Category: First Opinion
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Opinion: Former surgeon general: The Senate must not approve someone who can’t practice medicine as the nation’s top doctor
Opinion: Former surgeon general: The Senate must not approve someone who can’t practice medicine as the nation’s top doctor Eight years ago, I sat before the Senate for my confirmation hearing to be surgeon general. Republican Todd Young (Ind.) and Democrat Joe Donnelly (Ind.) introduced me, and I was confirmed unanimously. That bipartisan support reflected…
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Opinion: How public health saved the CDC Injury Center
Opinion: How public health saved the CDC Injury Center Last May, the White House released a budget request for FY2026 that proposed eliminating the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Nine months later, President Trump signed into law an appropriations bill that fully funds it for the rest of the fiscal year. Read…
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Opinion: As a scientist and NFL widow, I am furious about a recent NFL Players Association-funded CTE study
Opinion: As a scientist and NFL widow, I am furious about a recent NFL Players Association-funded CTE study When 125 million Americans watch the Super Bowl on Sunday, the NFL and NFL Players Association (NFLPA) don’t want them thinking about the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy. When fans see an exciting big hit, thinking about…
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Opinion: STAT readers respond on the ethics of gender-affirming care for minors, the new food pyramid, and more
Opinion: STAT readers respond on the ethics of gender-affirming care for minors, the new food pyramid, and more First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First…
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Opinion: STAT readers on shared decision-making, prostate cancer screening, and more
Opinion: STAT readers on shared decision-making, prostate cancer screening, and more First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to…
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Opinion: Alex Pretti was a nurse to the end
Opinion: Alex Pretti was a nurse to the end On Saturday, amid demonstrations over Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Minneapolis, federal agents fatally shot Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse. Videos of Pretti’s last moments show him acting non-violently: filming officers’ actions, directing traffic, and attempting to help a woman who…
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Opinion: What lingers in ‘The Pitt’ is heartache. What’s missing is outrage
Opinion: What lingers in ‘The Pitt’ is heartache. What’s missing is outrage In “The Pitt,” Robby is the rockstar every emergency doctor wants to be — sharp, fast, instinctive. So it’s shocking when the man who moves like lightning through a resus room buckles to the floor, sobbing, gasping. He’s having a flashback: the ICU,…
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Opinion: My son had rotavirus before he could get the vaccine. Ending universal rotavirus vaccination is a tragedy
Opinion: My son had rotavirus before he could get the vaccine. Ending universal rotavirus vaccination is a tragedy The Department of Health and Human Services has removed the rotavirus vaccine, along with five others, from the list of universally recommended childhood immunizations. This makes the U.S. an outlier. According to the International Vaccine Access Center,…
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Opinion: 46% of U.S. counties don’t have a cardiologist. ARPA-H’s new agentic AI program could bring them specialized care
Opinion: 46% of U.S. counties don’t have a cardiologist. ARPA-H’s new agentic AI program could bring them specialized care When my 14-year journey to train as a heart failure cardiologist finally concluded, I naturally assumed the hardest time was behind me. But in my first job I found myself working as the only cardiologist in…
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Opinion: The NIH has lost its scientific integrity. So we left
Opinion: The NIH has lost its scientific integrity. So we left We are National Institutes of Health scientists and administrators with more than 50 years of collective civil service. Or, more accurately, we were NIH scientists and administrators. Read the rest… Sylvia Chou, Paul Grothaus, Alexa Romberg, and Vani Pariyadath Go to statnews
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Opinion: What I got wrong 33 years ago as a new pediatrician talking to parents about vaccines
Opinion: What I got wrong 33 years ago as a new pediatrician talking to parents about vaccines In 1993, a young couple expecting their first child walked into my office. As the new pediatric residency director at the University of California San Diego, I was eager to help them find the right doctor for their…
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Opinion: New medical technology presents hospitals with a prisoner’s dilemma
Opinion: New medical technology presents hospitals with a prisoner’s dilemma In 2026, Medtronic plans to launch a new robot to compete with a legacy market leader. This new robot is reportedly cheaper both in startup and sustained costs. That’s a welcome direction for any new medical technology, but it ignores a problem that hospitals, especially…
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Opinion: Why I’m skipping Dry January
