Health & Veritas: Recent Episodes
Yale School of Management
Howard Forman and Harlan Krumholz, two Yale physician-professors, discuss the latest news and ideas in healthcare and seek out the truth amid the noise. Produced with the Yale School of Management.
Howie and Harlan discuss health headlines including the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak; a recent FDA decision allowing pharmacies to compound certain peptides; and a concerning report from Medicare trustees on the program's financial future. They also dive into the health habits they're changing this year and a new feature from ChatGPT allowing users to connect medical records and health data to the platform.
Watch a video edition of this episode.
Show Notes:
Healthy Habits
Health & Veritas: Ezekiel Emanuel
"What's Erythritol? And Is It Bad for You?"
NIH: Aging and Alcohol
"Low-plastic diet and urinary levels of plastic-associated phthalates and bisphenols: the randomized controlled PERTH Trial"
Health & Veritas: Eric Topol
Cyclosporiasis Outbreak
CDC: Surveillance of Cyclosporiasis
FDA: Investigation of 9-State Outbreak of Cyclospora Illnesses: Iceberg Lettuce (July 2026)
"Cyclospora Outbreak Linked to Iceberg Lettuce in 9 States"
National Foundation for Infectious Diseases: Norovirus
FDA: Cyclospora
CDC: Clinical Overview of Cyclosporiasis
CDC: About FoodNet
CDC: About PulseNet
FDA: FSMA Final Rule on Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods
Peptides and the FDA
Health & Veritas: Trust, Truth, and Moral Distress
"Peptides: What they are, potential benefits, and safety concerns"
"FDA committee votes to make peptides more widely available"
LinkedIn: Ezekiel Emanuel
The Future of Medicare
OASDI: Trustees Report Summary
U.S. Department of the Treasury: Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports
H.R.1: An act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14.
IRS: Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
ChatGPT Ventures into Health
"Launching Health in ChatGPT"
"OpenAI makes Health in ChatGPT widely available, moving deeper into consumer health"
"ChatGPT Led to a Man's Near-Fatal Health Crisis, Lawsuit Claims"
LinkedIn: David Rhew
A Record Measles Season
Health & Veritas: Measles Outbreaks, Preventative Cardiology, and Other News
CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks
"Measles Cases in the U.S. Are at a 35-Year High"
"What ProPublica Found in the Genetic Code of America's Measles Outbreaks"
Pan American Health Organization
Senator Bill Cassidy
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Melanie Matheu, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Lyric Bio, who also shares evidence-based health and science information on TikTok as LaughterinLight PhD. They discuss developing new antibody therapies, building biotech companies, and communicating complex science to the public. Harlan warns that AI could drive up healthcare costs unless payment models change; Howie highlights encouraging declines in traffic deaths while noting the growing risks associated with e-bikes and e-scooters.
Show notes:
AI and Healthcare Costs
"What Is Fee for Service in Healthcare and How It Works"
"Payment for Clinical AI"
"CMS floats new Medicare payment category for AI diagnostic software: 6 notes"
Melanie Matheu
LaughterinLight PhD on TikTok
Lyric Bio
Hyper-IgM (HIgM) Syndromes
Polyclonal Antibodies (PAbs)
Autoimmune Diseases
Kawasaki disease
NIH: R01 research grants
Prellis Biologics
Cyclosporiasis
"FDA says false-positive lettuce test doesn't change Taylor Farms cyclospora probe"
WHO: Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Dr. Zachary Rubin
From Bench to Bedside podcast
Zachary Rubin: All About Allergies: How to Live Well with Asthma, Food Allergies, Hay Fever and More
Road Safety
"The '100 Deadliest Days' Have Begun"
WHO: "Road deaths fall by 21% globally but stronger action is needed to save lives"
NHTSA: "Crash-Stats: Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities and Fatality Rate in 2025"
Consumer Product Safety Commission: "Micromobility Products-Related Deaths Injuries and Hazard Patterns 2017-2024"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Shivan Mehta, associate chief innovation officer at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, to discuss how healthcare organizations can use behavioral science to remove barriers that keep patients from getting recommended care. Harlan warns that ill-defined rules governing scientific collaboration with China could chill medical research; Howie revisits the discovery of Legionnaires' disease 50 years ago as New York confronts a new outbreak.
Show notes:
Restrictions on Collaboration
National Science Foundation "Prohibition on Collaborations with Restricted Entities"
"Fact of the Week: China Has Surpassed the US in the Number of Drug Clinical Trials, With 1,100 More Trials Listed"
Texas Executive Order GA-48 Governor Greg Abbott's executive order restricting travel to China and other countries.
Shivan Mehta
Shivan Mehta: "Texting in Health Care—Preserving Impact and Managing Influx"
Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD
"Randomized controlled trials – The what, when, how and why"
CDC: Screening for Colorectal Cancer
Cleveland Clinic: What is a Gastroenterologist?
Cologuard Plus Colon Cancer Screening Test
Mayo Clinic: Colonoscopy
"What to know about the new blood-based test for colorectal cancer"
Mayo Clinic: Fecal immunochemical test
Mayo Clinic: Colon polyps
Cleveland Clinic: Fecal Occult Blood Test
"Non-invasive blood and stool CRC screening tests: Available modalities and their clinical application"
"Race/Ethnicity and Adoption of a Population Health Management Approach to Colorectal Cancer Screening in a Community-Based Healthcare System"
Integrated Delivery System
Corinne M. Rhodes, MD, MPH
Legionnaires' Disease
CDC: Legionnaires' Disease
"New York Is Having a Legionnaires' Outbreak. Here's What to Know."
"Mayor Mamdani Takes Aggressive Action to Address Upper East Side Legionnaires' Disease Community Cluster"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Kate Heilpern, president of Yale New Haven Hospital, to discuss the hospital's 200-year history, the financial pressures facing health systems, and how Yale New Haven is balancing innovation with its mission to serve the local community. Harlan examines the growing burden of U.S. healthcare costs; Howie highlights encouraging trends in infant mortality, life expectancy, overdose deaths, and cancer survival.
Show notes:
Healthcare Costs
"National Health Expenditure Projections, 2025–34: Strong Utilization Growth Initially, Legislative Impacts Later"
"KFF Health Tracking Poll: Health Care Costs, Expiring ACA Tax Credits, and the 2026 Midterms"
"Americans See Health Care Costs, Deficit, Inflation as Big Problems Facing the Nation"
"How Much and Why ACA Marketplace Premiums Are Going Up in 2027"
"U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2026"
"The Cost of Health Insurance for a Family Jumps to $27,000"
Zack Cooper
"FDA approves Trutakna for IgA nephropathy"
Kate Heilpern
Yale New Haven Hospital: Vision, Mission, and Values
Yale New Haven Hospital: History and Heritage
"A Bicentennial Milestone: Yale New Haven Hospital Reflects on 200 Years of Care"
Megan L. Ranney
Azita Emami
CDC: Social Determinants of Health
Health & Veritas Episode 188: "Kate Heilpern: Jumping into the Deep End"
American Hospital Association: "Costs of Caring"
Adams Neurosciences Center
Positive Trends in Mortality
CDC: Infant Mortality Quarterly Provisional Estimates
"Life Expectancy in U.S. Hit Record High of 79 Years in 2024, CDC Says"
CDC: "Provisional Data: U.S. Death Rate Fell to a Record Low in 2025"
CDC: Provisional Drug Overdose Data
CDC: Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2024
"American Cancer Society Releases Latest Cancer Statistics"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
In this special episode, Howie and Harlan revisit their conversation with trauma surgeon Selwyn Rogers, whose book Healing the Gun Violence Epidemic: Ending Violence, Rebuilding Communities, and a Trauma Surgeon's Vision for Restoring Hope was published on July 7.
Show notes:
Selwyn Rogers: Healing the Gun Violence Epidemic: Ending Violence, Rebuilding Communities, and a Trauma Surgeon's Vision for Restoring Hope
Albert Ko
"Selwyn Rogers named associate editor of prestigious New England Journal of Medicine"
Selwyn Rogers: "Hope—Beyond Firearm Trauma"
Selwyn Rogers: "Structural Racism and Firearm Injury: Operationalizing Health Equity in Trauma Care"
Brain Death: What it is, Stages & Criteria
New York Times Live Updates: Supreme Court Birthright Citizenship Case
Annual Gun Violence Data 2023
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Jessica Federer, managing director of the Women's Health Fund and a member of the Yale Institutional Review Board, to discuss how investors can help address the dearth of research on medical problems facing women and why she's optimistic about the future of women's health. Harlan explains how caps on indirect costs affect institutional staffing and research agendas; Howie reports on a lawsuit filed by 26 states against the Trump administration over bureaucratic hurdles to accessing Medicaid coverage.
Show notes:
Indirect research costs
Yale Research Support: Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs
Yale University: Colleges and Universities Rate Agreement
"NIH Indirect Costs Policy for Research Grants: Recent Developments"
Jessica Federer
Yale School of Public Health
Megan L. Ranney, Dean of the Yale School of Public Health
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The Women's Health Fund
Yale School of Medicine: Basmah Safdar
Health & Veritas: Basmah Safdar
Women's Health Research at Yale
"Women's Health Research at Yale and SWHR's Symposium Highlights the Power of Collaboration to Advance Women's Health Research"
"CARE for women: Investing in care delivery to improve women's lives and livelihoods"
LinkedIn: Jessica J. Federer
Health & Veritas: Live at the Yale Innovation Summit 2026
"What Is a General Partner in Venture Capital (VC)?"
"April Koh (Co-Founder & CEO, Spring Health) Featured on Cover of TIME"
"Closing the Gap: How Yale Is Advancing Women's Health Research"
Medicaid work requirement
"States Sue CMS Over Medicaid Work Requirements Rule, Citing Departure from Earlier Guidance on Medical Frailty"
Massachusetts v. Oz [pp. 208-231]
Health & Veritas: Ryan Schwarz
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale School of Public Health biostatistician Bhramar Mukherjee to discuss how statisticians help researchers turn observations into evidence. Harlan examines a new study linking updated COVID vaccination to lower cardiovascular risk and explains why a headline-grabbing result may not settle the question; Howie discusses new Medicaid work requirements and the danger that administrative hurdles could cost vulnerable patients their coverage.
Show notes:
The COVID-19 Vaccine and Cardiovascular Health
"2024-2025 COVID-19 Vaccine and Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events Among US Veterans"
"Target Trial Emulation—A Unifying Approach for Causal Inference From Observational Data | Research, Methods, Statistics"
"Risk Reduction: Absolute vs. Relative Explained"
Bhramar Mukherjee
"Ten Core Concepts for Ensuring Data Equity in Public Health"
Bhramar Mukherjee: "Privacy-enhancing sequential learning under heterogeneous selection bias in multi-site electronic health records data"
Michigan Genomics Initiative
NIH: All of Us Research Program
Megan Ranney, Dean of the Yale School of Public Health
Big Data Summer Immersion at Yale
"The big data paradox and significance"
'What Is Variance in Statistics? Definition, Formula, and Example"
Medicaid work requirements
Center for Health Care Strategies: Summary of Federal Medicaid Work Requirements
"CMS Requires More Restrictive Definition of Medical Frailty in New Medicaid Work
Requirements Rule"
Cleveland Clinic: Frailty
"Coverage losses, substantial confusion in Arkansas following implementation of Medicaid work requirements"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Ingrid Katz, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, to discuss why HIV continues to spread despite the existence of cheap and effective treatment, what AIDS activism can teach us about tackling chronic diseases like hypertension, and what outbreaks like Ebola reveal about the consequences of fragile health systems. Harlan reports on a breach of UK Biobank data and what it means for the future of open science; Howie highlights two recent papers illustrating the importance of vitamin C and the danger of treating it as a cure-all.
Show notes:
The UK Biobank Data Breach
UK Biobank
NIH: All of Us Research Program
"UK Biobank health data listed for sale in China, government confirms"
"UK Biobank: Confidential patient health details still online three months after leaks, BMJ finds"
Ingrid Katz
HIV
PEPFAR
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Differentiated Service Delivery
Hypertension
"Prevalence, Awareness, and Treatment of Hypertension in 37 African Countries: Trends From 2003 to 2022"
Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)
Treatment Action Campaign
"Health & Veritas Episode 224: Nicholas Christakis: The Science of Human Connection"
CDC: Ebola Outbreak: Current Situation
South African president Thabo Mbeki
"More than Two Decades Since the Abuja Declaration: A Way Forward for Ending AIDS as a Public Health Threat by 2030"
Vitamin C
Linus Pauling
"High-Dose Intravenous Vitamin C and Mortality and Organ Dysfunction in Severe Burn Injury: The VICTORY Randomized Clinical Trial"
"High-Dose Vitamin C in Burns: Time to Stop"
"A 7-Year-Old Girl with Limping and Leg Pain"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan discuss healthcare headlines including proposed changes to federal research funding, an outbreak of New World screwworm in Texas cattle, and the debate over free expression after researchers were removed from the American Diabetes Association meeting for distributing an editorial critical of federal science policies. They also examine the future of generic GLP-1 drugs, a new Medicare model for heart failure care, and a court ruling with implications for international physicians practicing in the United States.
Show notes:
Research Grants
NIH: NOT-OD-25-132: Supporting Fairness and Originality in NIH Research Applications
Akiko Iwasaki
Health & Veritas Episode 192: Akiko Iwasaki: What Have We Learned About Long COVID?
Stuart Buck
"White House proposes new rules giving political appointees final approval on research grants"
U.S. Constitution: Article II
Skinny Labeling and the Supreme Court
"Supreme Court Upholds Preventive Services Requirement Under ACA"
"Supreme Court Rejects Colorado Law Banning 'Conversion Therapy' for L.G.B.T.Q. Minors"
Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. v. Amarin Pharma, Inc. (24-889)
"Hikma v. Amarin: Supreme Court Weighs Future of 'Skinny Labeling'"
Value-Based Care
CMS: Value-Based Care
CMS: Hospital Readmission Reduction
New World Screwworm
CDC: New World Screwworm
USDA: New World Screwworm Economic Impact Report
USDA: Eradicating New World Screwworm with Sterile Insect Technique
American Diabetes Association Meeting
"Join the ADA in New Orleans for the 2026 Scientific Sessions"
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya
Diabetes Care: "Misguided Brushes of a Pen Continue to Dismantle and Destroy Biomedical Research in the United States: We Can No Longer Afford Complacency and Fear. We Must All Act Now!"
"Diabetes researchers ousted from conference after criticizing Trump"
H-1B Visas
Presidential Proclamation on Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers
"Federal judge blocks Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee"
"Health Care Professionals Sponsored for H-1B Visas in the US"
Exchange Visitors and the J-1 Classification
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Mark Siegel, director of Yale's internal medicine residency program, to discuss his approach to mentoring young physicians and building a medical community grounded in purpose and compassion. Harlan examines a breakthrough targeted therapy that could reshape the treatment of pancreatic cancer and other hard-to-treat cancers; Howie tracks the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and argues that policy decisions are hampering the global response.
Show notes:
A Cancer Breakthrough
Pancreatic cancer: Symptoms and causes
"Daraxonrasib or Chemotherapy in Previously Treated Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer"
"Multi-Selective RAS(ON) Inhibitor Nearly Doubles Survival Time in People With Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer"
"KRAS mutation: from undruggable to druggable in cancer"
Mark Siegel
Mark Siegel: Program Director Notes
Mark Siegel on Substack
Academic medicine
Signaling system
Mark Siegel: "What I've Learned in 63 Years"
Yale School of Medicine: Residency & Fellowship Programs
Mark Siegel: "A Sudden Loss Of Vision"
Health & Veritas Episode 224: Nicholas Christakis: The Science of Human Connection
Ebola
WHO: Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak, Democratic Republic of the Congo
WHO: Ebola, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2026
WHO: Alert and Response
"'We are catching up'—WHO chief on DR Congo's Ebola fight"
"Uganda Closes Border With Congo as Ebola Fears Rise"
"Kenyan Court Deals New Blow to Plans for U.S. Ebola Unit"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie is joined by guest host Megan Ranney, dean of the the Yale School of Public Health, for a live episode recorded at the Yale Innovation Summit, featuring conversations with five innovators at the intersection of healthcare, public health, and entrepreneurship.
