Public Health
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Opioid Use and Employment: A Complicated Relationship
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Opioid use can be traced back at least as far as the end of the 3rd millennium B.C., with notable crises worldwide in both the 19th and 20th centuries. However, today’s epidemic is “the worst drug addiction epidemic in [U.S.] history,” accounting for the deaths of 72,000 Americans in 2017…
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The Unintended Public Health Consequences of Immigration Policing
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From the Trump administration’s promise to build a wall along the Mexican border to the separation of children from migrants attempting to enter the U.S., issues related to immigration policy have dominated American politics. Recent proposals by the Trump administration have attempted to restrict legal immigration by requiring green card…
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Preventing Opioid Abuse Through Mandatory Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs
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A new study suggests that mandatory physician-led monitoring of opioid prescriptions may be an important tool in the effort to combat opioid abuse. The opioid epidemic is an increasingly serious problem in the United States, with over 50,000 people killed by opioid overdoses in 2017. President Trump declared the crisis…
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Mapping the Opioid Epidemic through Integrated HIV Modelling in Rural Indiana
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Roughly two years prior to becoming Vice President of the United States, then Governor Mike Pence declared a public health emergency in Indiana. Amid the statewide opioid crisis, and fueled by heightened levels of poverty, Scott County experienced one of the largest known AIDS outbreaks in U.S. history. One community of less…
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The Effect of Decriminalizing Prostitution on Public Health and Safety
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In the United States, prostitution has long been declared illegal for moral, safety, and public health concerns. Recently, states like New Hampshire and California are challenging these laws, opening the topic for public debate. The effects of legalizing prostitution are still largely unknown because they have primarily been studied in…
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Toxic Policy: The Impact of the Flint Water Crisis on the City’s Children
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In 2015, reports of elevated lead levels in the city’s water supply put Flint, Michigan into the national spotlight. The state-appointed emergency manager’s 2014 decision to approve municipal use of water from the Flint River, in an attempt to help the cash strapped city cut costs, is thought by many…
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Philosophy vs. Science in New York Vaccine Debate
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New York State has a substantial and diverse population with diverse reasons for objecting to compulsory vaccination. A recent article discusses the options available to the state in dealing with philosophical objectors when public health and safety are on the line.
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Change Versus Invention: Innovation and Public Health Care
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A survey of public health care leaders in California finds that innovation is seen as less technology-driven and more about the implementation of efficient and effective systems.
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Big Health Meets Big Labor: The Effect of the ACA on Labor Markets
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Although primarily concerning health policy, the ACA’s aftershocks could ripple through the labor market. Recent research suggests increased public health insurance may decrease employment.
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Observations from a New Frontier: Medicare’s Experience with Risk Adjustment
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New research suggests Medicare’s switch to risk-adjusted payments did not reduce overpayments. This example highlights the complexities of healthcare payment reform.
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Ebola’s Devastation: On the Ground in Liberia
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Aid worker Nina Goricar gives an eye-witness account of the Ebola quarantine in Monrovia, what’s missing from mainstream media coverage, and the effect of the crisis on Liberia’s basic health care and civic institutions.