Opinion: Why I’m skipping Dry January Like many of my friends, I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner or a beer with friends. But a recent U.S. surgeon general report warning that any alcohol consumption is unsafe made me pause. Should I embrace “Dry January,” or even quit altogether? Recently, at least eight respected medical societies…
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Opinion: The most-read First Opinion essays of 2025
Opinion: The most-read First Opinion essays of 2025 You can chart 2025’s biggest and most important life sciences topics through the most read First Opinion essays of the year: vaccines, health insurance costs, whether AI is fulfilling its promise, the MAHA movement, and general chaos within the federal government. But the top 20 pieces —…
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Opinion: Patients are consulting AI. Doctors should, too
Opinion: Patients are consulting AI. Doctors should, too Ask most physicians today, and they’ll describe some version of this scene: In the middle of an appointment, a patient says, “I asked ChatGPT about the treatment you recommended.” A few years ago, doctors might have bristled. Today, this is the new reality. And yet, it’s exactly…
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Opinion: The complicated truth about urinary tract infections in the elderly
Opinion: The complicated truth about urinary tract infections in the elderly Recently, a former patient contacted me about his wife. “She had a recent stroke which has caused cognitive decline along with slow-growing dementia,” he told me via text. “Never, ever had a urinary tract infection in her life, she has now had four in…
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Opinion: PubMed has competition from Germany. That’s a very good thing
Opinion: PubMed has competition from Germany. That’s a very good thing In May the German National Library of Medicine announced its plan to develop an open, sustainable, and sovereign alternative to PubMed, the free online biomedical database housed in the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. The announcement of this…
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Opinion: What giving flu shots backstage taught me about public health
Opinion: What giving flu shots backstage taught me about public health For the past two and a half months, I’ve spent many afternoons in the hidden spaces of New York’s performing arts world — its dressing rooms, rehearsal studios, green rooms, and backstage corridors. I’m a physician, and this fall I volunteered as one of…
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Opinion: Proposed HHS rule on gender-affirming care radically expands use of Medicare, Medicaid as policy weapons
Opinion: Proposed HHS rule on gender-affirming care radically expands use of Medicare, Medicaid as policy weapons Last Thursday, the Trump administration released a proposed rule prohibiting hospitals that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding from providing any gender affirming care to minors, even when privately funded. This rule will foreclose access to gender-affirming care for families seeking…
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Opinion: Francis Collins: ‘I think of science as glimpsing God’s mind’
Opinion: Francis Collins: ‘I think of science as glimpsing God’s mind’ Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Marc Siegel and Francis Collins. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode…
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Opinion: Why Denmark’s vaccine schedule works for Denmark — but not for the United States
Opinion: Why Denmark’s vaccine schedule works for Denmark — but not for the United States Reports that the Department of Health and Human Services may overhaul the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule to resemble Denmark’s have prompted a reasonable question: Why do American children receive vaccines against diseases that Danish children do not? The answer is…
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Opinion: Everything is changing in dementia diagnosis and treatment
Opinion: Everything is changing in dementia diagnosis and treatment Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Jason Karlawish, who writes STAT’s Neurotransmissions column. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode…
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Opinion: STAT readers respond to essays on miracles, vaccines, and more
Opinion: STAT readers respond to essays on miracles, vaccines, and more First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to…
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Opinion: Why comparing the U.S. vaccine schedule to European countries’ is a red herring
Opinion: Why comparing the U.S. vaccine schedule to European countries’ is a red herring If any ambiguity remained about the ultimate goal of the current administration’s public health policy, last week shattered it. On Friday, following a disastrous two-day meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), President…
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Opinion: RFK Jr.’s vaccine advisory panel is beset by incompetence, bias, and procedural chaos
Opinion: RFK Jr.’s vaccine advisory panel is beset by incompetence, bias, and procedural chaos The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) meetings used to be a geek’s dream: hours of long, maybe dreary presentation of extensive data followed by lengthy discussions that drilled into details of vaccine safety, effectiveness, and the best way to balance…
