Opinion: Make list price the touchstone for drug pricing across the supply chain
In October, the House Oversight Committee turned a magnifying glass on the rising cost of…
Category: First Opinion
Opinion: Glaring omission from Biden’s Covid-19 task force: mental health expertise
The unprecedented spike in depression and anxiety that has accompanied the coronavirus pandemic points to…
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Opinion: The National Cancer Institute needs to publish information about chemical exposure and cancer risk
Our government should take the steps it can to protect Americans from a public health…
Opinion: Frameworks for medical rationing must be created of, for, and with the people
When a vaccine for Covid-19 becomes available — and the supply is sure to be…
Opinion: A shortage of physicians with experience treating hospitalized patients could threaten the next surge response
As Covid-19 cases reach a record high in the U.S., models project that this third…
Opinion: The year of the pandemic: a view from South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea — In the global coronavirus pandemic, South Koreans should be dropping like…
Opinion: Self-interest nudged me to join Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine trial. Here’s how it’s going
I volunteered to take part in a Covid-19 vaccine trial. I wish I could say…
Opinion: The shameful abundance of birth- and pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S.
The U.S. spends more on health care than any other wealthy nation. Yet, more people…
Opinion: Interoperability: an untapped tool in America’s fight against Covid-19
As the coronavirus pandemic collides with flu season, barriers to accessing medical information could undermine…
Opinion: Proposed British guidelines reject useless chronic fatigue syndrome treatments
For years, the prevailing “wisdom” about people diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome was they were…
Opinion: Decriminalization could help ease the nation’s drug epidemic, but the devil is in the details
Among the 120 statewide ballot measures before voters in the 2020 election, drug decriminalization measures…
Opinion: Online privacy loss: another Covid-19 aftershock
Since the coronavirus pandemic first emerged in the United States, millions of Americans have gone…
Opinion: Increase transparency at the FDA: We need sunlight to fight the pandemic
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a number of contentious decisions during the Covid-19…
Opinion: Global investors must support pharma solidarity and collaboration in the response to Covid-19
The prospect of having the first supplies of at least a few effective Covid-19 medicines…
Opinion: Pregnant and lactating women should not be excluded from Covid-19 drug, vaccine trials
Citizens of the world are holding their collective breath while awaiting vaccines and therapies to…
Opinion: Personalized medicine is the future of health care. Two Trump administration proposals could stymie it
“It is more important to know what kind of patient the disease has than to…
Opinion: Kids’ heart rates are rising as the pandemic drags on
In mid-March, schools across the country shut down. My 7-year-old son took it well; life…
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Opinion: We can’t tackle the pandemic without figuring out which Covid-19 vaccines work the best
We may have a vaccine for Covid-19 by late this fall. By winter, we could…
Opinion: Medicine for the Greater Good: one hospital’s way of supporting its nearby communities of color
The violent police attacks on Jacob Blake, George Floyd, and far too many others, along…
Opinion: The FDA approved the abortion pill 20 years ago. It’s time to make it available via telehealth
Twenty years ago this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved a medication destined to…
Opinion: America’s mental health care system fell short for my brother. Access to that care should be a legal right for all
The year 2020 has put an exclamation point on the need for robust mental health…
Opinion: Fast, low-cost testing is essential for averting a second wave of Covid-19
Since the first Covid-19 cases emerged in the U.S. in early 2020, attitudes toward coronavirus…
Opinion: Cancer survivor: Don’t forget that accolade when it comes to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s remarkable life
Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last week at the age of…
Opinion: If donating a kidney to a stranger is ethical and allowable, taking part in a Covid-19 challenge trial should be, too
A few months ago, one of us (S.B.) found himself staring up into the bright…
Opinion: The White House Coronavirus Task Force needs to stop hiding its weekly reports from the public
Since June, the White House Coronavirus Task Force has been compiling detailed reports on how…
Opinion: Give teachers high priority access to Covid-19 treatments and vaccines
The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed what far too few Americans acknowledge about schools and teachers:…
Opinion: Three lessons from Covid-19 on accelerating biopharma innovation
The health care research ecosystem has shifted into overdrive in response to Covid-19, sparking unprecedented…
Opinion: How the CDC and others are failing Black women during childbirth
The alarming number of deaths of Black women during childbirth and soon afterward once gained…
Opinion: A vaccine alone won’t stop Covid-19. We also need a trusted plan for it
Safe and effective vaccines represent the most effective way to restore the health and economic…
Opinion: Trump’s ‘most favored nation’ executive order on drug prices is a scam for seniors
The White House announced a most favored nations executive order on Sunday, its latest attempt…
Opinion: Medicaid needs to change its archaic rules for women seeking permanent contraception
For many women who don’t want to have more children, childbirth offers a safe and…
Opinion: STAT+ Conversations: An inside look at STAT’s First Opinion
Each week, STAT Plus subscribers get exclusive access to live discussions with STAT reporters and…
Opinion: Are lung function algorithms perpetuating health disparities experienced by Black people?
“I can’t breathe” became a rallying cry against racism in the wake of the deaths…
Opinion: The key to efficient vaccine distribution: start preparing early
Over the last few months, much has been learned about how Covid-19 spreads and ways…
Opinion: When private equity firms invest in women’s health clinics, who benefits?
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to surge in the United States, Americans are becoming more…
Opinion: The ethics of pausing a vaccine trial in the midst of a pandemic: a conversation with Ruth Faden
The revelation that AstraZeneca paused its clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine has focused attention…
Opinion: Real-time gene sequencing can help control — and may someday prevent — pandemics
As the novel coronavirus continues to infect people around the world, scientists have scrambled to…
Opinion: ‘Hell has frozen over’: The pharmaceutical industry stands in for a politically impaired FDA
How can Americans tell when the Food and Drug Administration has become so politically impaired…
Opinion: The interstate highway system: a model for investing in U.S. health care
Driving from California to Vermont, as I did this summer, offers time to think and…
Opinion: Believers need to be as prepared for a Covid-19 vaccine as anti-vaxxers are against it
In the fractious public dialogue about Covid-19, one point of unity stands out: An effective…
Opinion: Coming to terms with the real bioterrorist behind Covid-19: nature
In 2001, not long after the 9/11 attacks, a mysterious spate of anthrax attacks by…
Opinion: Health care conferences should embrace patients as collaborators
Health care conferences like the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference are as much professional events…
Opinion: Instead of eliminating drug rebates, use average sales price to set co-insurance levels
Changing key elements of the U.S. health care system can be effective and in the…
Opinion: Go national to solve the country’s looming nursing shortage
Nurses need our support now more than ever as they manage the frontlines in the…
Opinion: Covid-19 is accelerating the Medicare trust fund’s dive toward insolvency
The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed another victim: Medicare’s trust fund. The Congressional Budget Office released…
Opinion: Placebo arms aren’t needed for challenge trials of Covid-19 vaccines
To control the Covid-19 pandemic, we need an effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that…
Opinion: A landmark for STAT
Today marks a milestone for us at STAT. We published the 2,000th First Opinion, our…
Opinion: During the Vietnam War, these physician-scientists were called ‘yellow berets.’ They are what we need to fight Covid-19
As we face off against Covid-19, we urgently need physician-scientists who can quickly translate observations…
Opinion: Medical residents need support — financial and emotional — for their Covid-19 work
As Covid-19 surges in some cities and across the country, it has subsided in New…
Opinion: Did disparities kill the king of Wakanda? Chadwick Boseman and changing landscape of colon cancer demographics
People across the country are mourning the death this weekend of actor Chadwick Boseman, who…