The case highlights the need to disrupt the systematic racism that creates the enormous health burdens on Black people, and other vulnerable populations, as well as the ideology of racial difference and inferiority that help sustain them.
Health & Medicine
Remembering the history of polio can help in finding a coronavirus vaccine
If one does prove safe and effective, we will face the same challenges we faced then — of making enough to protect the population, without causing harm, and distributing it without exacerbating existing inequities in our society.
Protecting privacy on COVID-19 surveillance apps
COVID-19 tracking apps are here now and their impact on privacy and civil liberties is the focus of an emerging debate.
Your credit card debt shouldn’t cost you your home
Under California law, your home can be taken away because of unpaid credit card, medical or other consumer debt. A bill pending in the Legislature would change that.
When religion ‘trumps’ reproductive rights, enter public health
For decades now, advocates for religious and reproductive rights have argued their morality on the grounds of women’s health. The latest crusade comes with Trump’s announcement to expand religious accommodations and overturn the contraceptive mandate under the Affordable Care Act. Effective immediately, the federal rules allow employers, and now universities, to deny women contraceptive coverage … Continue reading »
GOP’s last-ditch effort to repeal ACA worst one yet for California
Co-authored by Laurel Lucia, Ian Perry and Ken Jacobs; crossposted from the blog of the UC Berkeley Labor Center. Once again, Congress is considering a bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and make major cuts to Medicaid. Next week, the Senate may vote on this latest repeal effort, led by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham … Continue reading »
How big are the Senate’s projected Medi-Cal cuts in the context of the state budget?
Under the Senate Republicans’ Better Care and Reconciliation Act, California stands to lose over $30 billion in Medicaid funding in 2027 alone — equivalent to all state spending for higher education plus Caltrans plus child care plus the state parks.
Senate Republicans’ health bill especially hurts the lowest-income Californians
Co-authored by Ken Jacobs, chair of the UC Berkeley Labor Center The health bill released by Senate Republicans today would be devastating to low-income Californians and their access to health coverage. While the proposed Senate bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act, is largely similar to the American Health Care Act passed by the U.S. House … Continue reading »
Energy drinks are killing young people. It’s time to stop that.
Co-authored by Wendi Gosliner, a project scientist at the Nutrition Policy Institute. Last week, a 16-year-old tragically lost his life after consuming an energy drink, a soda and a latte — drinks routinely consumed by and often intensively marketed to youth — all within a few hours. According to the coroner, the boy’s heart simply … Continue reading »
Gamification for global health
Gamification is popping up everywhere in our daily lives, with applications to management, commerce and health. Why? Because the evidence suggests that it works. Now it’s being studied in an HIV prevention program for young gay and bisexual men.
The Pope and sanitation
The pope’s encyclical on climate change once again makes headlines as, probably for the first time, it has been presented to President Trump to read. Peter Gleick, president emeritus of the Pacific Institute, Tweeted what I felt when I heard the news: Short as it is, the president will probably not read it. So, Gleick shared a … Continue reading »
This NIH program is crucial to global health — and its future is in danger
Co-authored with Madhukar Pai, MD, a Canada Research Chair in Epidemiology and Global Health at McGill University in Montreal. A little-noticed cut in President Trump’s proposed “budget blueprint to make American great again” would eliminate the Fogarty International Center, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. That would be a big mistake for the … Continue reading »
Brazil: Zika, Chika, coup d’état
The Brazil Olympic games just ended their two-week run. Cal athletes were well represented, and on Berkeley’s campus we are celebrating Cal student Ryan Murphy’s third gold medal in Rio de Janeiro. Yet, as we cheer on one of our own and take part in the pageantry, we read about the alleged mugging of another Olympic medalist, … Continue reading »
Frozen eggs and Title IX
Recently, I gave a research talk on work and family issues to a class of women MBA students at my university. Our UC Berkeley research team, the Do Babies Matter? project, had clearly identified when and how family formation affects career patterns for academic and professional men and women. As usual in this talk, I … Continue reading »
A history of health and health inequalities
The increasing delay of death for Americans over the last century or so has been extensive and consequential, probably in many profound ways that we do not fully appreciate. In the late 19th century, a newborn white boy would be expected to live, on average, to about 40; now, such a newborn can be expected … Continue reading »
Good science gone wrong?
Most scientists want to tell the truth. We want to help people by answering important questions, and sharing what we learn. But the research endeavor is big and messy. And as we’ve learned from the climate change and HIV/AIDS debates, there will always be folks who favor controversy, dogma, and press coverage over scientific consensus. … Continue reading »
Unaccountability is bad for public health and democracy
The British Parliament’s Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) has reported that the authorities for investigating healthcare failures in Britain are too numerous and unaccountable. I am pleased that at least one committee has criticized the structure of British healthcare, but the PASC airily follows all previous inquiries by recommending a lot of cultural change, and … Continue reading »
Can you trust health news?
Reporting health news isn’t easy, especially when journalists have short deadlines and limited space to parse research that’s frequently complex, nuanced, and laced with caveats. On top of that, there’s often the temptation — for scientists, press offices, and reporters — to oversimplify and oversell research findings to get more attention. I notice this more … Continue reading »
Measles: First, Tell the Truth
Various Republican presidential contenders just got caught waffling about measles vaccines. It doesn’t take a political genius to see that this was meant as a wink to the libertarians in their party. The only surprise is that the wink was a little too public and now, suddenly, they’re backtracking. The knee-jerk response, played out all … Continue reading »
Is there any benefit in overreacting to threats like Ebola?
The recent Ebola scare in the U.S. has raised some important questions about what is the appropriate response to a public threat. The two most obvious ones have to do with what is the appropriate response that we as individuals should take and what is the appropriate response that the various national institutions entrusted with … Continue reading »