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Opinion: The U.S. government’s failure to acknowledge World AIDS Day takes us back to a troubling time
Opinion: The U.S. government’s failure to acknowledge World AIDS Day takes us back to a troubling time “Silence = Death.” That was the mantra of determined AIDS activists who quickly concluded the U.S. government was not doing enough to combat the then-emergent AIDS epidemic, which first hit the headlines in 1981. Read the rest… Gavin…
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Opinion: Public health should embrace GLP-1 drugs without abandoning obesity prevention
Opinion: Public health should embrace GLP-1 drugs without abandoning obesity prevention Following the White House’s recent announcement of price reductions and expanded coverage for GLP-1 medications like Wegovy and Zepbound, many patients searching for obesity treatments are about to gain access to highly effective options. The implications for U.S. public health are vast. Read the…
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Opinion: Pharmacies will be the canary in the coal mine on the Medicare drug price negotiations
Opinion: Pharmacies will be the canary in the coal mine on the Medicare drug price negotiations The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced negotiated prices for 15 drugs, finalizing the second iteration of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. The first set of negotiated drug prices will go into effect in January 2026.…
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Opinion: The hidden reason lung cancer screening is not working
Opinion: The hidden reason lung cancer screening is not working For years, federal policymakers have tweaked lung cancer screening guidelines as if the barrier to saving lives is a math problem. Add a few years to the eligibility age. Drop a few pack-years — a measure combining how much and how long someone has smoked.…
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Opinion: Road-tripping through North Dakota to foster healthy conversation about vaccines
Opinion: Road-tripping through North Dakota to foster healthy conversation about vaccines Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Sandy Tibke and Josh Gryniewicz. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode…
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Opinion: A close friend grapples with James Watson’s complicated legacy
Opinion: A close friend grapples with James Watson’s complicated legacy Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Nancy Hopkins. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode by signing up for…
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Opinion: I spent two hours telling a chatbot about mental health problems. Its responses scared me
Opinion: I spent two hours telling a chatbot about mental health problems. Its responses scared me A version of this essay first appeared on the website of the U.S. PIRG Education Fund. With the rise of ChatGPT and social media companies like Snapchat and Instagram integrating AI chatbots into their platforms, conversing with an AI…
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Opinion: Celebrating a new, faster path to gene-editing medicines on demand
Opinion: Celebrating a new, faster path to gene-editing medicines on demand In May, news broke of a biomedical first: the on-demand design and clinical use of a personalized gene editor for a baby boy born with a rare, severe genetic condition. At the STAT Summit in October, the child’s treating physician from the Children’s Hospital…
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Opinion: I’m a physician who went to the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest gathering. More of my colleagues should too
Opinion: I’m a physician who went to the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest gathering. More of my colleagues should too As I stepped into line to pick up my badge for the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) conference last weekend in Austin, Texas, a gregarious man approached holding two tall plastic tubes he said contained “clots” from Covid…
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Opinion: These bioethicists want to start a conversation on ‘faking’ CPR
Opinion: These bioethicists want to start a conversation on ‘faking’ CPR Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Jason Wasserman and Parker Crutchfield. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode…
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Opinion: A sports device to ‘protect the brain’ illustrates a major problem with the FDA de novo pathway
Opinion: A sports device to ‘protect the brain’ illustrates a major problem with the FDA de novo pathway The Q-Collar — a neck collar inspired by the woodpecker — has been worn by NFL players and thousands of young athletes. When it debuted in 2012, it originally promised to reduce concussion risk by lightly squeezing the…
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Opinion: A global health expert on Covid’s lessons — and warnings — for the future
Opinion: A global health expert on Covid’s lessons — and warnings — for the future Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with vaccine and global health expert Seth Berkley. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.…
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Opinion: How much should healthy medical research volunteers get paid?
