The ONDCP announced an initiative aimed at reducing overdose deaths. But by limiting all of addiction into a metric, we reduce the value in measuring overdoses.

Policy makers believe price transparency will help patients make cost-effective decisions. But patient decisions are made through trust, not cost-savings.

We think disclosing the costs of clinical care will reduce overall costs. In reality, price transparency will increase the cost of care for patients.

We have approved a fourth vaccine, with the goal of addressing vaccine hesitancy. But hesitancy is irrational and unlikely to be swayed by another vaccine.

We teach medicine through memory. But memorizing facts does little to address the uncertainty that comes out of making decisions based on those facts.

Medicine has always relied on intuition, that prescient gut instinct. But intuition is outcomes focused. Instead, we need logic, which is process oriented.

A better understanding of the pandemic’s effects on young people is essential to developing policy responses that can address the breadth of harms children and adolescents are experiencing.

With viruses dominating headlines, it is no surprise that the latest Monkeypox outbreak garners headlines. But the way we cover this outbreak reveals a latent racism in health journalism.

For most, prescribing antibiotics is a simple decision made reflexively. However, that decision, seemingly logical in the moment, becomes dangerous when applied across all of healthcare.

In game theory, outcomes depend on the nature of the game and the payoffs. Healthcare is a game of incomplete dominance with multiple payoffs. Yet we simplify it into a zero-sum game.

The CDC must decide whether to proceed with a new generation of vaccines that promise longer immunity. But many unknowns remain, making the decision a high-stakes gamble.

A call for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 renews interest in the virus’s mutation patterns. It also reveals how polarized health policy has become.

This summer promises to be tumultuous with many polarizing health issues coming to a head. The pending convergence provides an opportunity to see common underlying legal trends.

Medicine and law have strained their relationship, butting heads on a host of issues of late. The problem lies in how each looks at the concept of rights.

In recent weeks, a slew of newly enacted health laws or revised interpretations emerged. Despite the changes, the means to enforce health laws remain the same.

We have seen an increase in COVID cases over the past weeks. The ensuing emotions expressed due to this rise reflect our initial impressions of the pandemic.

It is hard to say if children who suffer from these delays can be caught up or if they will require continued services or special education into elementary school and beyond.

Some critics have raised concerns about potential unintended consequences of the proposed ban, particularly for African American menthol smokers.

Nearly 80% of chronic mental health conditions emerge in childhood, and when help is eventually sought, it is often years after the problem’s onset.

Marketing in healthcare has always been murky. For healthcare startups, it is downright dangerous, as it is where many Department of Justice investigations begin.

A report found most Medicare Advantage plans offer little value over traditional Medicare. We should now question the need for so many clinical measurements in healthcare.

Observer effect is a bedrock principle in physics. By observing something, we change it. Interestingly, how we feel affects what we observe, implying emotions influence observations.

Globally, 1.15% of tweets related to COVID-19 vaccines mentioned side effects. Sentiments toward vaccines were on average more negative than positive, with nearly two times more negative tweets than positive ones.

These apps, websites and services are there to help students, young adults and adults overcome challenges with stress, anxiety, substance use disorders and mental health concerns.

A draft leak of Justice Alito’s interpretation of abortion references 16th century common law, when abortion was illegal. It changes abortion from a protected right to an illegal act requiring justification.

The most controversial healthcare laws simplify complex issues through vague legal terms. Opioids and abortions have similar levels of outrage because their laws are similarly vague.

We discuss health policy in terms of rights. Instead, the medical community must challenge the notion that patient behavior can be defined as a right subject to oversight by restrictive laws.

Many public health and addiction experts promote the “harm reduction” tactic to help prevent overdose deaths.

This culture of silence is counter to what psychologists know to be true about battling stigma: that talking openly about mental health can help reduce stigma and encourage others to seek help.

Since Vaught’s arrest in 2019, there have been at least seven other incidents of hospital staffers searching medication cabinets with three or fewer letters and then administering or nearly administering the wrong drug.

Elon Musk purchased Twitter. The political world is now ablaze. But there is another world that should be just as alarmed, that of healthcare, where Musk’s purchase will have a far greater effect.

Donald Trump is contagious. He infects susceptible patients with a flair for dramatic individualism. And it seems Trumpism will affect the health of the country and drive future trends in healthcare.

The CDC and DOJ make for curious bedfellows. They should be different organizations. But now, personal health is public policy and individual health choices are legal mandates, blending the two.

His theory was that if you could stop blood vessels maybe that would be a new way to stop cancer. To solve this problem we had to deliver large molecules to the body through tiny particles.

Ovarian cancer is the most deadly of gynecologic tumors. Fewer than 40% of those diagnosed with ovarian cancer are cured, and approximately 12,810 people in the U.S. die from the disease every year.

