Health stories in the news

Mexico battles swine flu stigma

Mark Lacey and Andrew Jacobs write in the New York Times that Mexico feels it is being treated unfairly since it first reported it had a large outbreak of influenza A (H1N1) or “swine flu”. Mexican products have been banned by some countries, air routes shutdown, and travelers from Mexico quarantined.

“Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderón, lashed out on Sunday at unnamed countries that he said were ‘acting out of ignorance and disinformation’ and taking ‘repressive, discriminatory measures.”

• To learn more read: Even as Fears of Flu Ebb, Mexicans Feel Stigma.

Compromise hinted on health-care reform

Robert Pear reports in the New York Times that Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) has “proposed that any new government-run insurance program comply with all the rules and standards that apply to private insurance.” Opponents of a government-run system say that private insurers will be run out of business if a government-run system is governed by less stringent rules and standards.

• To learn more read: Schumer Points to a Middle Ground on Government-Run Health Insurance.

High-functioning alcoholics

Also in today’s New York Times, Jane Brody profiles Sara Allen Benton, an accomplished professional and academic, who has written a book about high-functioning alcoholics, like herself.

Benton says that high-functioning alcoholics are often able to maintain respectable, successful lives for decades until an alcohol-related crisis occurs.

Among those Benton lists as high-functioning alcoholics are: actress Elizabeth Taylor, actor Robin Williams, and former President George W. Bush.

• To learn more read: High-Functioning, but Still Alcoholics

Flu news goes viral

In a Seattle Times essay, UW Professor of Communications Roger Simpson, a veteran of the 1957 and 1968 flu epidemics, recalls his experiences and compares how the press covered those outbreaks how the press is covering today’s.

• To learn more read: Perspective Valuable as News of Flu Goes Viral.

Tags: Alcoholism, Influenza, Journalism, Substance Abuse, UW

Category: Alcoholism, Health-care Policy, Influenza, University of Washington