Opinion: As a pediatric cancer researcher, I admired the FDA. Then I got ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as I have unfortunately come to learn, is a terrible disease…
Category: First Opinion
Opinion: Report: More people should be tested for potential exposure to ‘forever chemicals’
Nearly every American has been exposed at some point to a class of compounds known…
Opinion: ‘Is an abortion medically necessary?’ is not a question for ethicists to answer
Abortion raises many ethical questions. Determining whether an abortion is needed to save a pregnant…
Opinion: Medicare cuts would undermine the movement to increasing in-home care
The COVID-19 pandemic supercharged in-home care in the U.S. Suddenly it became possible to get…
Opinion: Psychedelics researchers and investors should focus on delivering therapy, not drugs
“How To Change Your Mind,” a new four-part documentary about psychedelics, has been hovering around…
Opinion: FDA needs to fully review ACAM2000 before allowing its widespread use as a monkeypox vaccine
As the United States grapples with monkeypox, which has been declared a public health emergency,…
Opinion: Why don’t they just do what the evidence says? The challenge and promise of implementation science
The test of a new team-based way to treat bipolar disorder was, by all estimations,…
Opinion: Decriminalizing HIV: Scientifically proven and morally correct
One hundred thirty-four. That’s the number of countries that currently criminalize or prosecute people based…
Opinion: PCR testing can help clarify confusion over Covid-19 rebound and isolation
President Biden’s recent case of Covid-19, its rebound, and his extended isolation offers an opportunity…
Opinion: Real-world data can help expedite drug approvals for serious diseases with few options
My grandmother was diagnosed with dementia in the early 2000s. We started taking it seriously…
Opinion: Implant recipients shouldn’t be left in the dark when a device maker cuts off support
Imagine having an impaired sense restored by an innovative device, only to suddenly lose that…
Opinion: Will low-dose vaccination stretch the monkeypox vaccine supply, or backfire?
The U.S. heath secretary recently declared monkeypox as a public health emergency, paving the way…
Opinion: Addressing institutional trauma in health care: the case for a structured ethical framework
In recent years, many health care professionals have been confronting the challenging chapters of their…
Opinion: Triple-negative breast cancer highlights the need to act against health inequities
Deaths from breast cancer create huge holes in families and communities that cannot be filled….
Opinion: The U.S. must fully fund global polio eradication efforts
Reports that a man in his 20s in New York state contracted polio and detection…
Opinion: The next generation of illicit drugs? Think ‘synthetic’
The illicit drug market continues to become more treacherous. Illicit drugs killed more than 107,000…
Opinion: Are ‘modest’ drug price controls as bad for innovation as pharma claims?
Drug price controls proposed by Democrats in the U.S. Senate are being met with dire…
Opinion: Addressing social drivers of health is a big opportunity for tech entrepreneurs
Some of the best business opportunities in health care will involve developing technologies that analyze…
Opinion: Lack of diversity in clinical trials costs billions of dollars. Incentives can spur innovation
The lack of diversity in clinical trials unfairly skews American medicine and costs billions of…
Opinion: Inching closer to an essential global pandemic treaty
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently declared monkeypox a public health emergency of…
Opinion: Paxlovid rebound happens, though why and to whom are still a mystery
As an emergency department physician in New York, I often field calls about medical issues…
Opinion: STAT+: Hospitals, health systems play critical roles in the real-world data movement
Since the start of the pandemic, the health care and life sciences sectors have relied…
Opinion: Keeping climate provisions in the budget reconciliation act is a key step toward protecting Americans’ health
Last week’s surprise agreement between Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer…
Opinion: Fast science can be good science, even more so when lives are at stake
Drug development has been conducted at the same slow and incremental pace for so long…
Opinion: Americans deserve better than ‘destination hallway’ in emergency departments and hospital wards
As the literal and figurative front door to many hospitals, the emergency department can offer…
Opinion: WTO: Don’t make a bad situation worse by granting intellectual property waivers for Covid-19 therapeutics and diagnostics
The World Trade Organization recently agreed to suspend patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines. The trade…
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Opinion: A better understanding of human diversity is needed to equitably advance precision medicine
Precision medicine — tailoring a treatment to an individual’s disease — requires understanding the individual’s…
Opinion: I learned up close and personal about the necessity of improving diversity in clinical trials
As the biopharmaceutical industry places increased emphasis on improving the diversity of participants in clinical…
Opinion: STAT+: How to close biopharma’s data science and engineering skills gap
In biopharma research and development, laboratory data now exist in petabytes. Today’s fastest liquid-handling robots…
Opinion: The future of health care is here. When will it be everywhere?