In the past few years, people across the world have spent more time on video chat programs like Zoom and FaceTime than ever before. These applications mimic in-person encounters by allowing users to see the people they are communicating with. But unlike in-person communications, these programs often also show users a video of themselves.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, most people didn’t think through some basic decisions in the same way they might now. In fact, even early in the pandemic you didn’t really need to.

The growing government encroachment in healthcare has led to high-profile criminal cases that otherwise would be administrative concerns. How we react to the inevitable injustice indicates how we empathize in healthcare.

The pandemic might be waning, but the medical innovations continue churning, creating an odd disconnect in healthcare. It highlights the difference in how patients experience healthcare and how the powers that be regulate it.

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” Shakespeare may have been right about most things, but he was wrong about healthcare, where a name means everything.

As pollen travels, it also triggers allergies in some 25 million Americans. Pollen exposure can cause sneezing, coughing, itchy eyes, runny nose and postnasal drip – unwelcome signs of spring for sufferers. This roundup of articles from our archives describes recent findings on protecting pollinators and coping with pollen season.

Moments like this – a long-awaited answer that is met with more bewilderment than relief – are not uncommon in the practice of medical genetics. Most people expect that after a long, frustrating search, finding the underlying diagnosis will provide answers and a path forward. But sometimes, in cases like Sally’s, the answer simply begets more questions.

There have been several cases of doctors expressing skepticism about vaccines in the media.

Health insurances set premiums based on assumptions in patient behavior. When that behavior becomes subjective, health insurances should then include patient perceptions in the pricing model.

We know medical costs lead to personal debt. Yet we continue adding to the costs, treating patients more and more. We must shift how we address costs – not as debt, but as decreased productivity.

Coughs are everywhere this time of the year. They appear to be both harmless yet persistent, which make coughs particularly difficult to treat. But that has not stopped us from trying to find solutions.

People ages 50 years and older and certain immunocompromised individuals who are at higher risk for severe disease, hospitalization and death are eligible four months after receiving the initial booster shot.

Up to one-third of COVID-19 survivors will acquire the condition known as long or long-haul COVID-19.

If a person tests positive and treatment is deemed appropriate, oral antiviral therapy can be prescribed on the spot at no cost.

Most of the time when drugs are repurposed for diseases or conditions they were not originally intended for, it is done deliberately.

The CDC recently announced that it is evaluating its current organizational structure. We hope this leads to much needed changes, given how these health departments currently work.

For two months, the CDC allowed public comments on its draft revision of the opioid prescribing guidelines. They reveal that the guidelines are defined by what has been left out.

Clinical trials represent the science in healthcare. It is how we obtain new medical information. But to advance our knowledge further, we must now study the art of medicine.

This ability to minimize or exaggerate a situation by simply adding a suffix is one feature of the Spanish language that could contribute to a striking resilience in health that researchers have documented in Hispanic populations in the United States, called the “Hispanic Paradox.”

“Since you have an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease in the African American community, it inherently disadvantages this population to give them the standard-dose vaccine,” said Dr. Keith Ferdinand.

The fact that the communities with the worst health outcomes are also the communities least likely to be meaningfully engaged in health policy decision-making should not be a surprise.

For most people, visualizing what a million of anything looks like is an impossible task. The human brain just isn’t built to comprehend such large numbers.

The constant back and forth of rules can be frustrating, but policy changes aren’t usually a sign of mistakes. Rather, they show that for the most part, policymakers are getting things right over and over again.

Few medical crises as large as the opioid epidemic have been so poorly reported. We present the results from our internal surveys to explain how such rampant misreporting transpired.

COVID-19 is now two years old. Along the way, it transitioned from an acute to a chronic condition. In the process, it lost the attention of the public and health policy experts.

Growth for successful healthcare startups is defined financially. In reality, growth should be defined by clinical improvements, which is less exponential and more incremental.

The first end-to-end human genome was officially published on Mar. 31, 2022.

Evusheld is the first FDA-authorized drug to prevent COVID-19 in high-risk people who aren’t adequately protected by vaccination alone.

Alopecia is a medical word that refers to hair loss generally. And there are descriptors added which can refer to where the hair loss is occurring, or to the cause of it.

The 988 Lifeline will connect callers with specialists trained to assist with mental health crises, including psychotic symptoms and substance abuse.

One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that more than 1 in 5 U.S. adults reported probable depression in both spring 2020 and spring 2021.

For how much we discuss staffing shortages and limited access to care, we have a poor sense of the labor market in healthcare, and an even worse sense of the pending post-pandemic trends.

In between conspiracy and accounting resides the truth about the financial impact of COVID-19. As a systemic risk, it is difficult to quantify, and easy to falsely attribute any cause to an effect.

The data supporting Aduhelm are scant at best. But that did not stop its manufacturer from releasing additional data, showing how observational studies can be manipulated to reach a preconceived outcome.

Autonomy is one of the pillars of bioethics, and it is the notion that the patient has the ultimate decision-making power. There is no denying that a patient’s decision-making responsibility is important. After all, patients want the best for themselves, and respecting their decisions is respecting their well-being.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyday life for many people in both trivial and profound ways, including how they look at themselves.