Opinion: How much should healthy medical research volunteers get paid? Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Jake Eberts and Jill Fisher. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode by…
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Opinion: Is new insurance company downcoding long overdue or a travesty? STAT readers weigh in
Opinion: Is new insurance company downcoding long overdue or a travesty? STAT readers weigh in First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT…
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Opinion: The U.S. experiment with profit-driven health care has failed
Opinion: The U.S. experiment with profit-driven health care has failed Health care costs are surging. ACA Marketplace premiums will rise 18% next year— even more for the millions set to lose their enhanced federal subsidies without congressional action. Meanwhile, big employers expect their premiums — already about $25,000 for family coverage — to increase 9%…
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Opinion: Former acting CDC director calls public health cuts ‘absolutely heartbreaking’
Opinion: Former acting CDC director calls public health cuts ‘absolutely heartbreaking’ Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Richard Besser. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode by signing up…
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Opinion: STAT+: Why this cardiologist is cautious about the Apple Watch’s blood pressure feature
Opinion: STAT+: Why this cardiologist is cautious about the Apple Watch’s blood pressure feature Welcome to The Workup, a First Opinion column from Vishal Khetpal. As a physician in the age of wearables, glancing at a patient’s wrist has become a natural, unspoken part of the physical exam. In most cases, finding an Apple Watch doesn’t…
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Opinion: Drug developers shouldn’t shortchange the autoimmune community
Opinion: Drug developers shouldn’t shortchange the autoimmune community My teenage years were ravaged by severe autoimmune disease. In that era, the burdens of treatment for Crohn’s disease rivaled the misery of the affliction. My illness brought searing stomach pain, fatigue, and fistulas. The steroids my physician prescribed caused breakouts of cystic acne all over my…
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Opinion: When patients don’t want to treat their cancer
Opinion: When patients don’t want to treat their cancer Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” episode with Joy Lisi Rankin and Samyukta Mullangi about decision-making around breast cancer treatment. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts…
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Opinion: Morgan ‘Dr. Noc’ McSweeney’s advice on becoming a science-based social media influencer
Opinion: Morgan ‘Dr. Noc’ McSweeney’s advice on becoming a science-based social media influencer Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Morgan McSweeney. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode by…
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Opinion: The Trump administration’s Soviet approach to autism policy
Opinion: The Trump administration’s Soviet approach to autism policy When it comes to developmental disability, the Kennedy legacy is as storied as anywhere else. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation (PPMR), a blue-ribbon initiative designed to put forward a national plan of action for what we today refer…
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Opinion: Celebrating mifepristone, a hero in modern abortion access, on its 25th anniversary in the U.S.