Jaya Dadwal, a recent graduate of the School of Public Health and founder of forEVA Health, focused on raising healthcare standards for the female body
Monique Rainford, a Yale School of Medicine ob-gyn and founder of Enrich Health, focused on addressing disparities in maternal health
Kimberley Steele, a bariatric surgeon and program director at the federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)
Yusuf Ransome, a faculty member at the School of Public Health and founder of Soul Health, a faith tech solution focused on addressing the mental wellbeing of the "missing middle"
Janani Ramaswamy, head of IP and licensing services at Yale Ventures
Show notes:
The Yale Innovation Summit
Yale Innovation Summit 2026
Yale Ventures
Jaya Dadwal
forEVA
FDA: Essure Permanent Birth Control
"Problems Reported with Essure"
Jennifer McFadden
"Women's Health Strategy for England" A UK government report including the finding that 84% of women report that their voices have not been listened to in the healthcare system.
Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS)
Monique Rainford
Megan Ranney and Monique Rainford: "Opinion: Over-the-counter birth control pill could make a huge difference"
Enrich Health
Monique Rainford: Pregnant While Black: Advancing Justice for Maternal Health in America
Sejal Hathi: "Nine Months of Medical Attention. Then Almost Nothing"
Kimberley Steele
Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)
Lymphatic System: Function, Conditions & Disorders
ARPA-H: Lymphatic Imaging, Genomics, and Phenotyping Technologies (LIGHT)
ARPA-H: Groundbreaking Lymphatic Interventions and Drug Explorations (GLIDE)
"GLIDE set to prevent and cure human disease by targeting the lymphatic system"
Yusuf Ransome
Yusuf Ransome on LinkedIn: "The hardest part of building a solution is when your own family depends on it"
SOCAH Lab
Pew Research: "Spirituality Among Americans"
Janani Ramaswamy
"Arvinas Announces FDA Approval of VEPPANU (vepdegestrant) for the Treatment of ESR1m, ER+/HER2- Advanced Breast Cancer"
Arvinas
Yale Ventures: Accelerators, Programs, and Innovation Centers
HealthTech Works
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Nicholas Christakis, director of Yale's Human Nature Lab, to discuss his research on social networks, human connection, and the forces that help societies cooperate and endure. Harlan discusses promising phase 3 results for retatrutide, Eli Lilly's experimental "triple G" obesity drug; Howie provides an update on the fast-growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Show notes:
Obesity Drugs
"Lilly's triple agonist, retatrutide, delivered powerful weight loss in pivotal Phase 3 obesity trial"
"Triple–Hormone-Receptor Agonist Retatrutide for Obesity—A Phase 2 Trial"
Bariatric surgery
Nicholas Christakis
Human Nature Lab
Nicholas Christakis: Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society
Free rider problem
Phenotype
Stephen Pinker
The Enlightenment
Nicholas Christakis on YouTube: For the Love of Science
Nicholas Christakis: "The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network Over 32 Years"
Social contagion
Altruism
Wet lab vs. dry lab
Microbiome
Communicable vs. non-communicable diseases
Nicholas Christakis: "The Collective Dynamics of Smoking in a Large Social Network"
Nicholas Christakis on YouTube : "Learning in a Time of War"
Tymofiy Mylovanov
The president of the Kyiv School of Economics, who invited Christakis to lecture in Ukraine.
Ebola
CDC: Ebola Disease 2026
CDC: Ebola Disease Basics
"The Ebola virus spreading in Congo is a rare species with no vaccines or treatments"
Hypertension
Watch last week's episode on YouTube.
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan discuss how AI is transforming medical research and publishing, the growing role of consumer health platforms and wearables, new advances in stroke treatment, and the debate over rising hospital costs. They also examine the FDA's approval of flavored vaping products and the nomination of a new surgeon general.
Watch a video version of this episode on YouTube.
Show notes:
Social Media
Health & Veritas on Instagram
Howie's viral reel on Hantavirus
Howie on X
AI and Research
Claude Code by Anthropic
medRxiv
Progress in Treating Strokes
"Endovascular Treatment of Medium-Vessel-Occlusion Strokes"
"Endovascular thrombectomy after large-vessel ischaemic stroke: a meta-analysis of individual patient data from five randomised trials"
"In Memoriam: Eugene Braunwald, MD, MACC"
The Costs of Healthcare
The Keckley Report
"The Hospital-Health Insurer War hurts Everyone"
Hospitals: Higher Value, Higher Prices
"This Is the Biggest Culprit for High Health Care Spending"
"It's The Prices, Stupid: Why The United States Is So Different From Other Countries"
Atrial fibrillation: symptoms and causes
Atrial fibrillation ablation
Health Care Affordability Lab
Zack Cooper's lab at Yale.
Wearables Venture into Healthcare
"WHOOP Expands Health Platform with On-Demand Clinician Access and New AI Features"
"Introducing ChatGPT Health"
"Introducing the all-new Fitbit Air"
"Dear Tim"
Myoung Cha's blog post on Apple's impact on health.
FDA Resignations Over Vape Policy
Health & Veritas Episode 78: Elizabeth Arleo: Advice for Working Mothers from a Women's Health Specialist
Howie discusses e-cigarettes and lung injuries.
Health & Veritas Episode 118: Lucila Ohno-Machado: AI and the Art of Medicine
Howie mentions mixed evidence for vaping as an alternative to smoking.
"With Commissioner Under Pressure, F.D.A. Opens Door to Flavored Vapes"
"FDA Commissioner Marty Makary Resigns—Trump Posts His Resignation Text"
"Top Kennedy Spokesman Resigns in Protest of Move to Allow Flavored Vapes"
The Financial Side of GLP-1s
Hims & Hers Investor Presentation
"Hims & Hers Health, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results"
Surgeon General Nominees
"Trump Withdraws Nomination of Casey Means for Surgeon General"
"Exclusive: Deleted tweets reveal new surgeon general pick criticized Trump and RFK Jr. health policies"
"Trump's new surgeon general nominee has both praised and criticized his administration"
"The Madness in RFK Jr.'s Autism Method"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Josh Geballe, head of Yale Ventures, to discuss how changes in Yale's mindset, policies, and support systems have helped turn university research into impactful companies. Harlan examines the growing problem of AI-hallucinated citations in published research; Howie provides an update on the deadly Andes hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship.
Show notes:
Fake Citations
"Fabricated citations: an audit across 2·5 million biomedical papers"
JACC Journals
Josh Geballe
Yale Innovation Summit 2026
Yale Ventures
Joe Tsai
Alibaba Group
Craig Crews
"Yale Spinout Halda Therapeutics Announces $3B Acquisition by Johnson & Johnson"
"D-Wave Announces Agreement to Acquire Quantum Circuits Inc., Establishing World's Leading Quantum Computing Company"
"Arvinas and Pfizer Enter into a Transaction with Rigel Pharmaceuticals for the Exclusive Global Rights of VEPPANU (vepdegestrant)"
Yale Ventures: Healthtech Works
Yale Ventures: Planetary Solutions
Alexion
BioLabs
Hantavirus Outbreak
Hantavirus
"Passengers from virus-stricken cruise ship fly to home countries"
"French woman with hantavirus has severe form of disease, is in 'final stage of supportive care'"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Lee Schwamm, the Yale School of Medicine's associate dean for digital strategy & transformation and chief digital health officer of the Yale New Haven Health System, to discuss how the system is working to rapidly evaluate and deploy AI tools without compromising patient safety and oversight. Harlan highlights vaccine studies reportedly held back from publication and argues for greater scientific transparency; Howie reports on a deadly outbreak of Andes hantavirus aboard a cruise ship.
Show notes:
Suppressing Science
"F.D.A. Blocked Publication of Research Finding Covid and Shingles Vaccines Were Safe"
"Safety Monitoring of Multiple Health Outcomes Following 2023–2024 COVID-19 Vaccination among Medicare Beneficiaries Aged 65 Years and Older in the United States" One of the studies initially blocked by the FDA, published in medRxiv.
Akiko Iwasaki: "Freedom of scientific inquiry: reclaiming space for controversy"
Lee Schwamm
"What is digital transformation?"
"Use of Ambient AI Scribes to Reduce Administrative Burden and Professional Burnout"
Imaging and radiology
"What Is Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)? An Expert Guide"
"Platform Solutions vs. Point Solutions: What's the Difference?"
"A prospective clinical feasibility study of a conversational diagnostic AI in an ambulatory primary care clinic"
"A scoping review of silent trials for medical artificial intelligence"
"Heart failure risk stratification using artificial intelligence applied to electrocardiogram images: a multinational study"
Center for Health Care Innovation
"Beyond Sterling Hall: Artificial Intelligence is a 'Natural'"
Institutional Review Board
"What is hyperscale?"
AgileMD: eCART
"Geoff Hinton: On Radiology"
"What is a private cloud?"
"What Is a GPU?"
Lee Schwamm on what makes an excellent digital patient experience:
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An excellent digital patient experience is one that moves complexity away from the patient and makes it easy for patients to access, navigate, and coordinate care across the continuum without needing to fragment their care across multiple healthcare delivery systems.
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It provides seamless longitudinal continuity of identity, so patients are never asked twice for the same information and their preferences endure between sessions and across experiences. This intelligent hyper-personalization enables care journeys that meaningful, effective and seamlessly intermingle traditional and digital care.
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At a macro level, these experiences are delivered equitably and adjust to the patient's level of digital engagement, engendering trust and conveying empathy. An equitable digital front door is one that opens easily for everyone, allows access to the needed services, and improves clinical care and operational efficiency rather than simply digitizing existing ineffective or byzantine processes.
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Lastly, excellent digital patient experiences are not just built but are maintained and curated, through continuous measurement, iteration, and alignment to the needs of patients rather than the organizational structure of the health system.
Hantavirus
Oceanwide Expeditions Press Releases
Hantavirus
"What Is Hantavirus, the Rare Disease That Killed Betsy Arakawa?"
"Hantavirus cluster linked to cruise ship travel, Multi-country"
Updates from the World Health Organization on X
"'Super-Spreaders' and Person-to-Person Transmission of Andes Virus in Argentina"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale School of Medicine liver specialist Wolfram Goessling, who reflects on his experience surviving a rare cancer and how it reshaped his approach to patient care, communication, and leadership. Harlan discusses a Utah pilot program that is letting AI authorize prescription renewals, prompting alarm from physicians; Howie reports on a study challenging the effectiveness of a widely used knee procedure.
Show notes:
The Prescribing AI
"Utah and Doctronic Announce Groundbreaking Partnership for AI Prescription Medication Renewals"
Doctronic AI Mitigation Agreement
"AI Prescribing Medications In Utah: A Flawed Regulatory Playbook"
"Utah medical board calls for 'suspension' of AI doctor experiment"
"The Status Quo Is the Biggest Risk" Doctronic responds to coverage of the Utah partnership.
Wolfram Goessling
Wolfram Goessling: Staying Alive: An Oncologist Fights His Cancer The publisher's site for Wolfram Goessling's book on his personal fight with cancer.
Staying Alive: An Oncologist Fights His Cancer The Amazon page for the book.
Facing Cancer The IMDB page for the documentary about Wolfram Goessling's experience.
Facing CancerWatch the documentary with English subtitles.
Angiosarcoma
Goessling Lab
"Wolfram Goessling, MD, PhD, to be Appointed Chair of YSM Internal Medicine, Chief of Internal Medicine at YNHH, & Physician-in-Chief for Medicine"
Hepatology
Gastroenterologist
"What Is Shared Decision Making?"
"Teach-Back: Intervention"
Liver Cancer
Jaundice
Appendicitis
"Meet Wolfram Goessling, New Chair of the Yale Department of Internal Medicine"
Longwood Symphony Orchestra
Knee Surgery
"Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy versus Sham Surgery for a Degenerative Meniscal Tear"
"Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy for Degenerative Tear—10-Year Outcomes"
"Analysis of Charges and Payments for Outpatient Arthroscopic Meniscectomy From 2005 to 2014: Hospital Reimbursement Increased Steadily as Surgeon Payments Declined"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan take on tough questions at the intersection of medicine and society. They trace the deadly history of anti-vaccine activism, unpack Yale's report on trust in higher education, and explore the peptide craze. They also confront the rising moral distress among clinicians working in systems that too often prevent them from caring for patients the way they were trained to. Plus, student research assistant Tobias Liu stops by for a farewell conversation.
Show notes:
Tobias Segment
"Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Kickback Resolutions and Associated Financial Penalties, 2000-2025"
Anti-Vaccination
Alfred Russel Wallace
WHO: Smallpox
"US surpasses 1,000 measles cases for the 3rd time in 26 years"
Trust in Higher Education
"Report of the Committee on Trust in Higher Education"
"Yale Report Finds Colleges Deserve Blame for Higher Education's Problems"
"Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression at Yale"
Peptides
WebMD: Peptides
"Peptides take off as a DIY treatment but is that a good idea?"
"A peptide in FDA's step"
Moral Distress
"Moral Distress and Occupational Burnout in US Physicians"
"The Moral Crisis of America's Doctors"
The Pitt
Psychedelics
"Trump expedites review of psychedelics to treat mental health disorders"
"U.S. Overdose Deaths Decrease Almost 27% in 2024"
2026 Breakthrough Prize
"Breakthrough Prize 2026"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Stephen Latham, a Yale School of Medicine senior research scholar and the director of the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. Stephen reflects on his journey to a career at the intersection of law and medicine, and explains why the legal definition of death is becoming less useful in an era of rapidly advancing medical technologies. Harlan unpacks recent analysis of smoking rates in the U.S.; Howie contextualizes recent accusations of Medicaid fraud in New York.
Show notes:
Smoking Rates
"Tobacco Product Use among U.S. Adults, 2023–2024"
"Smoking rates are at a historic low. You're not hearing about it from the government"
"Cigarette Smoking is Down Nationwide, but Not Equally Across All Groups"
Stephen Latham
American Medical Association
American Medical Association: Code of Medical Ethics
Oregon's Death with Dignity Act
"Harvard's grade inflation experiment"
"Professors face grading dilemma: too many A's, little taste for limits"
"Harvard University Plans To Delay Its Cap On A Grades For One Year"
"Cellular recovery after prolonged warm ischaemia of the whole body"
Uniform Determination of Death Act
Cleveland Clinic: Organ Donation and Transplantation
Bexorg
"Bexorg: The Yale Spinout That Figured Out How to Keep Brains Going Outside the Body"
Brain Perfusion - An Overview
"Political Theory, Values and Public Health"
"AI-guided CAR designs and targeted pathway modulation to enhance multi-antigen CAR T cell durability and overcome antigen escape"
"Conscience, Disobedience, and Standard of Care"
Medicaid
"Trump administration admits a glaring error in its accusations about New York health care fraud"
"5 Key Facts About Medicaid Program Integrity – Fraud, Waste, Abuse and Improper Payments"
"Medicare Program Integrity and Efforts to Root Out Improper Payments, Fraud, Waste and Abuse"
IRS: The tax gap
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale School of Medicine gastroenterologist Deborah Proctor, who reflects on her decades of work in Honduras and how her approach to service has shifted from short-term medical missions to sustained, community-driven partnership. Harlan reports on an AI breakthrough with implications for the security of healthcare systems; Howie marks National Public Health Week with a look at two centuries of major public health gains.