While the origin of BA.2 is still unclear, it has become the dominant strain in many countries, including India, Denmark and South Africa.

When medication abortion, or abortion with pills, was introduced to the U.S. in 2000, it offered a more accessible option to end pregnancy.

Pregnancy is often a time of sweet anticipation. But the ongoing pressure to make the right decisions for the health and well-being of both the pregnant person and the unborn child tempers this excitement.

The FDA recently received requests to approve a second COVID booster. At the same, it is unsealing documents that were used to approve the original vaccine – creating a tale of two datasets.

Growth is a curious thing. We know it when we see it, but we find it hard to replicate. This is because growth is subject to different constraints and levers that appear differently for each industry.

Data only tells one part of the story when it comes to understanding health policy. The full story is found in the perceptions that form while reading healthcare articles, when words become beliefs.

Researchers have observed that the offspring of mice and other animals derive health benefits from passing through the vagina.

It spreads efficiently and quickly, it generally causes milder disease than previous variants and it may confer strong protection against other variants such as delta.

Brace yourselves, allergy suffers – new research shows pollen season is going to get a lot longer and more intense with climate change.

In large part because of the pandemic, college leaders have expressed increased concern for the mental health of students.

Domesticated cats and dogs share approximately 85% of the same DNA as humans. And because both have been intimately associated with people for more than 10,000 years, they have become susceptible to some of the same diseases.

The pandemic will influence the future of healthcare in many ways. The most important is the growing influence of individual policy makers over institutions of medicine.

We obsess over clinical efficiency, to where the strategy of healthcare has taken over the art of medicine. But the best strategy is simply detail-oriented patient care.

Employer health plans have two goals – keep employees happy and productive. As the workforce changes, the way health plans implement these goals should change as well.

“Polina came to our bedroom awakened by the sound of explosions. I didn’t know and still don’t know what to tell her. Her eyes today are full of fear and terror; eyes of all of us.”

Researchers are discovering that “springing ahead” each March is connected with serious negative health effects.

With an mRNA or DNA vaccine, the goal is to make your body better able to recognize the very specific neoantigens the cancer cell has produced. If your immune system can recognize and see those better, it will attack the cancer cells and eliminate them from the body.

With up to 300 million scent receptors, dogs are among the best smell detectors in the animal world. The human nose, by comparison, contains only around 6 million scent receptors.

Researchers have been steadily gathering important insights into the effects of COVID-19 on the body and brain. Two years into the pandemic, these findings are raising concerns about the long-term impacts the coronavirus might have on biological processes such as aging.

The CDC shortened the isolation from 10 days to five, followed by five days of wearing a mask for those no longer symptomatic.

With a flick of the wrist, the CDC unveiled its latest magic trick, effectively ending the pandemic in the hearts and minds of many – not with new data, but through the illusion of interpretation.

We see an increasing number of prescriptions for abortion medications – because of increasing access to abortion providers via telemedicine, which questions the validity of abortion restrictions.

Misinformation abounds in healthcare, as we saw during the pandemic. This is not a problem in healthcare, but a feature of it, forming naturally out of the way we try to understand it.

Most, but not all, experts agree that these changes are appropriate at this point in the pandemic. Many people, weary of the pandemic and its restrictions, gratefully welcome this step, but relief isn’t universal.

Portable air filters are an option for augmenting ventilation systems, but they typically cost hundreds of dollars, which puts them out of range for schools and other public spaces that face budget constraints.

People typically think of food as calories, energy and sustenance. However, the latest evidence suggests that food also “talks” to our genome.

Delta-8 THC is a hemp-derived compound that’s closely related to delta-9 THC – what’s commonly called THC and is the psychoactive component of cannabis that’s responsible for the high that users feel.

Over the past two years of living with COVID-19, many churches have had to think in new ways.

Dr. Ruan holds the world record for the most board certifications of any physician. But today he finds himself before the Supreme Court to discuss whether opioids that he had prescribed in good faith can be considered a criminal act.

Obesity is notoriously difficult to treat. We introduce food logs and recommend diet and exercise, with varying results. Instead, we should focus on the perceptions people have with the foods they eat, as that may be the real disease.

Medical debt in the United States has reached pandemic proportions. It is now the largest source of debt in the country. We cannot solve it by expanding insurance coverage for clinical services. The problem is more fundamental.

Researchers are beginning to better understand how existing immunity protects against reinfection and the prevention of severe COVID-19 that can lead to hospitalization and death.

It takes 10 to 15 years and around $1 billion to develop a successful drug. Despite these investments in time and money, most drug candidates in clinical trials fail.

These viruses don’t cause cancer until long after they infect a person. Rather, the viruses teach the cells how to escape cell death.

Although the medical establishment is now recognizing that sex is not binary, society as a whole has been slow to embrace the concept.