Opinion: Celebrating mifepristone, a hero in modern abortion access, on its 25th anniversary in the U.S. When the Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone, the abortion pill, on Sept. 28, 2000, none of us working on expanding access to reproductive health care could have imagined the future we find ourselves in 25 years later. From…
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Opinion: STAT readers on gun silencers as public health measure, ‘lived experience,’ and more
Opinion: STAT readers on gun silencers as public health measure, ‘lived experience,’ and more First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes…
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Opinion: The U.S. government has jumped the public health shark
Opinion: The U.S. government has jumped the public health shark On Monday, President Trump, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Studies Administrator Mehmet Oz, and other top officials at the National Institutes for Health and the Food and Drug Administration presented their promised conclusions regarding the cause and treatment of…
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Opinion: Pro sports leagues should do away with injury reports
Opinion: Pro sports leagues should do away with injury reports The NFL’s 2025 season began with new kickoff rules, a new NFL Players Association executive director, and a new team for Aaron Rodgers. But one thing remains the same: All players’ injuries will still be reported to the public in detail. When a wide receiver tears his Achilles, the…
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Opinion: 9 answers to burning questions about pharmaceutical ads
Opinion: 9 answers to burning questions about pharmaceutical ads This article first appeared in the newsletter Your Local Epidemiologist.Pharmaceutical ads in the United States are annoying. Absurd. And almost uniquely American. In fact, only one other high-income country in the entire world — New Zealand — allows prescription drug companies to advertise directly to consumers.…
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Opinion: RFK Jr. ally’s ‘smoking gun’ study on vaccines and chronic illness is fundamentally flawed
Opinion: RFK Jr. ally’s ‘smoking gun’ study on vaccines and chronic illness is fundamentally flawed On Tuesday, Aaron Siri, personal lawyer and close adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., presented his “smoking gun” at a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing on vaccine science. Siri, who has represented Kennedy in multiple lawsuits against federal health…
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Opinion: STAT readers weigh in on fake CPR, a Nobel Peace Prize for Trump and Operation Warp Speed, and more
Opinion: STAT readers weigh in on fake CPR, a Nobel Peace Prize for Trump and Operation Warp Speed, and more First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised…
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Opinion: I inserted myself into a conversation at a bar about Covid and vaccines. Here’s what happened
Opinion: I inserted myself into a conversation at a bar about Covid and vaccines. Here’s what happened This essay was adapted from Jess Steier’s newsletter, “Unbiased Science.” For the last few weeks of summer, my mom visited from Florida. It was amazing, as it always is, to have her here spending time with the family…
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Opinion: The Trump administration’s endless quest for vaccine data is public-health gaslighting
Opinion: The Trump administration’s endless quest for vaccine data is public-health gaslighting The public discourse on vaccines has been distorted by a relentless and misleading demand for data that is already available, impractical, or unnecessary. This strategy is regularly deployed by the Trump administration: insisting that science is incomplete, that manufacturers and past regulators are…
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Opinion: How the U.S. health system can clear up confusion surrounding seasonal vaccines
Opinion: How the U.S. health system can clear up confusion surrounding seasonal vaccines Each fall, nurses and doctors brace for an all-too-familiar seasonal surge. Patients struggle to breathe. Older adults lean forward, lips pursed as if trying to drink air through a straw. Infants take more than one shallow breath per second, their wide-eyed panic reflected in their parents’…
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Opinion: Public health leader: Susan Monarez must be reinstated at the CDC
Opinion: Public health leader: Susan Monarez must be reinstated at the CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has long been the world’s most prestigious public health agency. The CDC led the global efforts to eliminate smallpox, combat HIV/AIDS, shift public perception/use of tobacco products and dramatically reduce dental care issues by promoting the…
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Opinion: Dental care is increasingly under threat in the U.S.
