Opinion: Certificate of need laws con rural patients out of health care
News watchers around the U.S. have likely seen the warnings: without certificate of need (CON)…
Category: First Opinion
Opinion: The fight over medical abortion has worsened pregnancy care
The Supreme Court unanimously shut down one of many troubling tugs of war over access…
Opinion: What happened to obesity after Chile slew Tony the Tiger?
“In Sweeping War on Obesity, Chile slays Tony the Tiger.” So read the headline of…
Opinion: To make public housing healthier, electric stoves and ovens should be the standard
The nation’s public-housing system provides homes to hundreds of thousands of low-income families, many of…
Opinion: Getting farmworkers to use PPE is hard, but it’s the best way to stop an H5N1 bird flu epidemic
Although a third U.S. dairy worker has been confirmed to be infected with the H5N1…
Opinion: FDA: Do your job and stop letting companies sell illicit vapes to kids
If it were common knowledge that a company was targeting kids to consume highly addictive…
.jpg)
Opinion: The J&J lawsuit should be a wakeup call to the PBM industry — and to companies everywhere
The ongoing legal dispute involving Johnson & Johnson has again thrust the topic of pharmacy…
Opinion: Blood tests for cancer detection aren’t yet ready for prime time
Multi-cancer early detection tests (MCEDs), sometimes called liquid biopsy tests, are a new method of…
Opinion: Empathy should guide responses to reported vaccine injuries
As a co-leader of the team at the National Institutes of Health that developed technologies…
.jpg)
Opinion: Curing rare childhood diseases will falter unless Congress steps up
When our son Peter was diagnosed with an ultra-rare form of muscular dystrophy at the…
Opinion: How faith leaders like me can help address America’s obesity epidemic
Many factors drive America’s obesity epidemic — environment, genetics, eating habits, and more. Solving the…
Opinion: Readers respond to mothers in treatment for opioid use disorder, pandemic models, and more
To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion, STAT publishes selected Letters…
Opinion: When medical debt relief is not enough: A study showing what doesn’t work may help point to better solutions
Philanthropists and foundations like the one I work for take a lot of calculated risks….
Opinion: Obesity drugs pose a big challenge for health care equity
Weight loss treatments have the potential to revolutionize health care in rich countries. They are…
Opinion: A new initiative will help governors and local leaders fight the next pandemic
No one knows when the next pandemic will sweep across the United States. It could…
Opinion: Close a regulatory loophole in the ACA to provide vaccine access for all Americans
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (generally known as the ACA), was signed into…
Opinion: 100,000 models show that not much was learned about stopping the Covid-19 pandemic
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, scientists and public health institutions made bold claims…
Opinion: Listen: Among pregnant people, active treatment for addiction shouldn’t trigger a call to child protective services
Methadone and buprenorphine, both FDA-approved drugs, are considered the gold standard for treating opioid use…
Opinion: As states legalize recreational marijuana use for adults, they must prioritize protecting kids
Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of marijuana products for…
Opinion: Outdated Medicare rules prevent some dementia patients from getting the medications they need
Memory loss is the most obvious symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. But for the more than…
Opinion: Readers respond to essays on young caregivers, digital health, and more
To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion, STAT publishes selected Letters…
Opinion: The Pandemic Treaty will succeed only with investment to build strong health systems
As the 77th World Health Assembly takes place this week, negotiations around the Pandemic Treaty…
Opinion: Mothers in treatment for opioid use disorder shouldn’t also have to fight child protective services
Pregnant people and new mothers who are being treated for opioid addiction often have to…
Opinion: Stigma and the return of syphilis
Syphilis, one of the oldest infections known to humans, has returned to the U.S. at…
Opinion: Listen: What happens when kids become caregivers?
When it comes to childhood and young adulthood, most people in the U.S. think of…
Opinion: The uphill battle to provide noninvasive treatment for fibroids
If an effective treatment is available for one common disease in men, and that same…
Opinion: Saving rural psychiatry services will require higher Medicaid payments
If there were ever to be an empty bed in the stress unit my psychiatrist…
Opinion: Achieving telehealth equity for people with hearing loss
Gen Z has made captioning cool. Captions are now widely available in social media, entertainment…
Opinion: The world needs the new pandemic treaty
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, 25 heads of government issued an extraordinary call…
Opinion: Pandemic lessons must spur federal action to protect nursing home residents
About one-third of Americans who reach age 65 will need nursing home care in their…
Opinion: STAT+: Unmasking the ‘centricity’ illusion in clinical trials
During my 25 years working in clinical trial operations, I’ve seen the biopharmaceutical world talk…
Opinion: Addressing health care workers’ trauma can help fight burnout
Burnout is a growing crisis in health care: More than 50% of health care professionals…
Opinion: Making the case for fair compensation in clinical trials
I’ve been on three sides of the health care equation: I’ve beaten stage 4 colorectal…
Opinion: Digital health: a case of mistaken identity
History and literature are replete with cautionary tales on the dangers of pretending to be…
Opinion: What clinical real-world data can deliver
Thanks to new regulatory frameworks like the Food and Drug Administration’s Breakthrough Therapy designation, drugs…
Opinion: As a primary care physician, here’s how I hope to partner with AI
I am both excited and terrified by the entrance of artificial intelligence into my primary…
Opinion: Reports of telehealth’s death have been greatly exaggerated
“Telehealth is collapsing.” “Telehealth is going through a contraction.” “There is a dark cloud hovering…
Opinion: HHS’s proposed rule pays lip service to addressing the climate crisis, the greatest threat to human health
In April, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the world’s most powerful health…
Opinion: Best time to deliver public health messages? When people are thinking about their health
I was 31 years old when my mother was dying of breast cancer. One day,…
Opinion: Readers respond to H5N1 and livestock movements, insulin discontinuation, and more
To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about difficult issues, STAT publishes selected Letters to the Editor…
Opinion: Hurricane season is approaching fast. We need to talk about health care resilience
Extreme weather fueled by accelerating climate change puts patients, providers, and health care facilities at…
Opinion: H5N1 doesn’t have to be a repeat of Covid-19’s ‘public health versus the economy’
The Biden administration announced new programs on May 10 to incentivize dairy farmers and workers…
Opinion: As childhood asthma worsens, insurers restrict access to an essential medication
As pediatricians who take care of children in the inpatient, emergency, and primary care settings,…
Opinion: Listen: Free medical tuition alone isn’t enough to close gaps in primary care
In 2018, New York University became the first U.S. medical school to go tuition free….
Opinion: Cutting-edge insulin is good. But it’s the ‘trailing edge’ of older versions that can keep it affordable
Physicians Frederick Banting and John MacLeod declined to be listed on the patent for insulin…
Opinion: Health care needs a new profession: neuroimaging counseling
Until recently, getting an MRI meant traveling to the hospital. But a new generation of…
Opinion: Congress: Close Medicare’s dangerous gaps in coverage for addiction treatment
While many people immediately picture young adults when thinking about the current addiction and overdose…
Opinion: A dose of reality on adult vaccinations
The number of children who received their routine vaccinations declined during the pandemic, so public…
Opinion: First Opinion essay on colorectal cancer screening: letter and response
To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about difficult issues, STAT publishes selected Letters to the Editor…
Opinion: What nurses really want: sufficient staffing for patient care
Pizza. Coloring books. Goody bags. They could be activities at a 5-year-old’s birthday party. But…