Brainstorm Health: Black Lung on the Rise, Digital Contraception, America’s ‘Healthiest’ Communities
Hello, readers! This is Sy.
As my colleague Andrew Nusca reports, the Register-Herald says that local health centers in the state—which is a mainstay of the mining industry—have seen a swell in “black lung” (aka Pneumoconiosis) cases. It’s unclear exactly why this condition, associated heavily with poor air quality conditions in mines, is on the rise. But the numbers are striking, raising concerns about potential worker safety in the community—and questions about the cause of the reported black lung resurgence.
Read on for the day’s news.
| Sy Mukherjee | |
| @the_sy_guy | |
| sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com |
DIGITAL HEALTH
A digital solution to 'contraception deserts'? NPR reports that women in so-called contraception deserts—places where it's hard to get into a clinic or a doctor's office, particularly in states that have cracked down on family planning centers—are turning to digital services for their medical needs. That includes companies like NURX, Maven, and Lemonaid Health, which offer hormonal contraceptives through apps that can deliver the products to their pharmacies and doorsteps. (NPR)
INDICATIONS
Roche adds to impressive lung cancer data. Roche was a bit behind rivals like Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb in the new-wave cancer immunotherapy space of "checkpoint inhibitors". But its marquee treatment in this lucrative new space, called Tecentriq, scored a new clinical trial win Monday when Roche announced the drug's combination with another cancer therapy helped lung cancer patients live longer. (Reuters)
THE BIG PICTURE
What are America's 'healthiest' communities? U.S. News & World Report is out with a new ranking of America's "healthiest" communities (a list compiled in collaboration with the Aetna Foundation). According to the list's methodology, the healthiest county in the U.S. is... Falls Church, Virginia. (The list "scores nearly 3,000 communities across 80 metrics that extend beyond health coverage and doctors' visits to social determinants like income, housing and public safety, aiming to determine how location and circumstances affect the overall health of Americans across the country," as U.S. News explains). Check out the full list here. (U.S. News & World Report)
REQUIRED READING
How Microsoft Could Hit $1 Trillion, by Aaron Pressman
Facebook Stock Is in the Red This Year After FTC Confirms Investigation, by Lucinda Shen
Police Say Mastermind of $1 Billion Cyber Robbery Has Been Caught, by David Meyer
Blame It On The Robots: FedEx Scraps Plans for a Giant Distribution Center, by Natasha Bach
| Produced by Sy Mukherjee | |
| @the_sy_guy | |
| sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com |
Find past coverage. Sign up for other Fortune newsletters.