Show notes:
AI Breakthrough
Anthropic: Project Glasswing
"Anthropic Claims Its New A.I. Model, Mythos, Is a Cybersecurity 'Reckoning'"
Glasswinged Butterfly
"Cybersecurity incident forces Brockton Hospital to use paper records"
Thomas Friedman: "Anthropic's Restraint Is a Terrifying Warning Sign"
Hard Fork podcast
Deborah Proctor
Gastroenterologist
Honduras Children's Project
Deborah Proctor: Every Child Counts: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty by Educating One Child at a Time
Voluntourism
Teletón
Yale Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center
Public Health Progress
National Public Health Week
World Health Day
Life Expectancy
History of smallpox vaccination
Cholera in Victorian London
"A History of the Surgeon General's Reports on Smoking and Health"
"Australia's Social Media Ban for Children Takes Effect"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by trauma surgeon Selwyn Rogers, who reflects on caring for victims of gun violence and speaking with families in their darkest moments—and explains why the problem must be understood as a shared societal responsibility. Harlan examines new evidence suggesting U.S. healthcare spending has grown more slowly than expected; Howie discusses a retracted Lancet article that highlights the risks of undisclosed conflicts of interest.
Show notes:
Healthcare Costs
"Has the United States Bent the Health Care Cost Curve?"
David M. Cutler
"Baumol's cost disease"
Harlan Krumholz: "Out‐of‐Pocket Annual Health Expenditures and Financial Toxicity From Healthcare Costs in Patients With Heart Failure in the United States"
Selwyn Rogers
Selwyn Rogers: Healing the Gun Violence Epidemic: Ending Violence, Rebuilding Communities, and a Trauma Surgeon's Vision for Restoring Hope
Albert Ko
"Selwyn Rogers named associate editor of prestigious New England Journal of Medicine"
Selwyn Rogers: "Hope—Beyond Firearm Trauma"
Selwyn Rogers: "Structural Racism and Firearm Injury: Operationalizing Health Equity in Trauma Care"
Brain Death: What it is, Stages & Criteria
New York Times Live Updates: Supreme Court Birthright Citizenship Case
Annual Gun Violence Data 2023
Conflicts of Interest
"Retraction: Cosmetic talc powder"
"Historians Unearth a Conflict of Interest, Prompting a Retraction by The Lancet Journal"
Johns Manville Trust Fund and Lawsuits
Mark Lanier
Health & Veritas Episode 215: Arya Singh: Beyond Accessibility
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale College and Yale School of Public Health graduate Arya Singh, who reflects on growing up with spinal muscular atrophy, what it takes to build a full life with a disability, and how family support and institutional culture shape what inclusion looks like in practice. Harlan reports on the rapid rise of AI as a front door to health information; Howie responds to the withdrawal of a proposed federal ban on indoor tanning for minors.
Show notes:
AI Health Advice
Health & Veritas Episode 207: Robert Wachter: AI Is Already Remaking Healthcare
"OpenAI rolls out ChatGPT for Healthcare, a gen AI workspace for hospitals and clinics"
"Anthropic Launches AI Healthcare Tools As Competition With OpenAI Heats Up"
"Doctronic raises $40 million as race to apply AI in clinical care heats up"
"KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust: Use of AI For Health Information and Advice"
Arya Singh
Health & Veritas Episode 35: Dr. Amy Justice: Unlocking the Insights in Healthcare Data Howie reflects on Arya Singh's graduation from Yale.
Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)
"At Yale, Arya Singh overcame her fears—and found a new side of herself"
"This Yale student won't let a rare genetic disease stand in her way"
"A Mother's Moonshot"A Stanford Business profile of Loren Eng, Singh's mother.
Arya Singh: "What it's like to have a rare disease—and how clinical trials changed my life"
"For Arya" A Forbes article on Singh's parents.
Video: Yale College 2022 Class Day Exercises Singh's speech to her classmates.
"3 Rings, 2 College Students and 1 Big Risk" A New York Times "Vows" column on Singh's wedding.
Arya Singh: Courageous Calla & The Clinical Trial
Arya Singh: "Beyond broken elevators"
Arya Singh: "Making It Work for Students in Wheelchairs to Leave Home: Experiences and Decision Making Regarding the Residential College Experience"
Tanning Beds
"FDA pulls proposed rule barring teens from using tanning beds"
FDA: General and Plastic Surgery Devices: Restricted Sale, Distribution, and Use of Sunlamp Products; Withdrawal of Proposed Rule
"Molecular effects of indoor tanning"
"Indoor Tanning and the Risk of Overall and Early-Onset Melanoma and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"
"Indoor Tanning Legislation: Here's Where We Stand"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan discuss the end of flu season, vaccine effectiveness, and the challenge of rebuilding public confidence in immunization. Also: new cholesterol guidelines that push earlier treatment, measles outbreaks and the erosion of herd immunity, a court ruling pausing changes to vaccine guidelines, signs of stabilization at the NIH, new evidence on football and brain injury, and a MedPAC report suggesting Medicare Advantage plans are overpaid.
Show notes:
Looking Back at the Flu Season
CDC 2024–2025 Influenza Season Summary
CDC: Influenza-Associated Pediatric Deaths
CDC Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report
CDC: Interim Estimates of 2025–26 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness
New Cholesterol Guidelines
2026 ACC/AHA/AACVPR/ABC/ACPM/ADA/AGS/APhA/ASPC/NLA/PCNA Guideline on the Management of Dyslipidemia
"ACC/American Heart Association Issue Updated Guideline for Managing Lipids, Cholesterol"
Lipoprotein (a): Levels & Testing
Apolipoprotein B (Apo B) Test
"Major changes to cardiovascular guidelines suggest taking statins as young as 30"
"Statins: How They Work & Side Effects"
American Heart Association PREVENT Online Calculator
Measles Update
CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks
U.S. Measles Tracker
South Carolina Department of Public Health: 2025 Measles Outbreak
Utah Department of Health and Human Services: Utah measles outbreak response
CDC Measles Vaccine Recommendations
What's Happening at the NIH?
"NIH will spend its full budget this year, agency director promises House appropriators"
"NIH chief calms nerves on grants, hiring"
"WATCH: Dr. Jay Bhattacharya testifies at NIH oversight hearing before House panel"
Harlan Krumholz: "Grant Applications With a Result-Based Orientation"
New Mexico's Measles Success
CDC: Measles Outbreak—New Mexico, 2025
Football, Brain Health, and the Biology of Repetitive Hits
"Cognitive and Neuropsychiatric Function in Former American Football Players"
"Inflammation, Limbic White Matter Microstructure, and Clinical Symptoms in Retired American Football Players With Repetitive Head Impacts"
ACIP Lawsuit
"Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)"
"Judge blocks RFK Jr. advisers' vaccine changes"
"Federal judge stalls health secretary RFK Jr.'s overhaul of vaccine policy"
"Federal Judge Puts Brakes on RFK Jr's Vaccine Agenda"
Medicare Advantage Under the Microscope
MedPAC: March 2026 Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy
"Congressional advisers call to rein in Medicare Advantage spending amid industry pressure"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale School of Medicine surgical oncologist Kevin Billingsley, who discusses how robotics and advanced imaging are reshaping what it means to be a surgeon and offers guidance for those facing a cancer diagnosis. Harlan reports on a company testing AI-based prescription renewals and raises concerns about safety and oversight; Howie reflects on new survey data showing declining public trust in health institutions.
Show notes:
Unsupervised AI
Health & Veritas Episode 207: Robert Wachter: AI Is Already Remaking Healthcare
"Vinod Khosla: Machines will replace 80 percent of doctors"
Doctronic AI Regulatory Mitigation Agreement
"AI could soon renew prescriptions without clinician help. Should the FDA make sure it's safe?"
"Exclusive: Researchers trick a bot that prescribes meds"
"Don't trust this $4 solution for getting a prescription"
"CVS Health And Google Launch AI Business To 'Personalize Healthcare'"
Health & Veritas Episode 206: Mary-Ann Etiebet: Confronting Preventable Disease Harlan discusses ARPA-H.
Kevin Billingsley
Laparoscopy
Robotic Surgery
"History of robotic surgery: from AESOP and ZEUS to da Vinci"
"Personal Best" Atul Gawande compares surgeons to athletes.
"Future of Surgical Training Will Include Major Shift in Education Model"
"Will your next surgeon be a robot? Autonomy and AI in robotic surgery"
"Dying Words" Jerome Groopman on the relationship between oncologists and patients.
"Teamwork in Healthcare: Key Discoveries Enabling Safer, High-Quality Care"
Smoking and Cancer
Benefits of Physical Activity
Physical Activity and Cancer
Health & Veritas: Melinda Irwin: Can Nutrition and Exercise Improve Cancer Outcomes?
"What Alcohol Does to the Body"
Who do you trust?
"Stark Divide: Americans More Confident in Career Scientists at U.S. Health Agencies Than Leaders"
"Poll: Americans increasingly trust career scientists, not leaders, at CDC, NIH, and FDA"
Your Local Epidemiologist: "Top 5 questions about school vaccination requirements"
Health & Veritas Katelyn Jetelina: A Visit from Your Local Epidemiologist"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale School of Medicine neurologist Kevin Sheth to discuss how collaboration helps drive breakthroughs in brain health, including advances in detecting stroke and other neurological diseases earlier and more precisely. Harlan reflects on lessons from his family's recent experience navigating the healthcare system; Howie examines the expanding marketplace for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and the challenges of ensuring safe and appropriate use.
Show notes:
The Family Perspective
Cleveland Clinic: Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
"What's the Difference Between a CCU and an ICU?"
Kevin Sheth
Alva Health
Mayo Clinic: Stroke
Video: Kevin Sheth at the Yale Innovation Summit
Sandra Saldana, PhD, MBA
"Buddy System"
NIH: Multiple Principal Investigators
"Assessing the Decade of the Brain"
"Cerebrospinal fluid and plasma biomarkers in Alzheimer disease"
Kevin Sheth: "Burden of Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke Across the US From 1990 to 2019"
Endovascular Thrombectomy (EVT)
Ischemic vs Hemorrhagic Stroke
"What is cognitive reserve?"
Cheaper Obesity Drugs
"Will Novo Nordisk's slashing of obesity drug prices save patients' money? It depends"
"Novo Nordisk to halve US list price of Wegovy from 2027"
"Walgreens Virtual Healthcare Adds Weight Management Services to Support Patients on Their Weight Loss Journey"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale economist Janet Currie to discuss how early-life investments in health, education, and environmental protection shape children's lifelong well-being and economic opportunity. Harlan highlights a new Medicare payment model that would reward measurable improvements in chronic disease outcomes; Howie reflects on the spread of medical misinformation and a new effort to push back.
Show notes:
The ACCESS Payment Model
CMS: ACCESS (Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions) Model
"ACCESS: What this new payment model means for physicians and patients"
"FDA Launches TEMPO: A First-of-Its-Kind Digital Health Pilot to Expand Access to Chronic Disease Technologies"
Janet Currie
"Welcoming Janet Currie: A Pioneer in the Economics of Children and Families Joins Yale"
Janet Currie: "Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector: The Effect of Legal Structure on Dispute Costs and Wages"
Janet Currie: "Child health as human capital"
Janet Currie: "Killing Me Softly: The Fetal Origins Hypothesis"
"Medicaid and Children's Health: 5 Issues to Watch Amid Recent Federal Changes"
Janet Currie: "Medicaid: What Does It Do, and Can We Do It Better?"
Janet Currie: "Does Head Start Make a Difference?"
Janet Currie: "Longer Term Effects of Head Start"
Janet Currie: "Lead and Juvenile Delinquency: New Evidence from Linked Birth, School, and Juvenile Detention Records"
Head Start Impact Study (HSIS) Series
Janet Currie: "Saving Babies: The Efficacy and Cost of Recent Changes in the Medicaid Eligibility of Pregnant Women"
Janet Currie: "Doctor Decision Making and Patient Outcomes"
Janet Currie's American Economic Association Presidential Address: "Investing in Children to Address the Child Mental Health Crisis"
"Addressing Common Misconceptions About the Child Mental Health Crisis"
Janet Currie: "To What Extent are Trends in Teen Mental Health Driven by Changes in Reporting?"
Janet Currie: "Rules versus Discretion: Treatment of Mental Illness in US Adolescents"
Misinformation
Mayo Clinic: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): Symptoms and causes
"Inside RFK Jr.'s push against the flu vaccine that he links to his voice condition"
Health & Veritas Episode 197: Peter Hotez: Mapping the Anti-Science Machine
"It's time for a new era of advocacy for physicians"
"Childhood Vaccination Rates Have Dropped Again, C.D.C. Data Shows"
"Take It From a Scientist. Facts Matter, and They Don't Care How You Feel."
"A small study on Covid vaccine safety sparks an online tempest"
Health & Veritas Episode 192: Akiko Iwasaki: What Have We Learned About Long COVID?
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Evangelos Oikonomou, a cardiologist and data scientist at the Yale School of Medicine, to discuss how AI can extract overlooked signs of heart disease from routine ECGs, imaging studies, and electronic health records—and how to deploy these AI tools responsibly at scale. Harlan explains whether a widely covered study suggesting that coffee may lower the risk of dementia should change your daily brew; Howie grapples with the ethical questions surrounding a proposed hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau.
Show notes:
Coffee and Dementia
"Coffee and Tea Intake, Dementia Risk, and Cognitive Function"
"Coffee linked to slower brain ageing in study of 130,000 people"
"2 to 3 Cups of Coffee a Day May Reduce Dementia Risk. But Not if It's Decaf."
Evangelos Oikonomou
"What Is Opportunistic Screening in Healthcare?"
Evangelos Oikonomou: "Artificial intelligence in medical imaging: A radiomic guide to precision phenotyping of cardiovascular disease"
Evangelos Oikonomou: "Non-invasive detection of coronary inflammation using computed tomography and prediction of residual cardiovascular risk (the CRISP CT study): a post-hoc analysis of prospective outcome data"
Evangelos Oikonomou: "Artificial intelligence-guided detection of under-recognised cardiomyopathies on point-of-care cardiac ultrasonography: a multicentre study"
"Fellow Focus in Four: Evangelos Oikonomou, MD, DPhil, Cardiovascular Medicine"
Health & Veritas Episode 80: Josh Geballe: Turning Yale Innovation into Startups
Evangelos Oikonomou: "TARGET-AI: A Foundational Approach for the Targeted Deployment of Artificial Intelligence Electrocardiography in the Electronic Health Record"
"Using AI to Guide AI"
"Are A.I. Tools Making Doctors Worse at Their Jobs?"
"The Robot Doctor Will See You Now"
Health & Veritas Episode 207: Robert Wachter: AI Is Already Remaking Healthcare
"A large language model for complex cardiology care"
Vaccine Trial Ethics
WHO: Statement on the planned hepatitis B birth dose vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau
"Planned US-funded baby vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau blasted by WHO"
"Guinea-Bissau suspends US-funded vaccine trial as African scientists question its motives"
"Guinea-Bissau Installs Military Ruler After Claims of a 'Fabricated' Coup"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by geneticist and endocrinologist Joel Hirschhorn to discuss how thousands of genetic variants collectively shape disease and traits like height and obesity. Harlan reviews new research on diet soda and dementia; Howie surveys recent market swings, including the rise of Solace Health and the decline of Hims & Hers.
Show notes:
Diet Soda and Dementia
"Soda consumption and risk of dementia: The Northern Manhattan study"
"Why One Cardiologist Has Drunk His Last Diet Soda"
Joel Hirschhorn
National Human Genome Research Institute: Mendelian Inheritance
MedlinePlus: FGFR3 gene
Cleveland Clinic: Achondroplasia
National Human Genome Research: Polygenic Trait
Hirschhorn Lab
"A saturated map of common genetic variants associated with human height"
"What are single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)?"
