Following his prepared remarks at Health Journalism 2016, United States Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., M.B.A., (@Surgeon_General) answered some questions from journalists about opioids, alcohol, marijuana, mental health, gun violence, the relationship between science and public policy, and more.
Charles Ornstein, a senior reporter at ProPublica, kicked off a Health Journalism 2016 session about the federal government’s health privacy rule with several stories of privacy breaches:
These privacy breaches, Ornstein said, can be “very, very harmful” to individuals. Continue reading
For those of us covering health insurance, one of the best sessions at Health Journalism 2016 addressed the challenging issue of how to find the true cost of health care.
Moderator Bruce Japsen, who writes about health care and health policy for Forbes, kept the focus on where reporters can look to uncover the actual cost of care in their communities.
That generated a terrific pro tip from panelist Chad Terhune of Kaiser Health News. Continue reading
United States Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., M.B.A., (@Surgeon_General) spoke to attendees of Health Journalism 2016 and discussed how his administration will address the overuse of opioids in the United States.
A follow-up blog post will feature Murthy answering journalists’ questions after his prepared talk.
Photo: Pia Christensen/AHCJHealth officials from four cities that have faced recent crises shared their perspectives on addressing health disparities during a session at Health Journalism 2016. Susan Heavey, left, moderated the panel featuring Leana S. Wen, M.D., Melba R. Moore, M.S., C.P.H.A., Abdul El-Sayed, M.D., D.Phil., and Natoya Walker Minor, M.P.A.
Health Journalism 2016 kicked off a powerful lineup of panels with a roundtable on covering the health angles of cities facing crises. Susan Heavey, who is AHCJ’s topic leader on social determinants and a reporter at Reuters, led the discussion featuring Leana Wen, M.D., health commissioner in Baltimore; Melba Moore, M.S., acting director of health/commissioner of health, City of St. Louis, Abdul El-Sayed, M.D., the executive director and health officer of the Detroit Health Department and Natoya Walker Minor, the acting director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health.
All the panelists work in what they called “legacy cities,” older urban cities that have been under siege with issues that have kept them in the headlines. Continue reading
Photo: Deborah Crowe/AHCJVivek Murthy, M.D., spoke about efforts to end the opioid epidemic in the United States during his speech at Health Journalism 2016.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has launched a campaign to address an epidemic of opioid addiction that holds two million Americans in its grip. His drive not only focuses upon getting people who are already addicted into treatment, but upon preventing new cases of addiction by appealing to health care professionals – including the nation’s dentists – to consider alternatives when helping patients manage pain.
Addiction can begin with a routine prescription, Murthy has stressed.
“We want people to reach for non-opioids whenever possible,” he told awards luncheon attendees on April 9 during Health Journalism 2016. Continue reading