HEALTH POLICIES, ANALYSIS, AND RESOURCES
The Health Policy Domain tracks and reports on policies that deal with women’s health, the Affordable Care Act, Head Start, child care and child support services, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and federal food and drug policy. This domain tracks policies emanating from the White House, the department of Health and Human Services, the US Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Latest Health & Gender Posts
Variant of Concern – Omicron
Brief #125 – Health & Gender Policy
By S Bhimji
Over the weekend, the world learned about another heavily mutated coronavirus variant named Omicron. First detected in South Africa, Omicron has now been detected in many nations. While not much is known about it, experts suggest that it could be more infectious than the delta variant.
The Other Epidemic That No One Talks About: Drug Overdose
Brief #124 – Health & Gender Policy
By S Bhimji
Opioids are a class of pain relieving drugs that include both illegal drugs like heroin and synthetic legal ones like codeine, morphine, oxycodone, fentanyl and many others. The problem with opioids is that not are they addictive but they can quickly suppress respiration and lead to death.
Dos and Don’ts of Importing Medications from Canada
Brief #141 – Health & Gender Policy
By S. Bhimji
There is no question that prescription medications are expensive in the US and each year the prices keep on going up. Some Americans visit Mexico to buy their prescription medications but the problem is that the quality of Mexican products is often not guaranteed.
What Motivates Covid Conspiracy Believers?
Brief #140 – Health & Gender Policy
By S Bhimji
As of Sept 2021, there are still close to 70 million adult Americans who have not been vaccinated against Covid. Despite all types of incentives, these folks have refused to get the shot. President Biden had signaled that he would have liked most of the country to be vaccinated by July 2021 but as of now, there are millions who adamantly refuse to be vaccinated.
Semaglutide: Is it The Panacea for Weight Loss?
Brief #139 – Health & Gender Policy
By S. Bhimji
There are over 70 million Americans who are considered obese and 99 million more who are said to be overweight. Today obesity has replaced smoking as public health enemy number one. Obesity has repercussions beyond just excess weight- it negatively affects almost every organ in the body and shortens the lifespan.
Theranos: A Medical Fraud Case for the Record Books
Brief #138 – Health and Gender Policy
By S Bhimji
Elizabeth Holmes, founder, and CEO of Theranos was on top of the world a decade ago. After just two semesters at Stanford, the dropout partnered with Ramesh Balwani (her BF) to develop a ground-breaking medical device that could run hundreds of medical tests on a tiny amount of blood obtained with a pinprick. She aspired to be the next Steve Jobs and emulated him in every respect.
Screws Tighten on Unvaccinated Healthcare Workers
Brief #137 – Health and Gender
By S. Bhimji
By now most people in the country are fed up with unvaccinated individuals. For whatever reason, there are still a significant number of Americans who are still refusing to be vaccinated against Covid. And sadly a great many of these unvaccinated individuals are healthcare professionals that include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, EMS technicians, nursing assistants, and lab technicians.
Finally A Malaria Vaccine: A Monumental Discovery
Brief #136 – Health and Gender
By S. Bhimji
While much of the talk these days is about covid-19, the parasite that causes malaria is far more sophisticated and insidious than coronavirus. The malaria parasite has evolved to escape the immune system and it also has a complicated life cycle that spans across humans and mosquitoes. Even when it is inside the body, it escapes surveillance and different forms affect different organs.
Can Doctors Refuse Care to Unvaccinated Patients?
Brief #135 – Health & Gender Policy
By S Bhimji
The coronavirus pandemic has created a lot of friction and unhappiness in society. Despite the continuing spread of the virus by the delta variant, a significant number of Americans are refusing to get vaccinated for a variety of reasons. And in almost every industry hundreds of workers are now asking for all kinds of exemptions.