ScienceDirect: Genetic Variant
Joel Hirschhorn: "Genome-Wide Association Study of Quantitative Kidney Function in 52,531 Individuals with Diabetes Identifies Five Diabetes-Specific Loci"
Joel Hirschhorn: "Polygenic prediction of body mass index and obesity through the life course and across ancestries"
"Obesity Prediction Could Be Guided by Genetic Risk Scores"
"Genome-wide association study shows BCL11A associated with persistent fetal hemoglobin and amelioration of the phenotype of β-thalassemia"
Society for Science: Noam Elkies
MIT: Eric S. Lander
Ups and Downs
"Understanding Creative Destruction: Driving Innovation and Economic Change"
"Solace Health raises $130M series C for advocacy platform"
"Molina Healthcare's stocks fall as company plans exit from Medicare Advantage"
"Centene swings to loss but predicts stabilization in 2026"
"UnitedHealth limps into 2026 with a smaller business and fresh challenges"
"Hims & Hers Falls 14% After Pulling Copycat Wegovy Pill—Novo Nordisk Up 8%"
"Compounding and the FDA: Questions and Answers"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan discuss an escalating measles outbreak in the U.S. and a project piloted by Yale School of Medicine professor Erica Spatz to deliver preventative care in barbershops and beauty salons. Also examined: flu season, nipah virus, and the perils of focusing on healthcare business models.
Show notes:
Measles
CDC: Measles Outbreak Associated with an Infectious Traveler—Colorado, May–June 2025
CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks
Snohomish County Health Department: Snohomish County Confirms Three New Measles Cases
"Measles in an ICE facility is a public health failure"
Value-Based Care
"Value-Based Care: What It Is, and Why It's Needed"
"Supporting Value-Based Health Care—Aligning Financial and Legal Accountability"
American Hospital Association: 3 Ways AI Can Improve Revenue-Cycle Management
Preventative Cardiology
Yale School of Medicine: Erica Spatz, MD, MHS
Pressure Check
Marketplace Health Insurance
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Marketplace 2026 Open Enrollment Period Report: National Snapshot
Respiratory Illness
CDC: Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report: Key Updates for Week 3, ending January 24, 2026
"After 3-week decline, flu cases rise across the US; RSV, COVID activity high in certain states"
Nipah Virus
CDC: About Nipah Virus
WHO: Nipah virus infection—India
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by internist and author Robert Wachter to discuss his new book, which explores how AI is already changing day-to-day medical practice and argues that it can improve care, reduce burnout, and even help repair a broken healthcare system.
Show notes:
Robert Wachter: A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future
Robert Wachter: The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine's Computer Age
Robert Wachter: "Pattern Recognition"
"AI Prognosis: Readers' predictions for health AI in 2026. What's on your bingo card?"
Robert Wachter: "Will The AI Jobpocalypse Hit Healthcare?"
Video: Geoff Hinton on deep learning and radiology
"Call me Dr Ishmael: trends in electronic health record notes available at emergency department visits and admissions"
"OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health to connect user medical records, wellness apps"
"Utah launches first-in-the-nation trial that lets AI renew your prescription"
Robert Wachter: "Will AI Rescue Primary Care?"
"We found what you're asking ChatGPT about health. A doctor scored its answers."
Robert Wachter: "We Need Medical AI for Patients"
Robert Wachter: "Medicine's AI Knowledge War Heats Up"
Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education: Proceedings and Recommendations
Robert Wachter: Deskilling and Healthcare AI"
"Are A.I. Tools Making Doctors Worse at Their Jobs?"
"The Robot Doctor Will See You Now"
Atul Gawande: "Personal Best"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Mary-Ann Etiebet of the public health organization Vital Strategies to discuss how policy, prevention, and stronger public-health systems can reduce the global burden of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other preventable conditions. Harlan reports on the federal push toward fully autonomous clinical care for heart failure; Howie looks at proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage payments and what they mean for beneficiaries, plans, and taxpayers.
Show notes:
Autonomous Care
SAM.gov: Agentic AI-EnableD CardioVascular CAre TransfOrmation (ADVOCATE) Proposers' Day Special Notice
"ARPA-H to revolutionize cardiovascular disease management with clinical agentic AI"
ARPA-H: Agentic AI-Enabled Cardiovascular Care Transformation
Mary-Ann Etiebet
Health & Veritas Episode 7: Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet: Saving Mothers' Lives
Vital Strategies
WHO: Noncommunicable diseases
WHO: Global NCD Compact 2020–2030
"Health Taxes Are a Triple Win for African Countries—New Brief From Vital Strategies and Partners Provides Strategy"
Mary-Ann Etiebet: "Using Health Taxes to Promote Public Good"
"'Historic Public Health Victory': Vital Strategies Applauds Brazil's Approval of Selective Tax on Tobacco, Soft Drinks, and Alcohol"
Vital Strategies: Partners
WHO: Civil registration and vital statistics
HHS: United States Completes WHO Withdrawal
WHO statement on notification of withdrawal of the United States
Medicare Advantage
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: "CMS Proposes 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Payment Policies to Improve Payment Accuracy and Sustainability"
"Medicare Advantage in 2025: Enrollment Update and Key Trends"
"Trump administration signals there's widespread desire to curb Medicare Advantage"
"Medicare Rates Shock Sparks $100 Billion Selloff in Insurers"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by health policy writer Jonathan Cohn to discuss the RFK Jr. food agenda, the barriers to universal healthcare in the U.S., and working alongside former political adversaries at The Bulwark. Harlan reports on a lawsuit exposing gaps in the privacy of medical-records systems; Howie highlights new research suggesting that a sharp drop in opioid overdose deaths may be temporary.
Show notes:
Data Privacy
"Epic's lawsuit against Health Gorilla raises broader issues about the future of data sharing, industry executives say"
The Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement
Jonathan Cohn
The Bulwark
The Bulwark: The Breakdown
Jonathan Cohn: "The Real Story Behind the Minnesota Welfare Fraud Scandal"
Jonathan Cohn: "How Somalis Became the New 'Welfare Queens'"
FDA: Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Advertisements
FDA: Unique Device Identifiers
Jonathan Cohn: "Trump's Assault on Health Care, Seen from a Country That Does Health Care Better"
Jonathan Cohn: Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis—and the People Who Pay the Price
Jonathan Cohn: "Michelle Obama Will Be Accepting Your Apologies Now"
"RFK Jr.'s new dietary guidelines go all in on meat and dairy"
Opioid Deaths
CDC: Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts
"Did the illicit fentanyl trade experience a supply shock?"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by health law and policy expert Sara Rosenbaum to discuss how incremental reform expanded healthcare access—and the urgent work now underway to prevent those gains from being undone. Harlan explores how AI is quietly filling gaps in the healthcare system; Howie highlights a milestone in the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission.
Show notes:
AI as a Healthcare Tool
OpenAI: "AI as a Healthcare Ally"
"Cost Leads Americans' Top-of-Mind Healthcare Concerns"
"Physician sentiments around the use of AI in health care: motivations, opportunities, risks, and use cases"
OpenAI: Introducing ChatGPT Health
Sara Rosenbaum
"The Policy Entrepreneur"
KFF: Children's Health Insurance Timeline
Sara Rosenbaum: "A 'Shift in Kind': A Medicaid Work Requirement Would Radically Change Health Policy"
Sara Rosenbaum: "Implementing Medicaid Work Reporting Requirements: Defining A 'Serious Or Complex Medical Condition'"
Sara Rosenbaum: "Who's Affected by Medicaid Work Requirements? It's Not Who You Think"
"South Carolina reports 124 new measles cases as outbreak grows"
"Medical Groups Will Try to Block Childhood Vaccine Recommendations"
CDC: About the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program
Sara Rosenbaum: "A Twenty-First Century Vaccines For Children Program"
Sara Rosenbaum: "Nearly 5.6 Million Community Health Center Patients Could Lose Medicaid Coverage Under New Work Requirements, with Revenue Losses Up to $32 Billion"
Sara Rosenbaum: "How Medicaid Built Community Health Centers and Health Centers Returned The Favor"
KFF: 5 Key Facts About Medicaid and Provider Taxes
"How New Limits on State Provider Taxes Will Affect Medicaid Funding"
Preventing Mother-to-Child Infection
"WHO validates Brazil for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV"
Health & Veritas Episode 178: Sarah DeSilvey: Creating Space for Healing
"Why Syphilis Cases in Newborns Are Rising Even as STIs Decline"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
In this bonus episode, Howie and Harlan are joined by Ania Jastreboff, a Yale School of Medicine endocrinologist and an expert on the science of obesity. They discuss her new book, co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, which reframes obesity as a treatable disease rooted in biology—not a failure of willpower.
Show notes:
Ania Jastreboff and Oprah Winfrey: Enough: Your Health, Your Weight, and What It's Like To Be Free
Yale Obesity Research Center (Y-Weight)
The Oprah Podcast: "Oprah and Yale Researcher Break Down How Weight Loss Drugs Affect the Brain"
The Oprah Podcast: "Oprah and Dr. Ania Jastreboff on How People Treat You Differently After Weight Loss"
Ania Jastreboff: "Tirzepatide for Obesity Treatment and Diabetes Prevention"
Ania Jastreboff: "Once-Monthly Maridebart Cafraglutide for the Treatment of Obesity — A Phase 2 Trial"
Mayo Clinic: Semaglutide (oral route)
Eli Lilly: What to know about orforglipron: An investigational oral GLP-1
"CagriSema for Weight Loss: Study Results, Availability, and How Other GLP-1s Compare"
Eli Lilly: What to know about eloralintide: An investigational amylin receptor agonist injection
Cleveland Clinic: "Should You Microdose GLP-1 Drugs?"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for KFF Health News, joins Howie and Harlan to make sense of the fight over ACA subsidies and reflect on her decades of health policy reporting. Harlan reports on a new wave of breakthroughs in obesity treatment; Howie provides updates on the measles outbreak and a record-setting flu season.
Show notes:
Obesity treatments
"Lilly's triple agonist, retatrutide, delivered weight loss of up to an average of 71.2 lbs along with substantial relief from osteoarthritis pain in first successful Phase 3 trial"
"Arrowhead's gene-silencing drugs cut fat in early obesity studies"
"Novo launches Wegovy weight-loss pill for sale in US"
"Older Americans Quit Weight-Loss Drugs in Droves"
Julie Rovner
What the Health? podcast
What the Health? podcast: "Time's Up for Expanded ACA Tax Credits"
What the Health? podcast: "What Do Republicans Really Want on Health Care?"
"Trump wants GOP's flexibility on Hyde Amendment"
Congressional Research Service: The Hyde Amendment
Healthcare.gov: Health Savings Accounts
"Republicans unveil health care plan to counter Democratic effort to extend ACA subsidies"
119th Congress: H.R.1
KFF: "The Impact of H.R. 1 on Two Medicaid Eligibility Rules"
KFF: "Implementation Dates for 2025 Budget Reconciliation Law"
KFF: "Health Care Costs and Affordability"
Flu and Measles
CDC: Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report
"Flu cases, hospitalizations are rising sharply in CT"
Connecticut Department of Public Health: Weekly Respiratory Viral Disease Report
CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks
CDC: Vaccination Coverage and Exemptions among Kindergartners
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
In a bonus episode, Howie and Harlan welcome oncologist, bioethicist, and public health expert Ezekiel Emanuel to discuss his new book, which counters the wellness industry by offering simple, evidence-based guidelines for health.
Show notes:
Ezekiel Emanuel: Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life
"Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: a meta-analytic review"
"How Social Isolation Is Killing Us"
"Is Full-Fat Dairy Healthier?".
"High- and Low-Fat Dairy Consumption and Long-Term Risk of Dementia: Evidence From a 25-Year Prospective Cohort Study"
"Milk and Health"
Ezekiel Emanuel: "I'm a Harvard-trained oncologist: 6 nutrition myths I wish would die—the 'answer to a longer life is so simple'"
"This Test Might Be the Best Way to Track Fitness and Longevity"
Health & Veritas Episode 200: An Ongoing Conversation about Health and Healthcare
Ezekiel Emanuel: Why You Should Skip Dry January
U.S. Surgeon General Advisory: Alcohol and Cancer Risk
U.S. Surgeon General Advisory: Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation
U.S. Surgeon General Advisory: Protecting Youth Mental Health
"The Changing Public Image of Smoking in the United States: 1964–2014"
"Tobacco taxes as a tobacco control strategy"
"Celebrities Are Making Smoking Cigarettes Cool Again"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
In the 200th episode of Health & Veritas, Harlan offers end-of-the-year reflections on medicine drawn from his editor's notes in JACC (the Journal of the American College of Cardiology), and Howie provides updates on gun violence, flu, measles, and the health benefits of yoga.
Show notes:
Editor's notes by Harlan Krumholz
"The Day I Became a Doctor"
"When Your Patient Dies"
"Rethinking Physician Certification: A Call for a Modern, Meaningful Standard"
Gun violence, flu, and measles
"Mass shootings outnumber annual days in U.S., children are missing school due to measles, Covid-19 is peeping around the corner, and some hope"
"Measles outbreaks worsen in South Carolina, Arizona and Utah"
"Connecticut reports first measles case in years"
"New Flu Variant May Be Triggering Spike in Severe Disease"
"High-Dose Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness against Hospitalization in Older Adults"
"Pfizer Reaffirms Full-Year 2025 EPS Guidance and Provides Full-Year 2026 Guidance"
The benefits of yoga
"Yoga for chronic non‐specific low back pain"
"Yoga-based interventions may reduce anxiety symptoms in anxiety disorders and depression symptoms in depressive disorders: a systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regression"
"Effect of Yoga on Frailty in Older Adults"
"Yoga in autoimmune disorders: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials"
"Long-term effects of yoga-based practices on neural, cognitive, psychological, and physiological outcomes in adults: a scoping review and evidence map"
"Yoga isn't just for flexibility. It may also protect brain health."
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Basmah Safdar, a Yale School of Medicine emergency physician and an expert on sex-specific differences in cardiovascular and microvascular health, which have important implications for the understanding and treatment of heart attacks, long COVID, and other conditions. Harlan reports on Australia's ban on social media for kids, and a Medicare pilot program that will pay providers based on improved outcomes in chronic conditions. Howie unpacks the consequences of the CDC's change to its recommendations for newborn hepatitis B vaccination.
Show notes:
Social Media and Kids
"Australia's Social Media Ban for Children Takes Effect"
Health & Veritas Episode 197: Peter Hotez: Mapping the Anti-Science Machine
Medicare's ACCESS Payment Model
CMS: ACCESS (Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions) Model
Basmah Safdar
"Medical School Enrollment Reaches 100,000 Students for the First Time"
Health & Veritas: Episode 176: Live at the Yale Innovation Summit 2025
"Myocardial ischemia in women: lessons from the NHLBI WISE study"
"Sex Differences in COVID-19 Immune Responses Affect Patient Outcomes"
"Scientists unravel mystery of sex disparities in COVID-19 outcomes"
Health & Veritas Episode 192: Akiko Iwasaki: What Have We Learned About Long COVID?
"Basmah Safdar, MD, FACEP, Appointed Director, Women's Health Research at Yale (WHRY)"
Women's Health Research at Yale
"Women's Health Research at Yale: The Prologue"
"History of Women's Participation in Clinical Research"
"Policy: NIH to balance sex in cell and animal studies"
"Heart attack symptoms often misinterpreted in younger women"
Harlan Krumholz: "Sex Difference in Outcomes of Acute Myocardial Infarction in Young Patients"
"Women's Health: More Than 'Bikini Medicine'"
"Celebrating Carolyn Mazure"
"Women's Health Research at Yale: Our Research"
"Current Status of Gender and Racial/Ethnic Disparities Among Academic Emergency Medicine Physicians"
"New Women's Health Fund of Funds Launches to Activate $60B in Life Sciences Capital"
"Closing the women's health gap: A $1 trillion opportunity to improve lives and economies"
"Blueprint to close the women's health gap: How to improve lives and economies for all"
"Gates Foundation pledges $2.5 billion to women's health initiatives"
"Milken Institute Launches New Women's Health Network, Former First Lady Jill Biden Joins as its Chair"
Women's Health Research at Yale: Pilot Project Program Funding
Note: Deadline is December 22.
