11/15
Public Health
How to connect communities to colorectal cancer screening
Penn Medicine has been on a multiyear journey to both raise the rates of screening for colorectal cancer and increase uptake of follow up care, with the goal of driving down colorectal cancer death rates and addressing inequities
HIPAA at 25 remains a work in progress
Anita Allen argues that while HIPAA has delivered meaningful benefits to consumers, it still needs updating to address new and emerging privacy challenges.
Long-term COVID and the ADA
Jasmine Harris, a disability law expert, shares her thoughts on President Biden’s announcement that long-term COVID sufferers could be protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act
Medical anthropologist Fran Barg reflects on three decades at Penn
She spent her career studying the culture of medicine. Through collaborations with colleagues in medicine and anthropology, she’s pinpointed why it’s so crucial to see serious medical problems from both a scientific perspective and a patient one.
Relief for dry eyes
Dry eye is a common condition, affecting nearly half of U.S. adults at some point during their lives, but it is often overlooked as a serious ailment, and the classic symptom of dry eyes isn’t always present.
Four things to know about the latest IPCC climate report
The assessment describes ‘unequivocal’ human influence that no doubt caused ‘widespread and rapid changes’ to the atmosphere, oceans, and more. Professors Mark Alan Hughes and Michael Weisberg discuss the findings, plus how we can avoid passing the point of no return.
In rural America, religious attendance reduces compassion regarding opioids
Rural areas—particularly those in Appalachian and Midwestern states—are hard hit by the opioid epidemic. However, many individuals in those same states do not support policies scientifically proven to help, like medically aided treatment and syringe exchanges.
When trust in science fosters pseudoscience
A study co-authored by PIK Professor Dolores Albarracín finds that people who trust science are more likely to believe and disseminate false claims containing scientific references than people who do not trust science.
City-funded housing repairs in low-income neighborhoods impacts crime rates
Penn Medicine research suggests that investment in structurally damaged homes in low-income and minority neighborhoods are associated with reduced crime and improved public health.
Public trust in CDC, FDA, and Fauci holds steady, survey shows
The top U.S. health agencies retain the trust of the vast majority of the American public, as does Anthony Fauci, the public face of U.S. efforts to combat the virus, according to a new survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center.
In the News
Got canker sores? Try switching your toothpaste
Richard Wender of the Perelman School of Medicine says that canker sores often start with a minor trauma to the mucosal lining, like a sharp edge on a tooth or a pair of prickly braces.
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Colorado has the most cases of bird flu among dairy cows in the U.S.
The School of Veterinary Medicine has developed a bird flu vaccine that is to be tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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FDA Study finds infectious H5N1 bird flu virus in 14% of raw milk samples
Patrick E. Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says it is important that anyone planning to consume raw milk be aware that doing so can make you sick and that pasteurization reduces the risk of milk-borne illnesses.
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This Juneteenth, we must invest in our future as well as remember our past
Victor Roy, an incoming assistant professor at the Perelman School of Medicine, writes that “baby bonds” could help mitigate the worsening racial wealth gap.
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Column: How a blunder by a respected medical journal is fueling an anti-vaccine lie
Jeffrey S. Morris of the Perelman School of Medicine says that even with a 100% effective vaccine, there would have been high levels of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 in 2021.
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RFK Jr.’s vaccine misinformation campaign started after he ignored a Philly doctor
Paul Offit of the Perelman School of Medicine and Melanie Kornides of the School of Nursing comment on Robert F. Kennedy’s misinformation campaign against vaccines.
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