Good health care can be hard to find even for the privileged. But for people who face additional hurdles—a pregnant mom with addiction, an undocumented immigrant with mental health trauma—getting health care can be next to impossible. This week, Side Effects looks at people on the front lines trying to narrow gap between people and solutions.
This Week's Top Stories
"Skinny Repeal" Dead After McCain Lives Up To 'Maverick' Nickname The Republican from Arizona, who just this week returned to the Senate after a serious brain cancer diagnosis, joined two other GOP Senators when he cast a "no" vote on the pared-down Obamacare replacement plan during the early hours Friday morning. For now, that means repeal-and-replace has been temporarily derailed (and that health policy reporters can maybe go home and take a nap.)
Nurse Becomes Insurance Warrior For Pregnant Women With AddictionMoms-to-be addicted to opioids face countless hurdles on the road to recovery, not least the constant clerical and bureaucratic snags that come from having to get permission from insurance companies for certain medications. Side Effects' Emily Forman met a nurse who's made it her mission to take these companies to task.
Clinic Inside Old Auto Parts Store Offers Hope For Undocumented Immigrants With Mental Health Needs In St. Louis, the wait for an appointment with a Spanish-language therapist for someone without insurance can be a year or longer, according to providers. That puts refugees and undocumented immigrants, who many times have unaddressed trauma, in a potentially agonizing holding period. St. Louis Public Radio's Durrie Bouscaren reports on a St. Louis nonprofit running a bilingual clinic out of an old mechanics' store.
What Side Effects Reporters Are Reading Elsewhere Around The Web
Inclusive DIY Punk Scene Omits One Vital Group The places where nascent punk music happens—house parties, tiny, multi-level clubs—can be a nightmare to navigate for people with disabilities. What can the scene do to ensure punk is accessible to everyone, both literally and figuratively?(Noisey)
What's up with our jacked-up teeth? This reporter's cat aside (he's missing a tooth), many animals have perfectly-aligned teeth (have you ever seen a chimp with braces?) The same was true of humans' evolutionary ancestors. The anthropology site SAPIENS asks: what gives when it comes to modern-day humans overbites and impacted molars?
The sinister reason why Chicago's fountains have been flowing nonstopSeveral Chicago residents have asked WBEZ's Curious City why the city's fountains' on-and-off switches seem to have been permanently disabled this summer. The reason? The pipes are so contaminated with lead that turning them off and on again could cause a significant health risk.
An economic side effect of the opioid crisis Middle-class manufacturing jobs—the focus of last year's election season—are being left unfilled as companies struggle to find qualified workers that can pass a drug test. As the New York Times reports, the problem goes beyond the opioid crisis—shifting positions on the use of marijuana are having an impact, too.
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