Women's Health Research at Yale: Collaborative
CDC and Hepatitis B
"Panel Votes to Stop Recommending Hepatitis B Shots at Birth for Most Newborns"
CDC: Hepatitis B Vaccine Safety
WHO: Hepatitis B
"New review finds no evidence to support delaying universal hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Sudhakar Nuti to discuss his work improving healthcare for homeless New Yorkers, as a street-medicine doctor and a population-health leader at NYC Health + Hospitals. Harlan reports on a proposed law that would cut off funding for U.S. scientists who collaborate with colleagues in China; Howie provides updates on the measles outbreak and a leaked FDA memo claiming that COVID-19 vaccines have killed 10 children.
Show notes:
Science Across Borders
Subtitle C—SAFE Research Act
"U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations"
Sudhakar Nuti
NYC Health + Hospitals
Street Medicine Institute
"Health Care beyond Clinic Walls—Sustaining and Scaling Up Street Medicine"
NYC Health + Hospitals: Street Health Outreach & Wellness Mobile Units
"Graduate and professional students tackle food insecurity"
California Depart of Public Health: Xylazine
Measles
CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks
"Tracking U.S. Measles Outbreaks"
World Health Organization: Weekly Epidemiological Record, 2025, vol. 100, no. 48
"Winning against measles: five charts that tell a remarkable 24-year story"
"Measles deaths down 88% since 2000, but cases surge"
FDA Leak
"Experts say top FDA official's claim that Covid vaccines caused kids' deaths requires more evidence"
"FDA's Prasad tells staffers agency plans to get tougher on vaccine regulation, blames child deaths on COVID shots"
"Thoughts on Vinay Prasad's Leaked Email"
"Myocarditis Cases Reported After mRNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccination in the US From December 2020 to August 2021"
"Fulminant Myocarditis and Cardiogenic Shock Following COVID-19 Infection Versus COVID-19 Vaccination: A Systematic Literature Review"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert and an outspoken opponent of health misinformation, to discuss vaccine skepticism and the forces—from wellness influencers to HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—that amplify it. Harlan reports on research reinforcing the link between social media and mental illness; Howie highlights two potential areas of common ground with the administration's health policy.
Show notes:
Social Media and Mental Health
"Social Media Detox and Youth Mental Health"
"Study Finds Mental Health Benefit to One-Week Social Media Break"
Peter Hotez
Peter Hotez: Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces That Threaten Our World
Peter Hotez: Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel's Autism: My Journey as a Vaccine Scientist, Pediatrician, and Autism Dad
"Scientist pressured by Musk and Rogan to debate RFK Jr over anti-vaccine misinformation says he won't be part of 'Jerry Springer' show"
Peter Hotez on X
"Kennedy Says He Told C.D.C. to Change Website's Language on Autism and Vaccines"
"Wakefield's article linking MMR vaccine and autism was fraudulent"
"Four vaccine myths and where they came from"
"Large-Scale Exome Sequencing Study Implicates Both Developmental and Functional Changes in the Neurobiology of Autism"
"Risk of Autism after Prenatal Topiramate, Valproate, or Lamotrigine Exposure"
"Data investigation: Childhood vaccination rates are backsliding across the U.S."
"South Carolina's Measles Outbreak Shows Chilling Effect of Vaccine Misinformation"
"How a measles outbreak overwhelmed a small West Texas town"
"How polio came back to New York for the first time in decades, silently spread and left a patient paralyzed"
"Third infant in Kentucky dies of whooping cough as national cases stay high for second year in a row"
"Kennedy minimizes measles outbreak in wake of Texas death"
"RFK Jr. claims 'leaky' measles vaccine wanes over time. Scientists say he's wrong."
"RFK Jr. claims measles can be treated with vitamin A, linked to poor diet. Here's what science says"
"The Surprise Ending to the Trump-Mamdani Buddy Movie Has Heads Spinning"
"Operation Warp Speed was one of Trump's biggest achievements. Then came RFK Jr. and vaccine skeptics"
Health & Veritas Episode 196: The Cost Curve, Flu, and Other News
"Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate"
ACA Subsidies
"Trump was going to roll out a health care plan. Then Republicans weighed in."
"Trump Is Considering a Push to Extend Obamacare Subsidies"
Site-Neutral Payment
"The Trump Administration Moves Forward with Medicare Site-Neutral Payment Reform"
"Five Things to Know About Medicare Site-Neutral Payment Reforms"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan discuss the outlook for U.S. healthcare spending over the next five years, the state of seasonal and avian flu, and an expensive AI-based cardiac test.
Show notes:
Life expectancy and expenditures
"How does U.S. life expectancy compare to other countries?"
ACOs and cost savings
"After Fifteen Years, is Value-Based Care Succeeding?"
Health & Veritas Episode 115: Farzad Mostashari: Aligning Incentives to Fix Primary Care
World Prematurity Day
WHO: World Prematurity Day 2025
WHO: World Prematurity Day Key Messages
WHO: Preterm birth
AI concerns
"'It keeps me awake at night': machine-learning pioneer on AI's threat to humanity"
"Why neural net pioneer Geoffrey Hinton is sounding the alarm on AI"
"AI pioneer: 'The dangers of abuse are very real'"
"'Malicious use is already happening': machine-learning pioneer on making AI safer"
"Fathers of the Deep Learning Revolution Receive ACM A.M. Turing Award"
"Deep learning"
Bird flu
"First U.S. case of human bird flu in 9 months confirmed in Washington state"
Cleveland Clinic: Bird Flu (Avian Influenza)
"Flu in numbers: NHS faces one of worst winters ever, officials warn, amid concern over mutated strain"
"New flu virus mutation could see 'worst season in a decade'"
"Australia posts record-breaking flu numbers as vaccination rates stall"
FDA: Influenza Vaccine Composition for the 2025-2026 U.S. Influenza Season
Cardiology and AI
"Coronary CT angiography evaluation with artificial intelligence for individualized medical treatment of atherosclerosis: a Consensus Statement from the QCI Study Group"
"Medicare will pay more than $1,000 for AI to analyze a heart scan. Is that too much?"
Free speech and drug promotion
"High-Engagement Social Media Posts Related to Prescription Drug Promotion for 3 Major Drug Classes"
Health & Veritas Episode 195: Jerry Avorn: Countering the Drug Marketing Machine
Medicare premiums
"Medicare premiums to jump 10% heading into 2026"
"Social Security Announces 2.8 Percent Benefit Increase for 2026"
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid: 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Harvard internist Jerry Avorn to discuss his research on the pharmaceutical industry and his work promoting evidence-based prescribing. Harlan highlights new results from the American Heart Association meeting, including a one-time CRISPR-based therapy for high cholesterol; Howie reports on an outbreak of infant botulism.
Show notes:
Research from the American Heart Association Meeting
"Phase 1 Trial of CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing Targeting ANGPTL3"
"First-in-human trial of CRISPR gene-editing therapy safely lowered cholesterol, triglycerides"
"Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy Inhibition with Alirocumab: The CAVIAR Trial"
"PCSK9 medication plus statin may help lower cholesterol after heart transplant"
"Investigational daily pill lowered bad cholesterol as much as injectables"
Jerry Avorn
Science Direct: Academic Detailing
Jerry Avorn: "Principles of Educational Outreach ('Academic Detailing') to Improve Clinical Decision Making"
Alosa Health
FDA: Accelerated Approval
Jerry Avorn: Rethinking Medications: Truth, Power, and the Drugs You Take
FDA: Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Advertisements
H.R.5952 - Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 1992
FDA: FY 2025 FDA Budget Summary
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Open Payments
H.R.3590 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
"Aducanumab Discontinued as an Alzheimer's Treatment"
FDA: ELEVIDYS
Brigham and Women's Hospital & Harvard Medical School: Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics
Amazon.com: Featured comments on Rethinking Medications
Infant Botulism
California Department of Public Health: "Outbreak of Infant Botulism Linked to ByHeart Infant Formula"
California Department of Public Health: Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program
CDC: "Infant Botulism Outbreak Linked to Infant Formula, November 2025"
"ByHeart recalls all baby formula sold nationwide as infant botulism outbreak grows"
California Department of Public Health: What is BabyBIG?
California Department of Public Health: Postponement of BabyBIG Fee Increase
California Department Of Public Health: Invoice and Purchase Agreement for BabyBIG
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by cardiologist Ali Rahimi, the founder of ALYKA Health, which uses a personalized mobile app to help patients manage their heart health between doctor's visits. Harlan discusses new developments in GLP-1 obesity drugs, including untested microdose treatments; Howie reviews a landmark study investigating whether broad prostate cancer screening saves lives.
Show notes:
GLP-1 Drugs
"Microdosing aims to extend the lifespan of the GLP-1 compounding market"
NIH: Regulatory Framework for Compounded Preparations
Health & Veritas Episode 140: Lee Schwamm: Smarter Healthcare Systems With AI
"FDA takes on GLP-1 compounding boom with warnings about misleading marketing"
"Should You Microdose GLP-1 Drugs?"
"How microdosing GLP-1 drugs became a longevity 'craze'"
"Bidding war between Pfizer, Novo Nordisk for obesity startup Metsera escalates"
"Trump Negotiating Deal With Ozempic Maker to Sell Some Weight-Loss Drugs for $149""Orforglipron, an Oral Small-Molecule GLP-1 Receptor Agonist for Obesity Treatment"
"How Ozempic's Maker Lost Its Shine After Creating a Wonder Drug"
Ali Rahimi
ALYKA Health
Harlan Krumholz and Ali Rahimi, "Financial Barriers to Health Care and Outcomes After Acute Myocardial Infarction"
"Why High Blood Pressure Matters to Your Health"
Building a Better Delivery System: A New Engineering/Health Care Partnership
NIH: The 21st Century Cures Act
New Evidence on Prostate Cancer Screening and Breast Cancer Treatment
National Cancer Institute: Cancer Stat Facts: Prostate Cancer"
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force: Prostate Cancer: Screening"
"The pros and cons of PSA tests for prostate cancer for midlife and older men"
"Share on European Study of Prostate Cancer Screening — 23-Year Follow-up"
"Early Detection of Prostate Cancer — Time to Fish or Cut Bait"
"Ten-Year Survival after Postmastectomy Chest-Wall Irradiation in Breast Cancer"
"Omission of Chest-Wall Irradiation after Mastectomy for Breast Cancer"
In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Nate Wood, a Yale School of Medicine internist and trained chef, to discuss his work combining lifestyle guidance with hands-on training in making healthy, tasty food. Harlan shares new guidance on what counts as a healthy blood pressure; Howie provides an update on rising health insurance costs.
Links:
Blood Pressure
Harlan Krumholz, "Severe Hypertension: The Next Never Event"
JACC: 2025 High Blood Pressure Guidelines Resources
"Trial of Intensive Blood-Pressure Control in Older Patients with Hypertension"
Obesity Drugs
"Semaglutide and Tirzepatide for Obesity: Effectiveness and Value"
"Institute for Clinical and Economic Review Publishes Evidence Report on Treatments for Obesity"
Harlan Krumholz and Jason Abaluck, "Changes in Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Health Care Expenditures Among Patients Prescribed Semaglutide"
Culinary Medicine
"Culinary Medicine: The Secret Ingredient to Good Health"
American College of Lifestyle Medicine
"How each lifestyle medicine pillar supports good nutrition"
Dr. John La Puma
"What to know about 'hyperpalatable' foods"
Food is Medicine Coalition: Our Model
American Academy of Family Physicians: Shared Medical Appointments/Group Visits
Cleveland Clinic: GLP-1 Agonists
Yale New Haven Hospital: Irving and Alice Brown Teaching Kitchen
"Bringing Culinary Medicine to Yale's New Teaching Kitchen"
Dr. Nate Wood
Nate Wood on Instagram
Health Insurance Costs
Kaiser Family Foundation: 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey
"Health Benefits In 2025: Family Premiums Rise 6 Percent, Large Employers Increase Coverage Of GLP-1s For Weight Loss"
"Annual Family Premiums for Employer Coverage Rise 6% in 2025, Nearing $27,000, with Workers Paying $6,850 Toward Premiums Out of Their Paychecks"
"8 Things to Watch for the 2026 ACA Open Enrollment Period"
"ACA Insurers Are Raising Premiums by an Estimated 26%, but Most Enrollees Could See Sharper Increases in What They Pay"
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale School of Medicine immunologist Akiko Iwasaki, a leading authority on vaccines and long COVID. Harlan reflects on America's crisis of trust in federal agencies; Howie provides some good news about bird flu.
Links:
Losing Trust
Harlan Krumholz: "When Your Patient Dies"
"Federal Agents Stage Raid on Canal Street in New York City, Arresting 9"
"White House expands East Wing demolition as critics decry Trump overreach"
"Americans' Job Ratings of Six Key U.S. Agencies Worsen"
"NEJM and public health group are launching rival to CDC's MMWR publication"
"South Carolina measles outbreak rises as schools with low vaccination see new cases"
Akiko Iwasaki
Health & Veritas Ep. 9: Dr. Akiko Iwasaki: Is Long COVID One Disease or Many?
"The Long COVID Puzzle: Autoimmunity, Inflammation, and Other Possible Causes"
"A New Kind of Clinical Trial: Bringing Long COVID Research Into Patients' Homes"
"New Evidence Supports Autoimmunity as One of Long COVID's Underlying Drivers"
"Scientist Dr. Akiko Iwasaki Joins SPEAR Study Group to Investigate Monoclonal Antibodies for Long COVID and COVID-19 Post-Vaccination Syndrome"
"Long Covid: A parallel pandemic"
"Effectiveness of Colchicine for the Treatment of Long COVID"
Akiko Iwasaki and Harlan Krumholz: "Nirmatrelvir–ritonavir versus placebo–ritonavir in individuals with long COVID in the USA (PAX LC): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 2, decentralised trial"
"Does Paxlovid Reduce Long COVID Symptoms? Yale-Led Trial Finds Out"
Akiko Iwasaki: "Unexplained post-acute infection syndromes"
"Post-Acute Infection Syndromes Will Be the Focus of New YSM Center"
CDC: ME/CFS Basics
"Varicella-zoster virus reactivation and the risk of dementia"
Akiko Iwasaki and Harlan Krumholz: "Immunological and Antigenic Signatures Associated with Chronic Illnesses after COVID-19 Vaccination"
"A small study on Covid vaccine safety sparks an online tempest"
"We have 'post-vaccination syndrome.' We are tired of being used to score anti-vax points"
Health & Veritas Ep. 162: Paul Lombardo: Reckoning with the Dark History of Eugenics
Health & Veritas Ep. 163: Michael Dunne: Confronting the Antibiotic Resistance Crisis
Mayo Clinic: Alpha-gal syndrome
Akiko Iwasaki: Woman shares what it's like to live with alpha-gal meat allergy triggered by tick bite"
"'Explosive increase' of ticks that cause meat allergy in US due to climate crisis"
"Why Is Martha's Vineyard Going Vegan? It's All About Tick Bites."
"Beneficial Bloodsucking"
Akiko Iwasaki on X
Bird Flu
"Bird Flu Is Back"
CDC: H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation
"RNA replicon vaccination confers long-lasting protection against H5N1 avian influenza in 23 zoo bird species"
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Rajlakshmi Krishnamurthy, the Yale School of Medicine's associate dean for population health, to discuss her work building holistic systems for care at multiple institutions. Harlan discusses healthcare headlines including the launch of "TrumpRX"; Howie reports on a new study taking a novel approach to understanding the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Links:
Healthcare Headlines
"The Latest: Gaza ceasefire holds as Israeli military says Red Cross to transfer remains of deceased"
"More than 20 kids in India have died from contaminated cough syrup. Who's to blame?"
