March 6, 2024
(STAT News) – People often ask: How much should guidance be based on evidence versus what the public is willing to do? But that’s the wrong way to think about it. Instead, those in charge of public health guidance should … Read More
March 1, 2024
(The Atlantic) – In New York, where I live, notices linger in the doorways of apartment buildings and stores. A colleague in Woburn, Massachusetts, sent me a photo of a sign reminding park-goers to gather in groups of 10 or … Read More
February 28, 2024
(STAT News) – The main objective of palliative care is to maximize the patient’s comfort and quality of life by effectively controlling symptoms, especially pain, while providing psychological and spiritual support. Palliative care is gaining traction in the United States … Read More
February 26, 2024
(Chicago Sun Times) – Right now, those of us with disabilities are facing a significant battle: the defeat of a growing movement that wants to make physician-assisted suicide legal in Illinois. This fight is one with the goal to, literally, … Read More
February 19, 2024
(STAT News) – While we wait for more data to clarify the relationship between GLP-1s and mental health, it is crucial for endocrinologists — who prescribe most of these drugs — and psychiatrists to work together to address the tangled … Read More
February 15, 2024
(New York Times) – My column about the experience was probably the most consequential thing I’ll ever write — both in terms of the attention it got (wall-to-wall news coverage, mentions in congressional hearings, even a craft beer named Sydney … Read More
February 14, 2024
(The Atlantic) – Death reminds us of the limits of romantic love, but it also sets romantic love free. It allows love to take its place alongside other goods, some that last and others that are fleeting. Death brings a … Read More
February 12, 2024
(Newsweek via MSN) – A confession: Initially, I welcomed the idea of assisted dying, believing it could be a humane choice for those at the late stages of irreversible illnesses to make choices on their own behalf. However, my growing … Read More
February 9, 2024
(STAT News) – Despite considerable progress since 1964, smoking remains a top cause of preventable death in the United States. As Surgeon General David Satcher wrote in a seminal 1998 report, tobacco use is a major cause of disease and death among … Read More
February 9, 2024
(Wired) – Let’s say you read a novel that you really loved, something that inspired you. And only after you were done were you told that the author had not been a human being, but an artificial intelligence system … … Read More
February 6, 2024
(STAT News) – America’s outdated approach to medical device oversight starts with limited testing prior to FDA authorization for the vast majority of marketed devices and ends with patchwork monitoring of patient safety. The tale of Philips Respironics — which … Read More
February 2, 2024
(The Telegraph via MSN) – Last Saturday, an autistic Dutch woman died at home by assisted suicide, with her parents and best friend by her side. Her passing is significant to those far beyond her circle or who followed her … Read More
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
