Health News Roundup

The silent shame of having a mental illness in a Chinese family, and more in this week’s roundup

children’s health

A troubling prognosis for migrant children in detention: ‘The earlier they’re out, the better’
Benedict Carey, The New York Times, June 18
The longer children remain in institutional settings, the greater their risk of depression, post-traumatic stress and other mental health problems.

Affordability

Almost half of diabetics skip medical care due to costs
Kate Gibson, CBS News, June 18
“It is shocking and unconscionable” that patients are struggling to get a basic medicine like insulin, American Medical Association board member William A. McDade said in a statement. Insulin is one of many essential drugs across all categories of pharmaceuticals to show substantial increases in price. The average price of insulin nearly tripled between 2002 and 2013, according to the American Diabetes Association.

health care innovation

Five ideas that might steer Gawande as CEO of Amazon-backed health company
Andrew Joseph and Megan Thielking, STAT, June 20
Atul Gawande has yet to speak out about his plans for leading the new Amazon-JPMorgan-Berkshire Hathaway health care organization, but his past speeches and writings provide some clues to what he might do in the job. STAT looks at five key points about Gawande’s views that might influence how he runs the new health care organization.

first person

Hiding my mental illness from my Asian family almost killed me
Amanda Rosenberg, Vox, June 18
“Don’t you dare go back to that doctor,” my mother growled into the phone. “He’ll put ‘bipolar’ on your record and then you’ll never be able to get a job.” Mental health was rarely discussed, but when it was, it was always in a negative light.