"Senate-passed BIOSECURE Act would add arrow to Trump's drug-pricing quiver"
Wuxi Biologics
H.R.8333: BIOSECURE Act
TrumpRx
"Trump unveils deal for AstraZeneca to cut Medicaid drug prices and join 'TrumpRx' site"
"President announces TrumpRx website for drugs, and pricing deal with Pfizer"
"Exclusive: Bill Gates, PAHO consider ways to bring weight-loss drugs to lower-income countries"
Pan American Health Organization
World Health Organization: Obesity and overweight
"Exclusive: Most patients using weight-loss drugs like Wegovy stop within a year, data show"
"In biotech, Boston reigns supreme, but its competitive edge is being challenged in new ways"
"'Disheartening? Yes. Surprising? No.' Report on the future of biotech in Mass. gives a grim outlook."
Population Health
CDC: Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Model
American Academy of Family Physicians: Transitional Care Management
"The University of Chicago Medicine to Join CMS Alternative Payment Model"
UChicago Medicine: Accountable Care Organization
Chicago Health Atlas: Social Vulnerability Index
"Relationship Between Social Risk Factors and Emergency Department Use: National Health Interview Survey 2016–2018"
The COVID-19 Vaccine
"Association of 2024–2025 Covid-19 Vaccine with Covid-19 Outcomes in U.S. Veterans"
Katelyn Jetelina: Updated 2025 fall vaccine guide
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan discuss the roots of the crisis in emergency departments, the lack of oversight for hydration spas, new approaches in blood pressure treatment, an ingenious method to prevent malaria, and the CDC’s backward steps on vaccines.
Links:
Emergency Departments
“I'm an ER doctor. JD Vance's claims about immigrants and wait times are just wrong.”
“It’s Just a Virus, the E.R. Told Him. Days Later, He Was Dead.”
Video of Ron Paul: “Should society let uninsured die?”
American College of Emergency Physicians: Understanding EMTALA
“Explaining the G.O.P.’s Misleading Talking Point on the Looming Shutdown”
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid: Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA)
Health & Veritas Ep. 188: Kate Heilpern: Jumping into the Deep End
Health & Veritas Ep. 47: Dr. Jeremy Faust: Is COVID Over? It's Complicated.
Jeremy Faust: “Inside Medicine Read-Through: Commentary on the New York Times article about a tragic ER case”
Harlan Krumholz: “Early Warning Scores With and Without Artificial Intelligence”
Howard Forman: “Why Hospitals Need to Stop Boarding Patients in Emergency Rooms”
Howard Forman: “How to Keep Emergency Rooms Focused on True Emergencies”
The Revolving Door
“Peter Marks, FDA vaccine regulator ousted by RFK Jr., joins Eli Lilly”
Peter Marks Resignation Letter
“Peter Marks, FDA’s top vaccine regulator, forced out”
“Fired C.D.C. Director Describes Clashes With Kennedy and Turmoil at Agency”
“Ex-CDER chief Patrizia Cavazzoni becomes Pfizer’s chief medical officer”
Hydration Spas
Howard Forman: “State Policies and Facility Practices of IV Hydration Spas in the US”
Health & Veritas Ep. 123: Margo Harrison: Women’s Health as a Path to Empowerment
“Hydration spas are largely unregulated, study finds”
New Developments in Blood Pressure Treatment
“Baxdrostat met the primary endpoint in Bax24 Phase III trial in patients with resistant hypertension”
“AstraZeneca's $1.3B bet yields 2nd phase 3 blood pressure win, bolstering differentiation case”
Harlan Krumholz: “The Disquieting Plateau”
“Under new guidelines, more Americans meet the criteria for high blood pressure”
“2025 AHA/ACC/AANP/AAPA/ABC/ACCP/ACPM/AGS/AMA/ASPC/NMA/PCNA/SGIM Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines”
“Permethrin-Treated Baby Wraps for the Prevention of Malaria”
AI in Medicine: Doximity, OpenEvidence, and UpToDate
“OpenEvidence raises $210M, unveils AI agents built for advanced medical research”
Health & Veritas, Ep. 183: Seth Berkowitz: The Power Problem
“Doximity buys Pathway Medical for $63 million to help doctors get AI-powered answers”
“A long-trusted physician’s reference finally catches the AI wave”
Congenital syphilis
Health & Veritas Ep. 178: Sarah DeSilvey: Creating Space for Healing
“Are STIs truly declining, or is our data just not very good? What the 2024 CDC STI report really shows”
“Why Syphilis Cases in Newborns Are Rising Even as STIs Decline”
MMR Vaccine
“Acting CDC director calls to 'break up' the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into three shots”
“Worried about splitting up the MMR vaccine into three separate shots? You should be, this doctor says”
“More measles cases confirmed in South Carolina, Michigan as US total climbs to 1,563”
Nobel Prizes and Science at Yale
“Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Is Awarded for Work on Immune Systems”
“Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025”
“Yale’s Michel H. Devoret wins 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Vanessa Cooper, a Yale School of Medicine neurologist, to discuss the causes of migraines and promising new treatments for the disorder. Harlan discusses his approach as a journal editor to the use of AI in academic writing; Howie reports on the premium tax credits for insurance purchased through Affordable Care Act exchanges that are at stake in the government shutdown.
Links:
The Government Shutdown
“Government Shutdown Live Updates”
“The US government has shut down. Here's what to know”
“Watch: Hegseth rails against 'beardos' and 'woke' at gathering of US generals”
Harlan Krumholz: “Tools, Not Ghosts: Artificial Intelligence, Writing, and Responsibility”
Headaches
“The global prevalence of headache: an update, with analysis of the influences of methodological factors on prevalence estimates”
“Migraine with aura”
“General neurology: Current challenges and future implications”
“Eleven Reasons People Decide to Choose Headache Medicine: There May Be a Headache Medicine Provider Shortage but there are Ways to Foster Interest”
“How to Find the Right Doctor for Proper Migraine Management”
Cleveland Clinic: Chronic Migraine
Mayo Clinic: Cluster headache
Mayo Clinic: Trigeminal neuralgia”
“Migraine With Aura”
American Headache Society: Types of Aura
“Rethinking migraine with aura: Why cortical spreading depolarization (depression), not aura, causes headaches”
“Effects of anti-epileptic drugs on spreading depolarization-induced epileptiform activity in mouse hippocampal slices”
“CGRP Inhibitors”
“Top migraine medication effective for preventing migraines, treating drug-induced headaches is hard to access”
“Review: An Update on CGRP Monoclonal Antibodies for the Preventive Treatment of Episodic Migraine”
International Neuromodulation Society: About Neuromodulation
American Association of Neurological Surgeons: Vagus Nerve Stimulation
Cefaly
Gammacore
American Headache Society: First Contact: Headache in Primary Care
ACA Tax Credits and the Government Shutdown
“Why ACA tax credits for 22 million Americans are at the center of the government shutdown drama”
“Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance 101”
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services: Medicare Monthly Enrollment
Medicaid.gov: June 2025 Medicaid & CHIP Enrollment Data Highlights
“ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire”
“The Estimated Effects of Enacting Selected Health Coverage Policies on the Federal Budget and on the Number of People With Health Insurance”
“How an ACA Premium Spike Will Affect Family Budgets, and Voters”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Kate Heilpern, president of Yale New Haven Hospital, to discuss the innovation and adaption needed to lead NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how Yale New Haven Health structures itself to provide quality care across five hospitals. Harlan reflects on the many biotech startups emerging from Yale; Howie responds to the Trump administration's assertion of a link between acetaminophen and autism.
Links:
Biotech at Yale and Beyond
“Investors Flock Back to Biotech After a Long, Cold Spell
“Boom, Bust and Recover: What Happens Next as Biotech VC Cycle Resets”.
“Pfizer to Buy Weight-Loss Drug Developer Metsera for Up to $7.3 Billion”
Yale Ventures
Health & Veritas Ep. 80: Josh Geballe: Turning Yale Innovation into Startups
Yale Ventures Annual Report 2025
Cloverleaf Bio
Allyx Therapeutics
EvolveImmune Therapeutics
Normunity
Inozyme Pharma
“BioMarin to buy rare disease drugmaker Inozyme for $270M”
“Estimated Research and Development Investment Needed to Bring a New Medicine to Market, 2009-2018”
Kate Heilpern
“Yale New Haven Hospital announces new president”
“Yale New Haven Health announces Katherine Heilpern, MD, as the new president of Yale New Haven Hospital”
“Heilpern sees society reflected in the busy ER”
“Meet the Heroes Fighting on the Front Lines Against Covid-19”
“’Adrenaline, Duty, and Fear’: Inside a New York Hospital Taking on the Coronavirus”
Health & Veritas Ep. 116: Christopher O’Connor: Hospital Leadership in Trying Times
“Saving America's ERs”
“The 600 Pathways Yale New Haven Health Takes to Improved Care Delivery”
Tylenol and Autism
“Trump Issues Warning Based on Unproven Link Between Tylenol and Autism”
“Trump links autism and Tylenol: is there any truth to it?”
“Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy and Children’s Risk of Autism, ADHD, and Intellectual Disability”
“Study reveals no causal link between neurodevelopmental disorders and acetaminophen exposure before birth”
“Does Stress Cause Ulcers?”
“The Effect of Vitamin E and Beta Carotene on the Incidence of Lung Cancer and Other Cancers in Male Smokers”
“The U.S. government has jumped the public health shark”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale School of Medicine geriatrician Barry Wu, who provides a framework for family caregivers and physicians to understand the needs of older adults. Harlan reports on Congress's shifting approach to funding research; Howie reflects on a survey showing that many college students believe that violence is an acceptable way to protest a campus speaker.
Links:
Congressional Directives on Funding Research
House Appropriations Committee Press Release: “Committee Approves FY26 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act”
“Report of the Committee on Appropriations House of Representatives”
“House Committee on Appropriations Approves FY 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor HHS) Appropriations Bill & Accompanying Report”
Supporting Older Adults
John A. Hartford Foundation: Age-Friendly Care
Barry Wu: “Medical students applying the 4Ms during their first week of school”
“Caregiving from 460 Miles Away: A Geriatrician’s Experience Caring for His Mother”
“2020 Census: 1 in 6 People in the United States Were 65 and Over”
“The Paradoxical Decline of Geriatric Medicine as a Profession”
Violence and Speech
“What You Need to Know About Charlie Kirk’s Assassination”
“Student acceptance of violence in response to speech hits a record high”
“Yale Political Union attendees challenge King’s son on nonviolence”
ACA Subsidies
“ObamaCare fight meets shutdown politics: What to know”
“Congressional District Interactive Map: How Much Will ACA Premium Payments Rise if Enhanced Subsidies Expire?”
“Explaining the Muddle on ACA Tax Credits”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by physician, scientist, and author Eric Topol to discuss his new book, Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity; the potential of individualized polygenic risk scores; and the dangers of the protein craze.
Links:
Health & Veritas Ep. 58: Dr. Eric Topol: Pushing Medicine into the Future
Eric Topol: Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity
Eric Topol: “The Drivers of Age-Related Diseases”
Eric Topol: “A Review of Outlive”
Eric Topol, Ground Truths podcast: “Peter Attia: Our conversation about his hit book Outlive, Medicine 3.0, promoting healthspan, GLP-1 drugs and more”
Eric Topol: The Creative Destruction of Medicine
Eric Topol: The Patient Will See You Now
Eric Topol: Deep Medicine
Eric Topol: “Our Preoccupation With Protein Intake”
The Daily podcast: “How America Got Obsessed with Protein”
“High-protein diets increase cardiovascular risk by activating macrophage mTOR to suppress mitophagy”
“Identification of a leucine-mediated threshold effect governing macrophage mTOR signalling and cardiovascular risk”
“5 Takeaways From Kennedy’s Senate Hearing”
Eric Topol on the Dr. Hyman Show: “How AI Could Change Your Next Doctor Visit Forever!”
Eric Topol: “The Business of Promoting Longevity and Healthspan”
The Age of the Infovore: Succeeding in the Information Economy
Eric Topol, Ground Truths podcast: “Tyler Cowen: The Prototypic Polymath”
“How a scientist who studies ‘super agers’ exercises for a longer life”
Eric Topol: “Our Sleep, Brain Aging, and Waste Clearance”
“Alzheimer's genes: Are you at risk?”
Eric Topol: “The Breakthrough Blood Test for Alzheimer's Disease”
Eric Topol: “Predicting and preventing Alzheimer’s disease”
Eric Topol: “The personal and clinical utility of polygenic risk scores”
Eric Topol: “Polygenic Risk Scores: Ready for Prime Time?”
“Physical Activity Among Adults Aged 18 and Over: United States, 2020”
“Wellderly” studies
Eric Topol: “What My Two 98-Year-Old Patients Taught Me About Longevity”
Eric Topol, Ground Truths podcast: “Mike Osterholm & Eric Topol Discuss The Big One book”
“Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy”
Eric Topol: “Lithium and Its Potential Protection from Alzheimer's Disease”
Eric Topol: “High-performance medicine: the convergence of human and artificial intelligence”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan discuss Dr. Vinay Prasad’s departure from the FDA after a backlash against his decisions on Sarepta’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy. Also examined: AI in clinical settings, changes in NIH grantmaking, and the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid.
Links:
Sarepta and the FDA
“STAT breaks down the confusing, heartbreaking Sarepta saga”
“Sarepta Therapeutics’ Duchenne therapy faces ‘arduous’ path back to market, senior FDA official says”
“For many Duchenne families, halt to gene therapy is heartbreak upon heartbreak”
“FDA launches probe into new Elevidys death as Sarepta, Roche stress gene therapy not at fault”
“FDA Recommends Removal of Voluntary Hold for Elevidys for Ambulatory Patients”
“FDA takes U-turn on Sarepta’s Elevidys, backing Duchenne gene therapy again in ambulatory patients”
“Controversial FDA official Dr. Vinay Prasad departs agency”
“Top F.D.A. Vaccine Official Resigns, Citing Kennedy’s ‘Misinformation and Lies’”
“Vinay Prasad Is a Bernie Sanders Acolyte in MAHA Drag”
“Timeline: The Rise and Fall of Vioxx”
“What have we learnt from Vioxx?”
THC in pizza dough
“C.D.C. Ties 85 Cases of THC-Related Symptoms to Wisconsin Restaurant”
“Tetrahydrocannabinol Intoxication from Food at a Restaurant — Wisconsin, October 2024”
NIH funding
“NIH is shrinking the number of research projects it funds due to a new Trump policy”
NIH: Supporting Fairness and Originality in NIH Research Applications
“Fearful of AI-generated grant proposals, NIH limits scientists to six applications per year”
“Trump budget draft proposes NIH consolidation and 40% spending cut”
Raw milk
“Outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium Infections Linked to Commercially Distributed Raw Milk — California and Four Other States, September 2023–March 2024”
“The Dangers of Raw Milk: Unpasteurized Milk Can Pose a Serious Health Risk”
AI in healthcare update
“Ambience Healthcare Announces $243 Million Series C to Scale its AI Platform for Health Systems”
“As ambient scribes face off, Doximity lures doctors with a free option”
Aidoc: “AI Empowering Radiologists”
“Clinical Implementation of a Combined Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing Quality Assurance Program for Pulmonary Nodule Detection in the Emergency Department Setting”
“Large Language Models as an Inexpensive and Effective Extra Set of Eyes in Radiology Reporting”
“Current Trends in Remote and Flexible Work Options in Radiology and Perception of Impact on Radiologist Well-being”
Medicare and Medicaid 60th anniversary
CMS’ program history
“Medicare and Medicaid turn 60 – and face historic cuts decades in the making”
UnitedHealth and Medicare Advantage
“UnitedHealth says 2025 earnings will be worse than expected as high medical costs dog insurers”
“UnitedHealthcare to exit certain Medicare Advantage markets as costs balloon, impacting 600K enrollees”
“Novo Nordisk slides further on US competition, new CEO concerns”
“Dems Must Really Fix Medicaid, Not Just Undo Trump’s Damage to It”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by public health communicator Katelyn Jetelina for updates on COVID-19 and other issues, and to discuss how her emails to students and colleagues in the early days of the pandemic turned into a platform with global reach. Harlan looks at how AI is being used on both sides of the battle between providers and insurers over claims; Howie reports on a setback with a promising gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Links:
Insurance Claims, AI, and Wearables
“Elevance Health Reports Second Quarter 2025 Results”
“Elevance lowers profit outlook, warns things will get worse for health insurers ““Blue KC wrongfully denied medical diagnoses, hospital alleges in AI-driven claims lawsuit”
“Oscar Health cuts full-year guidance, estimates 2025 loss as ACA marketplace stumbles”
Whoop
“WHOOP Delivers Innovative Blood Pressure Insights for a Deeper Look at Your Well-Being”
“Introducing Heart Screener: A smarter way to stay connected to your heart health”
“Whoop says FDA is ‘overstepping its authority’ with warning about blood pressure feature”
FDA: WARNING LETTER, WHOOP, Inc.
