Closer Look
When new moms have 'no support'
DANIA MAXWELL FOR STAT
We know that postpartum depression is a serious condition, yet it's often treated as an afterthought in maternal health care systems. This neglect is particularly pronounced for immigrant laborers, who frequently lack access to care. At the public clinics of the Santa Clara River Valley, many new moms struggle to find the care they need.
Some were separated from their families in Mexico. Others' husbands or boyfriends had to head straight back to work picking fruit after the baby arrived. Some mothers had to return to work themselves while recovering from childbirth, or else risk losing their jobs in the fields and fruit-packing houses. This isolation and vulnerability can compound the challenges of caring for a newborn, driving many of these mothers into anxiety and depression. Experts say this isn't an aberration, but a natural consequence of the fragile conditions in which immigrant laborers live throughout the U.S. STAT contributor Grace Rubenstein has more.
FIRST OPINION
A major public health invention is under attack
The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief was created by former President George W. Bush at a time when therapies for HIV were widely available in Western countries, but scarce in the developing world. Over time, it has become the largest global health initiative ever dedicated to a single disease. But on the eve of a standard renewal, PEPFAR has been ensnared in the inescapable gravity of abortion politics.
Congress may not renew PEPFAR for its typical five-year term. In a new STAT First Opinion, physician Arjun Sharma says that the problem with PEPFAR is not one of cost — it is one of ideology.
"If a hobbled PEPFAR is all what we are left with, it will change how we respond to global health threats today, and to come," Sharma writes. Read more.
ADDICTION
The struggle to manage both chronic pain and opioid use disorder
People with chronic pain are at increased risk to develop opioid use disorder — and more people with opioid use disorder experience chronic pain than in the general population. But the overlap has not necessarily led to more cohesive care, and many struggle to access safe treatments like physical therapy.
A new retrospective cohort study in JAMA Network Open analyzed data from almost 70,000 Medicare beneficiaries with both opioid use disorder and chronic low back pain. Researchers found that just 10% received any physical therapy or chiropractic services within three months of a back pain episode. Black and Hispanic people had significantly lower odds of accessing chiropractic care compared with non-Hispanic white people. Shortages of practitioners in different parts of the U.S. may contribute to racial disparities, the authors write, along with skepticism about physical therapy as an effective solution for pain management.
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