Opinion: A watershed year for biosimilars — if regulators and policymakers step up
January 31 is set to mark the start of a watershed year for the biosimilars…
Category: First Opinion
Opinion: As it turns 40, the Orphan Drug Act for rare diseases needs a refresh
This month marks the 40th anniversary of the Orphan Drug Act. Since it was signed…
Opinion: Death by missing data: Uncollected racial and ethnic pandemic data will drive inequities for decades to come
At every stage of the Covid-19 pandemic, national reporting of racial and ethnic disparities in…
Opinion: How a checklist can help decolonize global health research
When institutions in the United States and other high-income countries embark on collaborations to improve…
Opinion: Physicians need — and should take — paternity leave
When my daughter was born, I was just a year out of fellowship training, working…
Opinion: A dangerous loophole for drug ads needs to be closed
A loophole in prescription drug regulation exposes American consumers to false and misleading claims of…
Opinion: Reinventing health care in 2023
After a year defined by record inflation and double-digit health care premium increases, I hope…
Opinion: Making naloxone available over the counter won’t solve the overdose crisis — but it will help
The Food and Drug Administration aims to conduct priority reviews of at least two product…
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Opinion: It’s time to retire ‘poor historian’ from clinicians’ vocabularies
Should we pity the “poor historian” — the individual or family member who can’t give…
Opinion: DEI policies won’t stop discrimination in hiring. That requires fighting unconscious bias
At least on paper, businesses and institutions have achieved equality through thoughtful diversity, equity, and…
Opinion: The WHO’s new pandemic treaty is good for the world — and the U.S.
In December, delegates from more than 180 countries met in Switzerland to discuss the International…
Opinion: Even with lawsuits and copay caps, will insulin ever be affordable?
In an attempt to tackle the root causes of the inflated cost of insulin, the…
Opinion: Upcoding: one reason Medicare Advantage companies pay clinicians to make home health checkups
At the start of 2023, an estimated 2.5 million Americans age 65 and older began…
Opinion: Medical school rankings need a new metric: economic mobility index
What are the attributes of a great medical school? U.S. News & World Report’s ranking…
Opinion: Leaders at Davos need to pay attention to the crossroads of climate change, health, and security
As CEOs and world leaders gather for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this…
Opinion: Biopharma leaders helped save democracy. Now what?
The rule of law must be upheld for free societies and free markets to flourish,…
Opinion: STAT+: 4 concrete steps to realize the AI Bill of Rights for clinical decision support software
The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights the White House recently published didn’t come…
Opinion: Stop blaming Biogen for putting profit at the expense of patients. Blame the systems that enabled it
Two congressional committees recently released damning results of an 18-month investigation into the Food and…
Opinion: For addiction treatment, longer is better. But insurance companies usually cut it short
Access to treatment for addiction has long plagued U.S. health systems. Why? Two reasons: It…
Opinion: More nurses: The smart way to save lives, money — and nurses
Although the 7,000 New York City nurses who went on strike this week reached a…
Opinion: A lesson from JPM: Too many digital front doors in health care lead to nowhere
Top health care leaders braved rain, hail, and flash flood warnings at this year’s J.P….
Opinion: Democratizing drug development will be a win for all
In 1992, the film Lorenzo’s Oil celebrated the true story of two parents who, despite…
Opinion: Another Ebola outbreak, another missed opportunity for preparedness
When I learned that an outbreak of Ebola was declared in Uganda last fall, I…
Opinion: There are 4 gaps in global pandemic responses. The biggest is missing leadership
Three years after news of the first cases of Covid-19 infections and deaths began to…
Opinion: FTC’s proposed ban on noncompete agreements could be a game changer for some physicians
The last two decades have been a period of declining economic influence for practicing physicians….
Opinion: Is the golden age of biotech stocks over?
Much of the last decade felt like the golden age of biotechnology investing. Money —…
Opinion: Four types of bias in medical AI are running under the FDA’s radar
Although artificial intelligence is entering health care with great promise, clinical AI tools are prone…
Opinion: STAT+: Continuous manufacturing can help pharma companies save time, money, and more
The pharmaceutical industry has been slow to adopt a business practice that is faster, safer,…
Opinion: Health record interoperability needs to include dental health records
As 2023 begins, health care providers in the United States must make health records more…
Opinion: Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act is no end-run around abortion bans
The emergency department is often called a hospital’s front door. For many people desperate for…
Opinion: NIH advances landmark recommendations on disability inclusion and anti-ableism
A diverse and inclusive workforce benefits science and research. But unless it includes people living…
Opinion: Better information on sexual orientation and gender identity is needed to improve LGBTQ+ health
Over the past three years, many Americans learned more about epidemiology than they ever knew…
Opinion: The Aduhelm Operetta: ‘I’ve got a little list’
The Congressional report on the FDA’s approval of Aduhelm makes some good points. As regulatory…
Opinion: Most-read First Opinion essays of 2022
The 22nd year of the 21st century, like most years before it, had its share…
Opinion: How value-based payments to clinicians can help close equity gaps
The U.S. health system has been evolving over the past decade to focus on the…
Opinion: To effectively combat diabetes, policymakers must treat obesity like other diseases
Obesity is often included in the litany of chronic diseases that plague six in 10…
Opinion: Allowing pharmacies to dispense methadone is dangerous for patients and communities
Congress is expected to pass a massive $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package that includes numerous…
Opinion: Lessons learned from the deadly combination of sepsis and Covid-19
Sepsis, a deadly overreaction of the immune system to infection, has befuddled clinicians and researchers…
Opinion: Specialized centers can help realign the U.S.’s moral compass for sickle cell disease
Even as the United States has made commitments to health as a human right and…
Opinion: Reducing the threat of vaccine-preventable diseases starts with kids
Americans have been warned — again — about lax attention to routine vaccinations. This time…
Opinion: Lawmakers should act on the evidence and expand access to dental therapists
Northern Maine and southern California don’t seem to have a lot in common — until…
Opinion: The art of the ‘deceased note’: A physician grapples with documenting patients’ final moments
My grandmother died in the hospital, alone, the day after she was “found down” at…
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Opinion: Fixing price instability can improve access to affordable prescription drugs
The high cost of prescription drugs is a very real problem in the United States….
Opinion: Paid sick leave is good for workers — and U.S. public health
The fight to expand access to paid sick leave continues even after President Biden decided…
Opinion: To protect the medical supply chain, ‘made in America’ will be key
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed a serious flaw in the United States’ medical supply chain: an…
Opinion: Hospice care needs saving
Hospice in America is gravely ill. An extensive investigation jointly published by The New Yorker…
Opinion: Lessons from Ecuador on responding to the mental health crisis in the U.S. and around the world
In his assessment of governments’ work to provide sufficient mental health resources to their citizens,…
Opinion: Primary care physicians try to give their all — until they can’t. It’s time to flip the archetype to teamwork
My colleague, Skip, was the kind of primary care doctor I always wanted to be….
Opinion: Responsibly expanding access to methadone for people with opioid use disorder will save lives
The overdose epidemic continues to ravage communities across the country. In Washington state, where I…
Opinion: Artificial intelligence: crossing the border between health care and tech
There’s been significant investment in companies creating artificial intelligence (AI) applications for health and health…