“RFK Jr. wants everyone to use wearables. What are the benefits, risks?”
“Apple to Sell Watches With Blood-Oxygen Feature Disabled After Legal Setback”
Your Local Epidemiologist
Your Local Epidemiologist
“Poll: Trust in Public Health Agencies and Vaccines Falls Amid Republican Skepticism”
“Popular epidemiologist lays out future path of public health communication”
Yale School of Public Health: PopHIVE
Katelyn Jetelina: “NIH: The quiet engine of science is being dismantled”
Katelyn Jetelina: “Covid-19 in pockets, sugar cane isn't better, ticks march on, rescission cuts (vs. everything else), bright spots, and more”
Mayo Clinic: Norovirus infection
Katelyn Jetelina: “The show must go on...”
Katelyn Jetelina: “Harassment against scientists is out of control”
Katelyn Jetelina: “Medicaid cuts: The how and why”
CDC: H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation
CDC: Current Epidemic Trends (Based on Rt) for States”
CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks
Treating Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Cleveland Clinic: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD)
“FDA approves Sarepta’s Duchenne gene therapy for nearly all patients”
“AAV gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy: the EMBARK phase 3 randomized trial”
“Patient dies in Sarepta gene therapy trial, adding to safety concerns”
“FDA Requests Sarepta Therapeutics Suspend Distribution of Elevidys and Places Clinical Trials on Hold for Multiple Gene Therapy Products Following 3 Deaths”
“In surprise reversal, Sarepta Therapeutics says it will pause shipments of Duchenne gene therapy”
“Sarepta to lay off about 500 employees after Duchenne gene therapy setbacks”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Seth Berkowitz, an internist and health equity expert, who argues that we know how to keep people healthier but are lacking the political will and commitment to do so. Harlan reports on a rapidly growing AI platform for doctors; Howie explains why the budget bill could reduce access to medical school.
Links:
OpenEvidence
OpenEvidence
“OpenEvidence, the Fastest-Growing Application for Physicians in History, Announces $210 Million Round at $3.5 Billion Valuation”
“This AI Founder Became A Billionaire By Building ChatGPT For Doctors”
“Wall Street Tech Spree: With Kensho Acquisition S&P Global Makes Largest A.I. Deal In History”
Forbes Profile: Daniel Nadler
ClinicalKey AI
Seth Berkowitz
Health & Veritas Ep. 164: Sarah Taylor: The Science of Breastfeeding
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services: Healthy Opportunities Pilots
Seth Berkowitz: “Medicaid Spending and Health-Related Social Needs in the North Carolina Healthy Opportunities Pilots Program”
“NC Healthy Opportunities Program Helped Reduce Medicaid Costs”
Seth Berkowitz: Equal Care: Health Equity, Social Democracy, and the Egalitarian State
USDA: Food Security in the U.S.
“These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration”
“For Google, health equity becomes ‘health optimization’ as Trump targets DEI”
“Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ cuts food stamps for millions—the average family may lose $146 per month, report finds”
“Why 1.5 Million New Yorkers Could Lose Health Insurance Under Trump Bill”
“The fundamental importance of social insurance for health equity”
United States Census Bureau: Quick Facts
“Social Security: A Brief History of Social Insurance”
Seth Berkowitz: “Expanded Child Tax Credit and Food Insecurity”
USDA: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
“5 Key Facts About Medicaid Work Requirements”
Health & Veritas Ep. 125: Atheendar Venkataramani: Opportunity, Hope, and Health
The Budget and Medical Education
“Examining Long-Term Trends in Reported Tuition and Fees Revenues at U.S. Medical Schools”
“Medical Student Education: Debt, Costs, and Loan Repayment Fact Card for the Class of 2024”
Department of Education: Direct Subsidized and Direct Unsubsidized Loans
Department of Education: Direct PLUS Loans for Graduate or Professional Students
“Medical students fret over the new student loan cap in the 'big, beautiful bill'“
Department of Education: Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
Executive Order: Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness
“U.S. Department of Education Concludes Negotiated Rulemaking Session to Restore Public Service Loan Forgiveness”
“How Trump Wants to Reshape a Major Student Loan Forgiveness Program—and Who Could Be Impacted”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Azita Emami, dean of the Yale School of Nursing, to discuss the school’s approach to training nurses who can have a seat at the table of healthcare decision-making. Harlan reports on his new study showing the low levels of evidence required for medical devices in the FDA’s Breakthrough Devices Program; Howie provides some good news about infectious diseases including malaria and HIV.
Links:
Breakthrough devices?
Harlan Krumholz: “FDA Authorization of Therapeutic Devices Under the Breakthrough Devices Program”
FDA: Breakthrough Devices Program
“Many medical devices deemed ‘breakthrough’ by FDA are backed by patchy evidence”
FDA Facts: Biomarkers and Surrogate Endpoints
Harlan Krumholz: “Class I Recalls of Cardiovascular Devices Between 2013 and 2022 : A Cross-Sectional Analysis”
Azita Emami
“Americans' Ratings of U.S. Professions Stay Historically Low”
“University of Washington selects Azita Emami as dean of School of Nursing”
“Azita Emami named new dean of School of Nursing”
“The Report of the Rockefeller Foundation on Nursing Education: A Review and Critique”
Cleveland Clinic: DHEAS Test
“DHEA as a Biomarker of Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis”
Azita Emami: “Assessing stress using repeated saliva concentration of steroid hormones in dementia care dyads: results from a controlled pilot care music intervention”
Azita Emami: “The Feasibility and Acceptability of In-Home Saliva Collection for Stress in Persons With Dementia and Their Family Caregivers”
Infectious diseases
Mayo Clinic: Malaria
WHO: World Malaria Report 2024
“Georgia certified malaria-free by WHO”
“Suriname certified malaria-free by WHO”
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
“Novartis wins approval for first malaria drug for newborns and babies”
“FDA Approves a Twice-Yearly Shot to Prevent HIV”
“U.S. measles cases hit highest level in 33 years, CDC reports”
Texas Department of State Health Services: Measles Outbreak
“The West Texas measles outbreak has started to slow for the first time since January”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan discuss the alarming healthcare cuts proposed in the budget bill currently moving through Congress, recent breakthroughs in HIV prevention and diabetes treatment, and the stark contrast between scientific progress and the deep structural flaws in the U.S. healthcare system.
Links:
The Budget Bill
H.R.1—119th Congress (2025-2026)
“A List of Nearly Everything in the Senate G.O.P. Bill, and How Much It Would Cost or Save”
“Senate passes Trump’s tax-cut bill that would slash Medicaid spending”
“5 ways Trump's tax bill will limit health care access”
“Murkowski Casts Decisive Vote for G.O.P. Policy Bill, Making an ‘Agonizing’ Choice”
“Mapping Hospital Employment By State”
“Health Care Just Became the U.S.'s Largest Employer”
The Budget Bill and Universities
Yale Office of the Provost: “Actions in anticipation of federal legislation”
“Yale pauses hiring, tightens budget in anticipation of endowment tax hike”
“Yale Is Rushing to Sell Billions in Private Equity Investments”
“Trump Has Targeted These Universities. Why?”
“Republican Plan to Tax Elite Colleges Could Hit in Unexpected Places”
“The NIH’s drastic cut to indirect cost rates is a critical threat to U.S. research infrastructure”
The 340B Drug Program
Congressional Research Service: Overview of the 340B Drug Discount Program
“J&J suffers a loss over 340B drug discount program”
“ Beyond the Sloganeering—A Data-Driven Analysis of Recent 340B Growth”
American Hospital Association: Fact Sheet: The 340B Drug Pricing Program
PhRMA: The 340B Hospital Markup Program
A Stem Cell Treatment for Diabetes
“Stem Cell-Derived Islet Therapies Shown to Reduce the Need for Injectable Insulin”
“Kennedy Says ‘Charlatans’ Are No Reason to Block Unproven Stem Cell Treatments”
Mayo Clinic: “Stem cells: What they are and what they do”
Cleveland Clinic: Diabetes
“Stem Cell–Derived, Fully Differentiated Islets for Type 1 Diabetes”
Medicare Advantage and the VA
“Insurers Collected Billions From Medicare for Veterans Who Cost Them Almost Nothing”
“Lawmakers Seek to Close VA Loophole That Funnels Billions to Private Medicare Insurers”
“Medicare Advantage Plans With High Numbers Of Veterans: Enrollment, Utilization, And Potential Wasteful Spending”
A New HIV Drug
HIV.gov: A Timeline of HIV and AIDS
“HIV protection with just two shots a year: FDA approves Gilead drug”
“Shuttering of USAID Will Lead to Millions of Deaths Around the World: Studies”
“Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis”
Kennedy v. Braidwood
Health & Veritas Episode 84: Abbe Gluck: The Legal Determinants of Health
Supreme Court opinion: KENNEDY, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL. v. BRAIDWOOD MANAGEMENT, INC., ET AL.
“Kennedy v. Braidwood: The Supreme Court Upheld ACA Preventive Services but That’s Not the End of the Story”
“Supreme Court Upholds Preventive Services Requirement Under ACA”
The Big Picture for U.S. Healthcare
“The Perfect Storm has Hit U.S. Healthcare”
“National Health Expenditure Projections, 2024–33: Despite Insurance Coverage Declines, Health To Grow As Share Of GDP”
Exercise and Cancer
“Structured Exercise after Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Stephen Waxman, a leading neurology researcher, to discuss the promise of new methods developed by his lab to treat the ravages of pain. Harlan talks about the importance of ratings for Medicare Advantage plans; Howie assesses two sobering new reports on the solvency of Medicare.
Links:
Harlan’s Section
Slides from Humana's Investor Day
"Humana’s cautious defense of Medicare Advantage"
"What Are the Medicare Star Ratings?"
"Early analysis: How health plans fared in the 2025 Medicare Advantage star ratings"
Interview with Dr. Waxman
"F.D.A. Approves Drug to Treat Pain Without Opioid Effects"
"A brief historical perspective: Hodgkin and Huxley"
"A quantitative description of membrane current and its application to conduction and excitation in nerve"
Nobel Prize: “Speed read: Signal to charge"
"Sodium channels and pain"
"Targeting a Peripheral Sodium Channel to Treat Pain"
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: "Ronald Niedermann"
"Peripheral Sodium Channel Blocker Could Revolutionize Treatment for Nerve Pain"
"Interplay of Nav1.8 and Nav1.7 channels drives neuronal hyperexcitability in neuropathic pain"
"Pharmacotherapy for Pain in a Family With Inherited Erythromelalgia Guided by Genomic Analysis and Functional Profiling"
"Neuropathic Pain"
"A historical perspective on the discovery of statins"
"Erythromelalgia"
"The Two Sides of NaV1.7: Painful and Painless Channelopathies"
"Dr. Stephen Waxman awarded Sharpey-Schafer Prize for pain research"
Nobel Prize: "Robert Edwards"
"Gain-of-function mutation in Nav1.7 in familial erythromelalgia induces bursting of sensory neurons"
"Scientists Identify Method to Study Resilience to Pain"
"Chasing the genes behind pain"
"Stephen Waxman: pioneer in axons, their disorders, and pain"
"I Feel Like I’m Burning Alive. It’s Hard for People to Believe Me"
"‘How badly does it hurt?’ Challenges of measuring pain in clinical trials"
Howie’s Section
"2025 Medicare Trustees Report"
"Analysis of the 2025 Medicare Trustees' Report"
"Medicare gets a big (unofficial) surprise: a 17-year extension on when it’ll run dry"
"Evan Sussman: Expanding Access to Fertility Drugs"
"Trump gives major lift to 2026 Medicare Advantage payments"
"June 2025 Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System"
"Medicare Advantage’s supplemental benefits will cost taxpayers $86 billion this year, with little transparency"
"How UnitedHealth turned a questionable artery-screening program into a gold mine"
"From boom to bitcoin: A device maker’s surprising pivot amid a Medicare crackdown"
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan discuss health and healthcare issues making headlines, including public attitudes toward the Medicaid cuts in the budget bill making its way through Congress, a one-time gene therapy that could cure high cholesterol, “ambient” AI in the exam room, and the replacement of the the CDC’s entire vaccine advisory board.
Links:
Remembering Atul Butte
“Atul Butte, a biomedical and bioinformatics pioneer, dies at 55”
Marina Sirota on LinkedIn
“Remembering Atul Butte, MD, PhD”
The Budget Bill
H.R.1—One Big Beautiful Bill Act
“KFF Health Tracking Poll: Views of the One Big Beautiful Bill”
CBO: Dynamic Estimate of H.R. 1, One Big Beautiful Bill Act
“Protesters disrupt town-hall healthcare talks”
Vinay Prasad
“Vinay Prasad named chief medical and science officer at FDA”
“Critic of drug industry and COVID-19 measures to lead FDA vaccine program”
Medicaid Cuts
“Senate GOP tax bill would hit politically explosive Medicaid provision”
“The Senate Wants Billions More in Medicaid Cuts, Pinching States and Infuriating Hospitals”
“5 Key Facts About Medicaid Work Requirements”
“Georgia Touts Its Medicaid Experiment as a Success. The Numbers Tell a Different Story.”
“Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage Program: The First Year in Review”
“Trump’s Big Bill Would Be More Regressive Than Any Major Law in Decades”
Gene Therapy to Prevent Heart Disease
Verve Therapeutics
Verve Therapeutics: Sekar Kathiresan, M.D.
“Lilly to buy gene-editing partner Verve for up to $1.3 billion in cardiac care push”
“Viral Vector-Based Gene Therapy”
“mRNA-based therapeutics: powerful and versatile tools to combat diseases”
“Second patient death reported with gene therapy for muscular dystrophy”
Anti-Vaxxers at the CDC
“Scoop: CDC has no Acting Director, sources confirm.”
Video: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the polio vaccine
“This tech millionaire went from covid trial funder to misinformation superspreader”
“Kennedy Removes All C.D.C. Vaccine Panel Experts”
“RFK Jr. replaced everyone on the CDC's vaccine panel. Here's why that matters”
“ACIP, CDC, and Insurance Coverage of Vaccines in the United States”
Ambient AI
“Ambient AI Is Having Its ‘Moment’ In Healthcare”
“This technology is becoming beloved by doctors and patients alike”
“Physician Perspectives on Ambient AI Scribes”
“Microsoft unveils new voice-activated AI assistant for doctors”
“Kaiser Permanente rolls out Abridge's gen AI clinical tech across 40-hospital system”
“Andreessen Horowitz in Deal Talks Valuing Abridge AI at $5.3 Billion”
“Abridge easing clinician workload”
Howie and Harlan are joined by Sarah DeSilvey to talk about her career as a rural nurse practitioner and her work to create a shared vocabulary for tracking social determinants of health. Harlan unpacks the research implications of the “big beautiful bill” in Congress, and reports on his new research about the link between state gun laws and deaths among children; Howie discusses the simple steps that can prevent syphilis from being passed from mothers to babies in utero.
