over Head Injuries Of U.S. Diplomats In Cuba
A group of American diplomats stationed in Havana appear to have symptoms of concussion without ever having received blows to their heads, medical experts have found. The diplomats originally were said to have been victims of a 鈥渟onic attack,鈥 a possibility that the Federal Bureau of Investigation reportedly ruled out in January. The experts鈥 report, published late Wednesday in the journal JAMA, does not solve the mystery, instead raising even more questions about what could have caused the brain injuries. (Kolata, 2/15)
According to the study, published in the medical journal JAMA, 21 workers sought medical attention beginning in late 2016 after suspected exposure to "auditory and sensory phenomena in their homes or hotel rooms." These findings have left doctors wondering whether this pattern of symptoms can occur in a previously unseen way, without head trauma. (Nedelman and Tinker, 2/14)