Opinion: Dental care is increasingly under threat in the U.S. Major shifts in public health policy can bring unforeseen consequences. But in the case of fluoride bans, we already know what the consequences will be: higher costs of dental care, and higher rates of tooth decay — especially among children. This is particularly alarming because…
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Opinion: The CDC shooting was public health’s Jan. 6
Opinion: The CDC shooting was public health’s Jan. 6 A week ago, on Aug. 8, a gunman attacked the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, firing nearly 500 rounds, breaking about 150 windows, and killing a police officer. The shooter had reportedly become fixated on his belief that the Covid-19 vaccine had made him and others sick,…
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Opinion: Former surgeon general: The CDC shooting must be a wakeup call
Opinion: Former surgeon general: The CDC shooting must be a wakeup call At approximately 4:50 p.m. on Friday, a gunman opened fire at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta. The attack left bullet holes in office windows and claimed the life of DeKalb County police officer David Rose. Authorities believe the…
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Opinion: Trump’s firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner puts crucial health data at risk
Opinion: Trump’s firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner puts crucial health data at risk In early July, I began teaching a summer course: introductory biostatistics for an accelerated master’s of public health program. Most of the students are clinicians, and biostatistics is (understandably) not often the favorite course. On day one, I told…
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Opinion: Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for Operation Warp Speed’s global impact
Opinion: Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for Operation Warp Speed’s global impact Cambodia recently announced that it plans to nominate President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. In response, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, naming other conflicts that Trump has “ended,” said that, “It’s well past time that President Trump was awarded the…
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Opinion: STAT readers debate involuntary commitment, Sarepta, and more
Opinion: STAT readers debate involuntary commitment, Sarepta, and more First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to the Editor…
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Opinion: Vinay Prasad is my former student and friend. His departure from FDA is a loss for American medicine
Opinion: Vinay Prasad is my former student and friend. His departure from FDA is a loss for American medicine A version of this piece first appeared in Sensible Medicine. Vinay Prasad, Marty Makary, and Adam Cifu, among others, were founding members of Sensible Medicine. After news came out that Vinay Prasad would be leaving the…
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Opinion: The U.S. must reconsider its decision to reject amendments to a global health treaty
Opinion: The U.S. must reconsider its decision to reject amendments to a global health treaty Last week, the Trump administration rejected the 2024 amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) — a global treaty that the United States has been a part of since 2007. The rejection cited concerns about sovereignty, scientific freedom, and World…
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Opinion: A sloppy report on mifepristone is being used to undermine the FDA — and the biotech industry
Opinion: A sloppy report on mifepristone is being used to undermine the FDA — and the biotech industry For decades, the Food and Drug Administration has partnered with clinicians and industry to deliver evidence-based medical innovations using a gold-standard framework for drug development and oversight. The agency has the authority to review any approved drug,…
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Opinion: STAT readers weigh in on marijuana-related vomiting, drug prices, and more
Opinion: STAT readers weigh in on marijuana-related vomiting, drug prices, and more First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters…
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Opinion: We are mothers of Duchenne patients. Recent setbacks with Sarepta must not stop progress
Opinion: We are mothers of Duchenne patients. Recent setbacks with Sarepta must not stop progress They say death is one of life’s few certainties. For a boy or young man living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, that certainty has a cruel twist: the anticipation of dying young. As mothers of children with this disease, we have…
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Opinion: Ending the federal LGBTQ+ suicide prevention line is a public health failure
Opinion: Ending the federal LGBTQ+ suicide prevention line is a public health failure Last month, the federal government announced it would eliminate the national suicide prevention hotline’s specialized services for LGBTQ+ callers — a decision that pulls vital support away from some of the most at-risk young people in America. The end of the service…
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Opinion: The U.S. government is failing on vaccine policy. The Vaccine Integrity Project is here to help
Opinion: The U.S. government is failing on vaccine policy. The Vaccine Integrity Project is here to help Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services floated new standards for vaccine approvals, rescinded longstanding Covid-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women, and fired all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s…