Could the placebo effect tell us something new about the power of our minds and how our bodies are able to heal?

As of July 2021, a total of 83.6 million Americans were insured through either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The way we think creates the conclusions we make. Unfortunately, faulty logic has led to failed drug policy. It is time we correct the way we think about addiction and individual rights, so we can create sensible drug policies.

COVID-19 challenged our fundamental assumptions on science and values, showing us how often we are wrong without realizing it. The lesson traumatized us, but also provided an opportunity to shift how we think about the two together.

Clinical studies have a way of reaching conclusions that do not reflect individual patient experiences. One such study concludes that text messaging is not cost effective, though it is more notable for the lack of patient engagement.

No one wants their geographic region to be associated with a deadly disease. Unfortunately, this has happened in the past with diseases such as “German measles,” “Spanish flu” and “Asiatic cholera.”

We have found that FDA drug warnings can sometimes prevent life-threatening adverse effects, but that unintended consequences are common.

A communication researcher explains how it has gone wrong during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what we can do about it.

During the pandemic, public health officials have seemed to operate on this assumption – that confidence conveys is necessary for trust.

Many social factors put women at a higher risk of infection during a pandemic, since women usually assume the role of primary caregiver.

New models of health try to standardize patient care. In the process, they simplify clinical decision-making. But there is a limit to this, beyond which it is no longer healthcare.

For virtual models of care to become sustainable, they must prioritize the patient experience – not only in the clinical services offered, but in the emotions evoked.

The CDC released new guidelines for prescribing opioids, offering solace to many patients. But what is not included in the report may be more important.

Over the past two decades, researchers have gained a great deal of insight into the risks surrounding concussions – some of which has led to sweeping policy changes.

We have seen a rise in high deductible insurance policies, much to the chagrin of patients. Insurers should now acknowledge that deductibles destroy trust and restructure their policies.

Health equity calls for equal patient outcomes. While laudable, it is not what most consider fair. If health equity means fairness in healthcare, then we must redefine the concept of equity.

We believe we can only treat a disease after it appears, like cause and effect, thinking which leads to vaccine hesitancy. For preventive medicine to take hold, we must change how we think.

The pandemic has pushed healthcare to the brink. Healthcare journalists struggle to make sense of it, finding themselves isolated, trapped by their words, and the target of public scorn.

Healthcare struggles with thinking fast. We like snap decisions when treating diseases. But in the process, we have forgotten that healthcare requires both fast and slow thinking.

We like to predict the future of telemedicine. But these predictions are often speculative. The most likely trends in telemedicine will be defined by how we address care gaps.

In recent weeks, the CDC has struggled with policy reversals and communication errors. Yet its leaders continue to project confidence when they should instead acknowledge uncertainty.

The Supreme Court ruled against vaccine mandates for large employers. It was an expected ruling that fell along partisan lines. But the lack of judicial rigor sets a concerning precedent.

Media outlets have become the primary source of healthcare information, replacing traditional clinical journals. But the difference between the two will affect patient care.

It is only a matter of time before we hear of the fourth COVID booster. The timing will correspond with the waning of Omicron sometime in Spring. We reveal the patterns beneath the messaging.

The FDA has authorized multiple COVID treatments, but they remain limited for the foreseeable future due to the belief that more available treatments will reduce vaccinations.

Climate change is a healthcare issue. But it affects healthcare at large more than it does individual patients. Therefore, we must obtain systemic data to understand its full impact.

Public health is a field that thrives on compromise. Yet we have polarized and distorted it into something different. By normalizing this, we made public health about power and control, not healthcare.

The push to decentralize healthcare will be defined by a shift in power from hospitals to payer networks. The shift will be driven by cost control, which will lead to further control of patient behavior.

Healthcare venture capital has enjoyed unprecedented growth. A trend that will continue as healthcare embraces new reimbursement models – because venture capital risk mitigates against reimbursement risks.

Clinical research is the heart of clinical medicine. It defines what we know. More importantly, it defines how we think. If we want to find solutions for problems like healthcare inequity, then we need to think subjectively.

We consider progress in healthcare as a march towards efficiency. But efficiency is limited by patient behavior, which can be irrational. To strive towards healthcare efficiency, we must first understand patient irrationality.

Healthcare is complex. We like simple. So we try to make healthcare simple, which has worked for now, but not for much longer. Soon, complex datasets will give rise to errors in interpreting and applying data to individual patients.

Much has been said about the resistance to vaccine mandates. But beneath the rhetoric is the core issue – the growth of healthcare has come at the cost of patient autonomy, to where now many feel they have lost control of their health.

Healthcare innovators assume patients trust healthcare technology. But trust in technology wanes when patients lose autonomy. So instead of trust, innovators should focus on autonomy when developing new healthcare technologies.

The government can right many wrongs by focusing on harm reduction policies to combat the rising number of deaths by drug overdose. But harm reduction is more than providing access. It is a combination of access and education.

