February 2, 2024
(Plough) – The internist William Osler, a minister’s son who transferred his faith from the church to the hospital, developed the transformative experience of medical training in the late nineteenth century. Osler famously advised medical students that “the way of … Read More
February 2, 2024
(The New Yorker) – Because we in Silicon Valley are newness junkies, it can feel like an act of sabotage to have memories, but, for better or worse, I have them. It’s been more than forty years since I co-founded … Read More
February 1, 2024
(STAT News) – On Thursday evening, the state of Alabama executed Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen gas. Now, there are dueling narratives about what happened. Alabama claims it went perfectly, proving that nitrogen is a humane, effective alternative to lethal … Read More
January 31, 2024
(Newsweek) – As state legislatures convene for 2024, 18 states have had assisted-suicide-enabling legislation introduced, or have it pending from last year, when such legislation was introduced in 15 states. Arguments will be made that the prospect of pain at … Read More
January 26, 2024
(Longreads) – The weird part is no one questioned hypnotizing a bunch of teenagers. They still don’t. Every year, teens are brought on stage and hypnotized in front of their peers. My time came when I was 17 years old. … Read More
January 22, 2024
(Knowable Magazine) – The fact that warfarin is riskier in some populations than others isn’t a surprise. Different geographic regions tend to host people with slightly different genetic makeups, and sometimes those genetic differences lead to radically different reactions to … Read More
January 22, 2024
(New York Times) – Over a third of all health care costs go to administration. As the health care expert David Himmelstein put it in 2020, “The average American is paying more than $2,000 a year for useless bureaucracy.” All … Read More
January 18, 2024
(Washington Post via MSN) – For the past decade, tech companies have chased a dream: Invent a gadget to replace the smartphone. That’s why companies have created computers for your face and wrist, talking speakers for your living room and … Read More
January 16, 2024
(Tech Crunch) – Here’s the main takeaway from the rise of social media that we should carry with us into the advent of the age of AI: Just because something is easier or more convenient doesn’t make it preferable — … Read More
January 16, 2024
(STAT News) – Unfortunately, early cord clamping, essential for successful cord-blood banking, can do genuine harm to newborn babies in the name of protecting their health. Yes, stem cells collected from the baby’s blood have remarkable healing and regenerative powers. … Read More
January 15, 2024
(STAT News) – Though the Covid-19 pandemic brought heightened attention to nurses overall, a unique nursing role has been long overlooked and, for the public, largely misunderstood: that of the nurse manager. Like nurses in other roles, nurse managers are … Read More
January 11, 2024
(STAT News) – The abrupt transition from school-age support to limited adult services is aptly termed “the cliff.” I often wonder: What will happen to my daughter when I am too old to advocate for her? The good news for … Read More
January 9, 2024
(STAT News) – The origin of federal restrictions of anti-obesity medications has nothing to do with these current cost-benefit considerations, however: The Medicare and Medicaid policies are three-decade-old restrictions on weight-loss medication in general — a legislative legacy reflecting a … Read More
January 9, 2024
(Wired) – The therapy for sickle cell disease is projected to cost over $2 million per patient, and only a small number of facilities in the US have the technological capability to provide it. We see a certain cycle over … Read More
January 5, 2024
(The Conversation) – In 15 years as a primary care physician, I have seen the effects of dehumanizing medical care – and the difference it makes when a patient feels they are being respected, not just “treated.” Though “relational medicine” … Read More
January 3, 2024
(New York Magazine) – It was my bad luck, the attending doctor said at my bedside, to be an interesting case. Our meetings had a tone of rueful amusement. Yes, I was in pain and reeking from infrequent showering, but … Read More
December 28, 2023
(STAT News) – In recent months, evidence suggests, the war in Ukraine and the ongoing conflict in Gaza have led to spikes of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. This is to be expected; conflicts often create conditions that are perfect for drug resistance to emerge … Read More
December 26, 2023
(STAT News) – Food-as-medicine programs that address food insecurity and diet-related chronic diseases have drawn widespread attention from policymakers, payers, and health care providers. But what is the evidence that such programs work as intended? Some research suggests that food … Read More
December 22, 2023
(Washington Post) – As such, Snorble is a reminder that questions such as whether high school students will use ChatGPT to cheat are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to kids and AI. Parents who will soon have … Read More
December 20, 2023
(Axios) – Here’s an early New Year’s resolution for anyone who works with, deals with or writes about artificial intelligence: Stop saying “AI did this” or “AI made that.” Why it matters: AI doesn’t do or make anything on its … Read More
December 18, 2023
(STAT News) – Noma, often labeled “the face of poverty,” is a gangrene of the face and jaw that predominately ravages low-income, malnourished children. While much is still unknown, noma may begin as inflamed gums. If left untreated it can … Read More
December 15, 2023
December 11, 2023
(STAT News) – Though there are 7.4 million Americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities, physicians are often uncomfortable treating them. In a recent survey of 714 Massachusetts physicians across various specialties, only 40% reported being very confident treating physically or … Read More
December 6, 2023
(The Free Press) – I’ve spent years trying to understand the mental health crisis among teenage girls. But both sexes are suffering. Since 2015, I have been trying to solve a mystery: all of a sudden, around 2013, rates of … Read More
December 4, 2023
(The Conversation) – Our reproductive lives are considerably different from those of our ancestors, thanks in part to health innovations that have taken place over the past few decades. Practices such as IVF, donor eggs and sperm, womb transplants, surrogacy … Read More