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Opinion: Defenders of Medicaid cuts are misunderstanding a study I worked on
Opinion: Defenders of Medicaid cuts are misunderstanding a study I worked on There’s been much discussion and debate about the cuts to Medicaid eligibility that Congress just passed and, in particular, what they may mean for current Medicaid recipients. A key piece of evidence in this debate has been results from the Oregon Health Insurance…
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Opinion: STAT readers on vaccines, research funding cuts, and organ donation
Opinion: STAT readers on vaccines, research funding cuts, and organ donation First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to…
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Opinion: Proposed cuts could have ‘catastrophic effect,’ 110 biomedical, health sciences industry leaders tell Congress
Opinion: Proposed cuts could have ‘catastrophic effect,’ 110 biomedical, health sciences industry leaders tell Congress As leaders of United States companies positioned in the biomedical/health sciences landscape, we are well aware that our companies are but one component of an expansive and interconnected scientific ecosystem requiring federal, industry, and academic partnership. Government funding of research…
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Opinion: We will not stay silent on vaccines, say leaders of five major U.S. medical associations
Opinion: We will not stay silent on vaccines, say leaders of five major U.S. medical associations Let us introduce ourselves. We are the doctors you trust with your health and the health of your family across every stage of life, from the first checkups in infancy and childhood, to health care during pregnancy and adulthood,…
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Opinion: The Senate’s version of Trump’s tax-cut bill threatens safety-net hospitals like ours
Opinion: The Senate’s version of Trump’s tax-cut bill threatens safety-net hospitals like ours We appreciate President Trump’s steadfast commitment to protecting Medicare and Medicaid and his leadership in standing with America’s working families, seniors, and veterans. As leaders of urban health systems that serve our nation’s most vulnerable — low-income workers, children, and the elderly…
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Opinion: Following second patient death, Duchenne muscular dystrophy families deserve answers about Elevidys
Opinion: Following second patient death, Duchenne muscular dystrophy families deserve answers about Elevidys On Sunday at 1 a.m. Eastern time, an announcement went out from the first-generation gene therapy company for Duchenne muscular dystrophy: A second patient who had been treated with Elevidys has died. This second family said yes to hope, yes to science,…
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Opinion: Bill Gates: I lost my father to Alzheimer’s. But I’m more optimistic than ever about fighting the disease
Opinion: Bill Gates: I lost my father to Alzheimer’s. But I’m more optimistic than ever about fighting the disease Father’s Day without my dad never gets easier. Although he is on my mind every day, I always find myself thinking about him even more often this time of year. My dad was a giant in…
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Opinion: STAT readers on animal models, sexual assault kits, and more
Opinion: STAT readers on animal models, sexual assault kits, and more First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to…
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Opinion: I study conflicts of interest. Here’s why RFK Jr.’s approach to the vaccine advisory committee could backfire
Opinion: I study conflicts of interest. Here’s why RFK Jr.’s approach to the vaccine advisory committee could backfire If Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to “clean up the corruption and conflicts” at HHS, he is going about it the wrong way. I study conflicts of interest at federal agencies. While…
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Opinion: STAT+: RFK Jr. acknowledges receiving unproven stem cell treatment from an Antigua clinic
Opinion: STAT+: RFK Jr. acknowledges receiving unproven stem cell treatment from an Antigua clinic Welcome to Lab Dish, a First Opinion column on regenerative medicine from Paul Knoepfler. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently revealed on a health influencer podcast that he received unproven stem cells at a clinic in Antigua…
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Opinion: RFK Jr.’s stance on Covid vaccines for pregnant women is profoundly unethical
Opinion: RFK Jr.’s stance on Covid vaccines for pregnant women is profoundly unethical Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy’s proposal to end the government’s existing Covid vaccine recommendation for healthy pregnant women, if enacted, will be a major setback to decades’ worth of efforts to advance the health of pregnant people and their babies.…
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Opinion: MAHA kids’ health report misinforms about tonsillectomies and ear tubes
Opinion: MAHA kids’ health report misinforms about tonsillectomies and ear tubes The Make America Healthy Again commission’s recent report on children’s health has received a lot of attention for its citation errors and focus on ultra-processed foods, smartphones, and stimulant use. But the less-discussed part on “overmedicalization” of American children stood out to us. While…
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Opinion: STAT+: The World Health Assembly’s giant leap on rare diseases