Abortion is defined as a right to privacy in Roe v. Wade. The ruling protects a fundamental right but it also leads to bizarre abortion restrictions. It is time we redefine the right to abortion not as privacy, but of equal protection.

The new variant is upon us and the narrative has been set, repeating many of the familiar reactions we have come to recognize during the pandemic. We should now look at the narrative itself as the source of pandemic fear and misinformation.

As much as we discuss the drugs used to treat COVID-19, few know where to receive them should they develop symptomatic COVID-19 infections. This is a problem of information. It demonstrates a disconnect between broad policy and individual care.

As we enter the second pandemic winter, we look for signs indicating whether COVID-19 will worsen. Europe has typically served as this indicator. But much has changed over the course of the pandemic, including Europe’s role as a leading indicator.

The courts recently ruled vaccine mandates as unconstitutional and against public interests. But by emphasizing economic interests over public health concerns, the courts set a grave precedent that may, ironically, hurt America’s long term economic outlook.

The push for healthcare equity has profoundly changed the way we view healthcare, including how we speak in medical settings. Though the most important benefit in structuring healthcare language comes not in how we speak, but in how we think.

Mr. S did everything he could to beat his cancer. In the end, it was not the cancer but the cost of treating his cancer that determined his fate.

Paul the hospital janitor may appear lowly in the eyes of those who pass him by. However, he keenly observes all that transpires around him.

Sarah and Evan are on a date and decide to go for a walk. But to find true love, they must overcome medical conditions that leave them both self-conscious.

Physician burnout is finally receiving the recognition it deserves. And in our world of quantitative medicine, we seek to measure and monitor it. But by quantifying it, we fail to understand the true nature of physician burnout.

Clinical research and social media have a bizarre relationship, a complex interdependence that we have yet to fully understand. The more the two interact, the more the two influence each other, impacting all of healthcare.

The Supreme Court has agreed to clarify the question of good faith as it pertains to physician prescribing behavior. In responding to this question, the court has an opportunity to address more fundamental issues of medical jurisprudence.

The pandemic has been characterized by poorly conceived policies and their inevitable reversals – with subsequent public outrage. However, these reversals should have been anticipated by policy makers, as they were predicted years ago.

This far into the pandemic, most have become aware of data’s influence in deriving policy. But using data to make decisions is less an exact science and more a value judgment, subject to the inherent biases of those making decisions.

Individualism has been the defining feature of American culture. Yet, as we enter into a post-pandemic world in which healthcare assumes an ever-growing role, we may need to redefine individualism to include healthcare externalities.

The public’s fascination with COVID-19 began with the attention journalists gave to it. But now that public interest in the pandemic is waning, journalists will write fewer articles about it, ending the pandemic by ending media attention.

Trends in healthcare market forces have predicted new startup business models, including the early success of direct to consumer models of care. But sustained success in these models will not come from market forces but from patient trust.

The US Preventive Services Task Force recently changed its guidance on aspirin as a preventative medication, a major policy shift. But for providers, the uncertainty in applying the policy will define actual change in patient care.

The Affordable Care Act has redefined federalism in America by creating new mechanisms for the state and nation to provide healthcare. But those same mechanisms can be weapons of war for future civil strife.

Prosecutors often use patient data to investigate physicians. But patient data is biased, lacking the robustness required of evidence. And by using data as due process, prosecutors deny physicians their rights.

COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for children ages 5-11, a decision most had already anticipated. But lost in the predictability of the policies is critical analysis of data justifying the decisions.

Dr. Zena Crenshaw-Logal has taken what she learned as an advocate for judicial reform to launch America United International.

The rise in healthcare journalism has led to a rise in biased healthcare articles – with many articles written through inherent biases that are reiterated in subsequent articles.

First principles thinking attempts to break down complex concepts into its fundamental parts. When we apply this thinking to healthcare, we find it to be chaotic and dialectic.

Moderna’s decision to restrict the licensing rights of its vaccine came as a surprise to many. But for those who understand the modern healthcare system, the decision was expected.

The DEA recently issued a public health alert, warning of counterfeit pills. A seemingly odd alert given the DEA’s restrictions on prescription opioids, until you understand its purpose.

The public perceives the pandemic through binary thinking, as though playing a zero sum game. But healthcare is not binary. And to overcome this mindset, we should change the rules of the game.

America’s regulation of abortion sets a concerning precedent for all of healthcare. As we expand healthcare coverage, we must caution against excessive regulations of other medical conditions.

A phrase we hear frequently of late, often among prominent personalities with little to no formal scientific training. We decode what they mean.

The CDC might reverse course again, this time on mixing vaccine formularies. We review the science and politics underlying the decision.

A recent report erroneously attributes decreasing fertility rates to personal choice among women, conflating economic trends with personal decisions.

We see many newly minted vaccine campaigns motivating those eligible to get vaccinated. We analyze why these campaigns will fail.

The AAMC launched an initiative encouraging medical schools to study healthcare equity – a laudable goal, but one that can go wrong.