To paraphrase Canadian-American speculative fiction writer William Gibson: The future of health care is already…
Opinion: The Morris ALS Principles: A model for empowering all disease communities
The FDA’s decision to delay its highly anticipated review of AMX0035, a new drug for…
Opinion: Value-based payment has produced little value. It needs a time-out
The value-based payment crusade is now two decades old. But despite the tens of billions…
Opinion: Clinician-administrator relationships are ‘on life support.’ Here’s how to heal them
Much has been written about the decades-long erosion of the once-solid relationship between patients and…
Opinion: The FDA needs to get ready to evaluate synthetic cells, the next generation of therapeutics
Expanding new medical treatments requires pushing — and sometimes breaking — the boundaries of what…
Opinion: Demanding more impact from impact litigation: lessons to be learned from multi-state opioid settlements
In the 1990s, state Attorneys General learned how to leverage their resources when they retained…
Opinion: Working with Indigenous allies is the ethical way to develop psychedelic-based pharmaceuticals
Psychedelic medicine is having a moment of tremendous growth and innovation as researchers rediscover its…
Opinion: Poorer nations need assurances of dedicated vaccine supplies before the next pandemic
Anyone wondering whether Covid-19 vaccines are making a difference to this deadly and persistent pandemic…
Opinion: Deal between Amazon and One Medical deal has massive implications for the future of primary care
Amazon’s announcement this week that it would acquire One Medical, a primary care provider, for…
Opinion: Drug price controls are a dance with the devil: short-term savings will be overwhelmed by loss of innovation
Democrats have sent the legislative text of a sweeping proposal for drug price controls to…
Opinion: There’s no ‘Moonshot’ or ‘Warp Speed’ for rare diseases. There should be
The term “rare disease” is both an apt descriptor and a misnomer. Individually, each rare…
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Opinion: New price transparency regulations for hospitals, insurers empower patients
Many Americans are accustomed to shopping around for the best deal. We can access reams…
Opinion: 6 ways to bolster FDA’s guidance for diversifying participation in clinical trials
It has been nearly 25 years since the Food and Drug Administration first issued guidance…
Opinion: The health care industry’s lax approach to nurses’ mental health needs to change
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the dire state of nursing has been grist…
Opinion: Safe surrender of newborns is just the beginning of post-Roe journeys
With abortion now restricted or even penalized in nearly half of U.S. states, there’s likely…
Opinion: STAT+: 10 tips for vendors seeking to create or expand digital health and virtual health solutions
Virtual and digital care expanded dramatically during the pandemic as patients, providers, employers, and regulators…
Opinion: Keep equity in mind when moving to value-based payment
Value-based care champions health and justice by focusing on outcomes rather than on units of…
Opinion: Stop squandering opportunities to end AIDS: be responsive to the needs of HIV prevention users
Ten years ago this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved a daily pill that…
Opinion: How dating apps could help stop the spread of sexually transmissible infections
Sexually transmissible infections are on the rise across the United States. But it’s not just…
Opinion: STAT+: For safety’s sake, it’s time to get medical device identifiers over the finish line
This week, an under-the-radar U.S. government advisory group called the National Committee on Vital and…
Opinion: Free the pill — and make it free
This month, HRA Pharma announced it had submitted the first-ever application to the Food and…