Opinion: STAT+: The World Health Assembly’s giant leap on rare diseases On May 24, the World Health Assembly, the governing body of the WHO, ratified landmark legislation that, if implemented fully, will change the future for people living with rare diseases. It calls for concrete action plans that will have far-reaching impacts across health care…
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Opinion: Former FDA commissioner: ‘Cost-cutting’ may undo one of Trump’s best drug pricing achievements
Opinion: Former FDA commissioner: ‘Cost-cutting’ may undo one of Trump’s best drug pricing achievements President Trump often touted during his first term that his administration had “approved more affordable generic drugs than any administration in history.” He had good reason to highlight these accomplishments. Over the first two years of his presidency, the Food and…
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Opinion: I’m a dentist from India. The fluoride debate in the U.S. horrifies me
Opinion: I’m a dentist from India. The fluoride debate in the U.S. horrifies me Florida has just banned fluoride in public water, becoming the second state to do so. It’s part of decadeslong battle that has heated up in recent years. Local governments debate whether it belongs in the water supply. Parents question safety. Pseudoscience…
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Opinion: The FDA is circumventing key roles and procedures for licensure and use of Covid vaccines
Opinion: The FDA is circumventing key roles and procedures for licensure and use of Covid vaccines The Food and Drug Administration’s recent activities regarding Covid-19 vaccines stray far from the well-established standards of vaccine regulatory processes. The first sign of trouble was the failure to rule on the licensure of the Novavax protein-based Covid-19 vaccine…
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Opinion: I’ve reported on presidents’ health for 53 years. No public evidence suggests Biden’s doctors mishandled prostate cancer testing
Opinion: I’ve reported on presidents’ health for 53 years. No public evidence suggests Biden’s doctors mishandled prostate cancer testing News of former President Biden’s aggressive and incurable prostate cancer has surprised the public (and presumably him). Based on the public record of Biden’s medical care and standard medical recommendations, as recently as a year ago there was…
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Opinion: Can dying people really will their body to stay alive for a final event?
Opinion: Can dying people really will their body to stay alive for a final event? Earlier this spring, Pope Francis was hospitalized for more than five weeks. A pneumonia riddled both of his lungs, and his doctors thought he was in imminent danger of death. But he recovered enough to return to the Vatican and…
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Opinion: What it’s like to have measles, mumps, whooping cough, and other vaccine-preventable illnesses
Opinion: What it’s like to have measles, mumps, whooping cough, and other vaccine-preventable illnesses When I was recently at the vet’s office, I started eavesdropping a little on the conversation between two older women. When they started talking about the measles outbreak in Texas, I couldn’t help it. I joined in. One of the women,…
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Opinion: STAT+: Bristol Myers Squibb CEO: Pharmaceutical innovation requires bold yet predictable U.S. policy
Opinion: STAT+: Bristol Myers Squibb CEO: Pharmaceutical innovation requires bold yet predictable U.S. policy Having grown up in rural Arkansas, I have an acute awareness of the challenges many in our country face when it comes to health care. Quality care wasn’t always accessible, and the decision of whether to pay medical or utility bills…
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Opinion: STAT readers on the animal wellness industry, drug price floors, and more
Opinion: STAT readers on the animal wellness industry, drug price floors, and more First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected…
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Opinion: STAT readers on cadavers in med education, doctors and AI, and more
Opinion: STAT readers on cadavers in med education, doctors and AI, and more First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected…
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Opinion: Decimation of HHS comms, FOIA offices will leave Americans in the dark about urgent health matters
Opinion: Decimation of HHS comms, FOIA offices will leave Americans in the dark about urgent health matters The DOGE cuts to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday will make America less safe. Unless something is done soon to change course, they will also make it easier to hide corrupt behavior by…
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Opinion: STAT+: Peter Marks’ ouster is an ominous sign for biotech — and for public health
Opinion: STAT+: Peter Marks’ ouster is an ominous sign for biotech — and for public health Welcome to Lab Dish, a new First Opinion column on regenerative medicine from Paul Knoepfler. There are certain leaders who quietly make complex organizations operate well including in the toughest of times — leaders like Peter Marks, director of…
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Opinion: Former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala on the agency’s ‘silly new bureaucracy’
Opinion: Former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala on the agency’s ‘silly new bureaucracy’ When I was secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton, an agency head came to me with a dramatic reorganization plan. I advised him that unless it was data- and outcome-driven, he was wasting his time. Just…