Many highly valued healthcare startups are struggling as public companies, leading many to believe a healthcare bubble is on the horizon.

The FDA approved a booster dose for COVID-19 vaccines. A sensible decision, but we are concerned at how they derived it.

A report by NBER reveals stark disparities in American mortality, which may redefine how we see healthcare.

The perceptions of healthcare entrepreneurship differ from its realities. This is why many healthcare startups fail.

The United States has a long history of restricting abortions, using the pretense of medicine to enact laws that moralize a medical procedure.

Healthcare laws restrict specific aspects of healthcare behavior. But in restricting, they reduce complex behavior into simplified restrictions.

Israel has become an international leader in COVID-19 research. But we should question whether we can apply Israeli data into American policy.

The war on drugs has become an international battle, with foreign policy affecting healthcare domestically. The recent events in Afghanistan show how closely they link.

Fall has yet to arrive, but already we hear warnings of a combined viral outbreak of influenza and COVID, despite the data. We parse through the conjecture to discern the facts.

Originally designed to empower patients, price transparency has transformed into a legal liability, becoming a documentation burden for healthcare institutions.

There is a fine line between a lie and trying to simplify complex scientific topics. A subtle difference that forms a divide between what scientists say and what the public hears.

A COVID-19 vaccine received full FDA approval, prompting calls for vaccine mandates. But when patients act as consumers, regulatory approval hardly affects the decision to get vaccinated.

Healthcare is immersed in data, which now define all aspects of clinical care. But data do not define the individual, just like symptoms of a disease do not define the patient.

We recently approved booster shots for the COVID-19 vaccine, raising many issues across different fronts, all defined by one core premise.

The pandemic lingers on, defined by the viral variants of COVID-19. We explore the mutation patterns to determine whether the end is near.

Physician leaders call for advocacy, galvanizing the medical community to take up public health issues. But these calls appear hollow, more bluster than action.

Political rhetoric on public health policy is now affecting individual patient decisions. Should politicians be held liable for the clinical consequences?

Law enforcement often makes rapid decisions in high pressure situations – not unlike physicians. Perhaps law enforcement should train more like clinicians.

Corporate medicine has changed the once autonomous physician profession into a traditional labor workforce, eliminating the art of medicine.

Individualism has long defined America, but over the country’s history, it has appeared differently – the current version being both cynical and destructive.

America’s healthcare system has yet again underperformed when compared with other nations, revealing systemic shortcomings that can be fixed with a shift in perception.

We define the current mental health crisis through outcomes like mortality. But to truly address and fix this crisis, we must change how we perceive mental health.

Venture capital has made its presence known in healthcare. What remains to be seen is how venture capital will affect traditional research and development in healthcare.

COVID-19 showed that outcomes cannot represent the full scope of patient behavior. More than outcomes, the perceptions patients hold determine the true intent behind their actions.

Once again, the CDC has revised its stance on masks, prompting a barrage of compliments and critiques. But the announcement was prompted not by data, rather by its absence.

The alarm bells have rung, and the alarmists have spoken. COVID-19 is in resurgence. But to predict what this means – an aberration or a real trend – we should study the uncertainty.

Healthcare insurance models forecast behavior by assuming patients are rational and make decisions optimally – two persisting errors, proving the models to be outdated.

Two unique fields, each distinct on its own, yet inextricably linked through a set of words – rights and liberty – such that the interpretation of the words defines the relationship.

Nuance, a word often cited in discussions regarding the CDC opioid prescribing guidelines. But in citing nuance, they really mean complex – revealing an unresolved disconnect between thought and action.

The CDC has defined the process through which it will revise the opioid prescribing guidelines. One that includes public commentary as well as in-depth private conversations, creating different paths of understanding.

The committee working with the committee revising the CDC opioid prescribing guidelines met in a public assembly, highlighting a contrast in transparency among those providing recommendations, and those doing the revisions.

Pfizer recently announced the possibility of a third dose, a booster dose, for the COVID-19 vaccine. An announcement met with uncertainty – from policy experts to the general public – exposing a potential moral hazard for Pfizer.

Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink – a famous line from a famous poem contrasting the abundance of water with its quality. An analogy apt for healthcare in which we find an abundance of data, but little understanding of it.

Rural health is all the rage these days, with opportunities abound for a previously neglected patient population. But as healthcare pivots towards the rural, it will realize a key distinction that defines this population.

Freedom means many things to many people. Above all, the freedom to disagree. But when disagreements occur not just between opinions, but between facts, the freedom of information we so proudly protect dissolves into a freedom of misinformation.

The final days of the pandemic may feel like a prolonged good-bye, but for regions facing local surges in viral incidence, the pandemic is anything but a distant memory. And like all memories, prone to simplifications, like most pandemic narratives.

Patient advocacy permeates all aspects of healthcare, including regulatory processes. But lacking in the newfound emphasis on patient input is the role of physicians in the patient experience, leading to a lack of physicians in regulatory processes.

As Mark Twain said, history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes. As the current wave of opioid litigation is eerily similar to what we have seen before – but with one critical difference – which may make all the difference.

Healthcare never advances along a simple course, it is always a convoluted mix of what is predicted and unanticipated – a hybrid. And to predict healthcare, we should focus less on what might happen, and more on how such hybrids form.

Population health has never been more in demand, with hospitals unveiling many new care models. But rather than the care offered, the perception of patient decision-making is more important – seeing patients as consumers.

With the CDC’s abrupt decision to lift all mask mandates, businesses were left to decide whether to maintain the mandates. A decision most chose to uphold, a decision made legally in the face of medical uncertainty.

The FDA recently approved a drug touted to treat Alzheimer’s Disease. A decision decried by policy experts as data supporting the drug focused less on symptoms of the disease, and more on imaging studies of patients with the disease.

Vaccine hesitancy is pervasive among patients, even among those who opt to receive it. Yet physicians continue to denounce the hesitancy as unfounded distrust. Instead, we must acknowledge the distrust, to foster trust in the vaccine.

Of all the issues plaguing healthcare, none is more pressing than our inability to see healthcare as a complex system. As a result, we attribute fault to individuals for problems that are fundamentally systemic.

One Medical acquired Iora Health, a surprising integration of two vastly different companies that does not make sense at first glance, until we identify the driver of value creation in healthcare.

If perception is reality, then the changing perception of post-pandemic healthcare has ushered in a new reality for the medical device industry. One in which patient advocacy is as essential as therapeutic efficiency.

There is much talk about healthcare equity, and the importance of access in healthcare. But access means different things to different patients, and what is believed to be equity is often a disparity.

The WHO has introduced nomenclature redefining COVID-19 variants to prevent prejudices formed during the pandemic. But a close examination reveals this prejudice to be systemic throughout healthcare.

The great game is now upon us, with the United States entering the fray of international vaccine diplomacy, doling vaccines to countries in need and to countries of geopolitical importance.

To find meaning in suffering is to transcend it. Something we can do in healthcare now that the pandemic seems mostly behind us. But to find such meaning, we must address foundational issues facing healthcare, issues that may not have caused the pandemic, but were exposed by it.

America is the land of optimism, with an undeniable taste for dystopian futures. One which pits technological advancements in medicine against personal liberties. A belief more pervasive and systemic than we think, extending well beyond the conspiratorial fringes of society.

Today Dr. Deborah Birx is known for many things. But earlier she was known as the country’s leading voice for AIDS, and other stigmatizing infectious diseases. We follow her voice through the pandemic, deciphering how her words affected what we believed then, and what we believe now.

Healthcare is now fully engaged in many of the social justice issues grappling the country. A move generally seen to be positive, essential in addressing many of the existing healthcare inequities. But the increasing politicization of healthcare may be more of a mix bag than we realize.

The CDC issued a recent revision to the mask mandate, lifting many of the preexisting requirements. A move met with a range of different reactions, revealing a growing trend of Federalism in healthcare, in which local and state governments now exercise a distinct level of autonomy.

Data drives healthcare, whether it is individual decisions or broader health policies. But data only tells us what we know, or presume to know. Studying the uncertainty around data, in much the same way we study data, would reveal gaps in our knowledge, helping to better understand the data itself.

We can now see how post-pandemic healthcare will look. Data platforms will grow in sophistication alongside a growing distrust in data, perpetuating a disparity – a dichotomy of data – forming a new type of healthcare inequity.

We pen a letter requesting a civil rights investigation into violations of private liberties among those disenfranchised by a healthcare system in which the fear of prosecution defines the quality of patient care.

We present a story about two federal agents analyzing prescription data and trying to make sense of what they see – to determine if what they see is criminal. But differing perceptions lead to different interpretations of the data.

The country has united in support of India. A unity nowhere to be found during our own COVID-19 crisis, revealing a critical contradiction in America that defines our society, and our ability to address healthcare inequity.

Any upgrade can be justified through the pretense of healing. It is a matter of perspective. Just like medical errors can be reinterpreted to be infringing upon one’s personal liberties. It is a matter of legal interpretation.

Most healthcare laws claim to be logical, but healthcare is more experience than logic. Healthcare laws should then be defined by the patient experience – as it is experienced – not through implicitly assumed patient behavior.

We request a pattern-or-practice investigation studying how law enforcement differentiates patients with dependencies from suspects with criminal intent.

We call upon civil rights organizations and champions of civil liberties to codify healthcare natural rights for the modern era of complex healthcare.

We ask the federal courts to update and expand upon the definition of substantive due process as it pertains to healthcare rights.

Recently the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was placed on hold. We studied data to compare the risk of blood clots with the risk of vaccine availability. But instead of data, we should study our perceptions, particularly our perception of low probability events.

We have healthcare laws that we do not follow. We have healthcare policies that we actively flout. The disparity between healthcare law & policy, and patient behavior warrants an examination of our common law origins to understand how to fix these disparities.

Patient behavior follows the path of least resistance, as patients are more compliant when they face fewer hurdles in their care. Something codified recently into formal policy when the American Diabetes Association emphasized the ability to pay in the treatment of diabetes.

Derek Chauvin is on trial for the death of George Floyd, and the whole world is watching. In the midst of the legal proceedings, a physician took the stand and epitomized the principles of medical jurisprudence for the world to see.

Expert and novice. Physician and patient. The presumed dichotomy between those deemed experts or knowledgeable, compared to those deemed novices or lacking in knowledge is more perception than reality – as what truly separates the two are patterns of association.

In honor of National Poetry Month, we share a prose-poem dedicated to a region of America that has been decimated first by the opioid epidemic and now by the COVID-19 pandemic, reminding ourselves that what makes us great is the ability to be good to one another.

The World Health Organization released its initial report on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic – and in the process, released a Pandora’s box of speculation. While we may never know the true origins of the virus, we speculate on the most likely cause, which may stem from the most probable type of mutation.

While most project an optimistic outlook for economic recovery post-pandemic, we find it to be fundamentally disjointed, revealing structural economic changes. These changes are defined by a new trend of healthcare consumerism, in which public health risk dominates basic economic decision-making.

The pandemic may have put an end to many things, but it only accelerated early stage funding into healthcare startups. While the exorbitant increase in funding may appear promising, it does not define success. Rather than the funding, adapting to changes in the regulatory landscape defines success for startups.

A Houston physician finds himself facing the ire of the law after he administered vaccines to acquaintances not scheduled to receive it. But do his actions truly constitute a crime? We explore the common law origins of the modern concept of crime, and determine whether it is possible to prove criminal intent in this case.

Rule of law demands equal treatment under the law. Yet when physicians are accused of crimes, rule of law often descends into mob rule. As both prosecutors and defendants fight in the court of public opinion to influence the outcome in the court of law, prioritizing the tyranny of majority over the morality of law.

Under the new COVID-19 relief package, the federal government provides long overdue support for those suffering in the midst of a pandemic, while expanding healthcare to unprecedented levels. Though beneficial in the short term, the long term effects of expansion may prove counterintuitive and worsen patient care.

In recent weeks COVID-19 testing has reduced significantly, which many attribute to the rise in vaccinations. But positivity rates are measured by testing for COVID-19, and if we decrease the number of tests performed, then we diminish our ability to trace positivity rates, delaying a response against a fourth wave.

Healthcare will become more decentralized and populist post-pandemic. With patients relying upon digital and internet-based tools to seek medical care and to learn about their medical conditions. As patients experience healthcare differently, the basic patient narrative will change as well, becoming more internet-driven.

If we have learned anything from the pandemic, it is that healthcare is linked to all aspects of society, and that our individual actions have overarching, collective consequences. Should we then impose a tax upon those who behave in medically harmful ways, given that those individual actions affect us all?

With the pandemic ending, we are beginning to predict the future of healthcare and society. But the future never follows a rational, predictable trajectory. It advances in unique, unpredictable ways – often at the cost of society’s most vulnerable.

The pandemic ushered in clinical studies that have changed healthcare policy. But the pace of publications also led to studies with questionable evidence and notable retractions, warranting a review of how we apply broad data to individual decision-making.

The original battle tanks of antiquity, war elephants were famed for the terror they inflicted on the battlefield. And equally famed for falling apart once faced with uncertainty. Not unlike many of the perceived truths we take for granted in healthcare.

As the opioid epidemic rages on, DEA agents and local law enforcement intensify their efforts to curtail the diversion of prescription medications. But how are they going about their investigations of healthcare providers?

Most new medical devices are designed and developed by startups, only to be acquired by larger medical device corporations when the new device is ready for sales. A tried and true approach to innovation that is ripe for disruption.

For most businesses, the relationship between revenue and cost is defined in a straightforward unit economic model. In healthcare, this model is anything but straightforward, as the more accurately we define healthcare, the more complicated it becomes.

We all know the impact Reddit has on the financial world. But how will Reddit’s impact appear in the medical world? There are many factors that predict how a similar movement across Reddit’s healthcare platforms would look.

The COVIDization of healthcare will usher in new trends in healthcare, the most promising of which is the widespread use of vaccines to treat a range of medical conditions, advancing the trend towards customized treatment.

Mostly used to oversee licensing and disciplinary issues, each state’s board holds a unique relationship with the state’s attorney general’s office, and can provide medical context for healthcare legal policies.

The opioid epidemic is defined through statistics, which has influenced our approach to resolving it – with little success. We should now change our approach and look at the epidemic as a sequence of decisions.

Healthcare data has proven to be of little value to both policy makers and to the public. Instead of data, we should monitor subjective metrics like fear and resiliency to predict the course of the pandemic.