Links:
Budget Cuts
“Senators push back on Trump’s proposed $18 billion NIH budget cut”
“H.R.1—One Big Beautiful Bill Act”
“NIH details how Trump budget would cut support for grants, training, and research centers”“How cuts at the National Institutes of Health could impact Americans' health”
Harlan Krumholz: “Characterization of Research Grant Terminations at the National Institutes of Health”
Guns and Kids
Harlan Krumholz: “Firearm Laws and Pediatric Mortality in the US”
Jeremy Faust: Inside Medicine
McDonald v. City of Chicago
Health & Veritas Episode 174: James Dodington: Protecting Kids from Gun Violence
Sarah DeSilvey
The Gravity Project
CDC: Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)
WIC: USDA's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
“WIC Works: Addressing the Nutrition and Health Needs of Low-Income Families for More Than Four Decades”
“Trump Budget Would Slash WIC Fruit and Vegetable Benefits for Millions”
Health Level 7L7
Congenital Syphilis
“Missed Opportunities for Congenital Syphilis Prevention—Clark County, Nevada, 2017–2022”
CDC: Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report
Health & Veritas Episode 1777: Dave Chokshi: Lessons from the Front Lines of the Pandemic
Health & Veritas Epoisode 155: Manisha Juthani: Solving Infectious Disease Mysteries
Cleveland Clinic: Congenital rubella syndrome
CDC: Congenital Syphilis—Reported Cases and Rates of Reported Cases by Year of Birth, by State/Territory and Region in Alphabetical Order, United States
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dave Chokshi, who led New York City’s response to COVID-19 as health commissioner and serves as chair of the Common Health Coalition, which is working to prepare for future crises by strengthening partnerships between healthcare and public health. Harlan reports on a trip to China; Howie says it’s time for a global effort to expand rubella vaccination.
Links:
Harlan in China
Harlan Krumholz: Yale China Project
Harlan Krumholz receives China’s Friendship Award
“China has become a scientific superpower”
Dave Chokshi
Common Health Coalition
Dave Chokshi: “Public Health and Care Delivery—a Common Destiny”
Common Health Coalition Challenge
“Common Health Coalition Announces Awards of More Than $400,000 Through Inaugural Common Health Challenge”
Harlan Krumholz: “State-Level Excess Mortality and Potential Deaths Averted in US Adults During the Delta and Omicron Waves of COVID-19”
“New York’s Vaccine Mandates Saved Lives, Departing Health Boss Says”
BMJ series: “US covid-19 lessons for future health protection and preparedness”
Health & Veritas Episode 175: Rebekah Gee: Improving Health, One Family at a Time
Center for American Progress: Hurricane Katrina’s Health Care Legacy
NYC Health + Hospitals
“Dave Chokshi, MD, Is Appointed Chief Population Health Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals”
“The Connection Between COVID-19 and Blood Clots”
“CCNY receives $500,000 grant to incubate health leadership institute”
“Former New York City Health Commissioner Named Sternberg Family Professor of Leadership”
Dave Chokshi: “Forget About Living to 100. Let’s Live Healthier Instead.”
Rubella
CDC: Rubella
Cleveland Clinic: Congenital rubella syndrome
CDC: Rubella Vaccination
“Estimated Current and Future Congenital Rubella Syndrome Incidence with and Without Rubella Vaccine Introduction — 19 Countries, 2019–2055”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
In a special episode recorded at Connecticut’s largest entrepreneurship event, Howie and guest host Megan Ranney, the dean of the Yale School of Public Health, welcome four Yale innovators: entrepreneur and YSPH lecturer Kaakpema “KP” Yelpaala; Basmah Safdar, incoming director of Women’s Health Research at Yale; Kayla Wooley, a YSPH graduate and the founder of two nursing home staffing companies; and Yale College student Laurie Jimenez, founder of FulcrumCare, a value-based dental provider for Medicaid and Medicare patients.
Links:
The Yale Innovation Summit
Yale Innovation Summit 2025
Yale Ventures
Kaakpema “KP” Yelpaala
“Public health innovator Kaakpema Yelpaala appointed senior fellow and lecturer at YSPH”
InnovateHealth Yale
Cityblock
Girl Effect
Basmah Safdar
“Basmah Safdar, MD, FACEP, Appointed Director, Women’s Health Research at Yale (WHRY)”
Women's Health Research at Yale
“Heart attack symptoms often misinterpreted in younger women”
“Sex Differences in COVID-19 Immune Responses Affect Patient Outcomes”
“The Truth About ‘Man Flu’”
“Drug Agency Recommends Lower Doses of Sleep Aids for Women”
Kayla Wooley
StaffOnTap
“Nursing home staff shortages prompted YSPH alumna to form two companies”
“Nursing Home Staffing Shortages and Other Problems Persist, U.S. Report Says”
“State Of The Sector: Nursing Home Labor Staffing Shortages Persist Despite Unprecedented Efforts To Attract More Staff”
Hinge Health
Laurie Jimenez
FulcrumCare
“Many Medicare Beneficiaries with Dental Insurance Face Financial Barriers to Care”
“Variation in Use of Dental Services by Children and Adults Enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Rebekah Gee, founder and CEO of Nest Health, which provides in-home care to kids on Medicaid and their families. Harlan reports on the first personalized CRISPR gene therapy for a rare genetic disease; Howie untangles the FDA’s restrictions on the COVID-19 booster and what it will mean for your ability to get a shot this fall.
Links:
A Breakthrough CRISPR Treatment
“Baby Is Healed With World’s First Personalized Gene-Editing Treatment”
“Patient-Specific In Vivo Gene Editing to Treat a Rare Genetic Disease”
“Progress in the Development of N-of-1 Therapy”
“Personalized Gene Editing to Treat an Inborn Error of Metabolism”
Nest Health
Health & Veritas Episode 40: Rebekah Gee: Can We Bring Family Healthcare to the Home?
Nest Health
“Nest Health picks up $4M in seed extension funding to build out at-home primary care for families”
“How Nest Health Is Redefining Primary Care for Families”
Rebekah Gee on LinkedIn on Nest Health
“What ‘patient-centered‘ should mean: confessions of an extremist”
“Prevalence and Variation of Developmental Screening and Surveillance in Early Childhood”
“Postpartum health is in crisis”
“The Impact of the Pandemic on Well-Child Visits for Children Enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP”
“Families often have chief medical officers—and they're almost always women”
“Case Study: Louisiana's Poor Rankings Make Improving Birth Outcomes a State Imperative”
“In 6-to-3 Ruling, Supreme Court Ends Nearly 50 Years of Abortion Rights”
Rebekah Gee on LinkedIn on Medicaid cuts
“5 Key Facts About Medicaid Work Requirements”
“Health Provisions in the 2025 Federal Budget Reconciliation Bill”
A New COVID Booster Policy
“An Evidence-Based Approach to Covid-19 Vaccination”
“FDA will limit Covid vaccines to people over 65 or at high risk of serious illness, leaders say”
“FDA tightens requirements for COVID vaccine, adding trials for healthy adults”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by James Dodington, a Yale pediatric emergency medicine physician and an expert in community-based violence prevention. Harlan reports on the remarkable financial results and sometimes questionable science of Hims & Hers Health; Howie discusses UnitedHealthcare’s faltering stock price in the face of anger over aggressive care denial and a lawsuit from shareholders.
Links:
Oscar Health and Hims & Hers
“Oscar Health Profits Eclipse $275 Million As Obamacare Enrollment Soars”
“Hims & Hers Health Revenue Jumps, But Outlook Disappoints”
“Hims & Hers' Q1 revenue doubles to $586M, boosted by growth in weight loss business”
“Novo Nordisk to sell Wegovy through telehealth firms to cash-paying US customers”
“They Wanted a Quick Fix for Hair Loss. Instead, These Young Men Got Sick.”
“EU drugs regulator confirms suicidal thoughts as side effect of hair loss drug”
“Measures to minimise risk of suicidal thoughts with finasteride and dutasteride medicines”
“FDA alerts health care providers, compounders and consumers of potential risks associated with compounded topical finasteride products”
James Dodington
Health & Veritas Episode 81: Joseph Sakran: Confronting Gun Violence
Health & Veritas Episode 77: Megan Ranney: What’s Next for Public Health?
“Children and teens are more likely to die by guns than anything else”
“U.S. Surgeon General Issues Advisory on the Public Health Crisis of Firearm Violence in the United States”
“New Report Highlights U.S. 2022 Gun-Related Deaths: Firearms Remain Leading Cause of Death for Children and Teens, and Disproportionately Affect People of Color”
James Dodington: “Rural Versus Urban Hospitalizations for Firearm Injuries in Children and Adolescents”
“Disparities in Pediatric Mental and Behavioral Health Conditions”
“Special Report: Dean Megan Ranney Brings a Public Health Approach to the Country’s Gun Violence Epidemic”
“Gun Violence Is a Public Health Crisis—But Hospital-based Intervention Programs Can Help Break the Cycle”
“Implementation of an emerging hospital-based violence intervention program: a multimethod study”
UCSF Wraparound Project: The Public Health Model for Violence Prevention
“Just Listen”
Firearm Injury Prevention at the Yale School of Public Health
“11 Years After Sandy Hook—A New Path Toward Healing and Hope”
Nelba Márquez-Greene’s Shared Humanity Podcast
4-CT:Violence Intervention and Prevention
“Cash Pilot Targets Violence Victims”
“How unrestricted cash aid is transforming violence intervention in Connecticut”
Pepe Vega’s story: “Gun Violence Is a Public Health Crisis—But Hospital-based Intervention Programs Can Help Break the Cycle"
“Yale undergraduate team takes first place in national health policy competition”
UnitedHealthcare
“UnitedHealth CEO Is Out, Sending Shares Plummeting”
“UnitedHealthcare sued by shareholders over reaction to CEO's killing”
UnitedHealth Shareholder Lawsuit
“UnitedHealth's string of setbacks, from exec murder to cyber attack”
“Zepbound Patients Fear Losing Coverage After CVS Deal for Wegovy”
“Zepbound beats Wegovy for weight loss in first head-to-head trial of blockbuster drugs”
Howie and Harlan are joined by Thomas Gill, a Yale geriatrician whose research tracks the factors that contribute to disability in older adults—and those that support continued independence. And they discuss the contrarian tapped to evaluate vaccines at the FDA, allegations of kickbacks against insurers, and the potential end of a loophole that has allowed states to collect additional Medicaid funding.
Links:
Vinay Prasad at the FDA
“Vinay Prasad tapped to run FDA center that regulates vaccines, gene therapies”
“Vinay Prasad, in his own words, outlines the philosophy he’ll bring to the FDA”
“Peter Marks, FDA’s top vaccine regulator, forced out”
Howard Forman on LinkedIn on Vinay Prasad's Appointment
Vinay Prasad's Substack
Insurance News
“Justice Department Sues Big Medicare Insurers Alleging Kickbacks”
“Aetna to exit the ACA exchanges in 2026”
“What Aetna quitting the exchanges says about the exchanges”
”CVS to boost access to Novo Nordisk’s weight loss treatment Wegovy for patients on its drug plans”
Thomas Gill
Statista: Share of old age population (65 years and older) in the total U.S. population from 1950 to 2050
Thomas Gill: “A physical activity intervention to treat the frailty syndrome in older persons-results from the LIFE-P study”
Thomas Gill: “A Program to Prevent Functional Decline in Physically Frail, Elderly Persons Who Live at Home”
“Prehabilitation for Patients Undergoing Orthopedic Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis”
“Allostatic Load: Importance, Markers, and Score Determination in Minority and Disparity Populations”
“Cohort Profile: The Precipitating Events Project (PEP Study)”
“In Memoriam: Yale Expert in Clinical Research Methods, Alvan R. Feinstein”
Medicaid Cuts
“Putting $880 Billion in Potential Federal Medicaid Cuts in Context of State Budgets and Coverage”
“Republicans are running out of ways to cut Medicaid as moderates and hard-liners clash”
“G.O.P. Targets a Medicaid Loophole Used by 49 States to Grab Federal Money”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Joel Bervell, a recent medical school graduate who uses social media platforms to combat misinformation and explain racial biases in healthcare. Harlan discusses his new Wall Street Journal commentary highlighting the link between viral infections and chronic diseases; Howie reports on powerful new evidence for the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine and warns of the dangers of a vaccine-skeptical presidential administration.
Links:
Viral Infection and Chronic Disease
Harlan Krumholz: “How to Lead a Chronic Disease Revolution”
“A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia”
“Unexplained post-acute infection syndromes”
Joel Bervell
Joel Bervell
Joel Bervell on TikTok
Joel Bervell on Instagram
“TikTok's 'Medical Mythbuster' Helps Save Lives By Tackling Racial & Gender Disparities In Healthcare”
“How the pulse oximeter became infamous on TikTok”
“Racial Bias in Pulse Oximetry Measurement”
Joel Bervell’s TikTok on the pulse oximeter
Joel Bervell: “The eGFR Equation”
“Race Correction and the X-Ray Machine: The Controversy over Increased Radiation Doses for Black Americans in 1968”
Joel Bervell: “For over 50 years, X-ray technicians were taught to administer higher radiation doses to Black patients”
Joel Bervell’s Instagram reel on bias in the measurement of lung capacity
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Joel Bervell on LinkedIn
Joel Bervell on YouTube: The Doctor Is In
Kickstarter: The Doctor Is In
“Medical mythbuster Joel Bervell, MD, on how to teach kids about medicine and address misinformation”
Cleveland Clinic: Amyloidosis
Joel Bervel’s Instagram reel on the GFR equation
“Abandoning a Race-biased Tool for Kidney Diagnosis”
“OPTN Board approves elimination of race-based calculation for transplant candidate listing”
“America’s News Influencers”
“85th Annual Peabody Awards Announce Nominees for the Arts, Children’s/Youth, Entertainment, and Interactive & Immersive Categories
Vaccines and the Federal Healthcare Agencies
Health & Veritas Episode 165: “Aging in Bursts and Other News”
“U.S. government researchers present ‘phenomenal’ new data on HPV vaccines”
“Invasive cervical cancer incidence following bivalent human papillomavirus vaccination: a population-based observational study of age at immunization, dose, and deprivation”
“Kennedy played key role in Gardasil vaccine case against Merck”
“RFK Jr. suggests some vaccines are risky or ineffective, downplays measles threat”
“FDA chief says they're looking at whether to approve COVID shots for next winter”
“How Marty Makary’s FDA is embracing a more skeptical view of vaccines”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie reflects on his decades-long experience with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and the procedure that has changed his life. Howie and Harlan report on healthcare issues in the news, including the measles outbreak and a vision for a team of personal healthcare AI agents. And student research assistants Inès Gilles and Sophia Stumpf visit for a farewell interview.
Links:
Eric Topol: Ground Truths
Eric Topol: Super Agers
Harlan Krumholz: The Expert Guide to Beating Heart Disease: What You Absolutely Must Know
Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
“What to know about paroxysmal atrial fibrillation”
Joseph Akar, MD, PhD
Mayo Clinic: Atrial fibrillation ablation
“The True Cost of a Cardiac Ablation in the U.S.”
AI Agents
“The Four AI Agents of Your Health”
“This A.I. Forecast Predicts Storms Ahead”
Measles
CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks
“Measles Surge in Southwest Is Now the Largest Single Outbreak Since 2000”
Mayo Clinic: History of Measles
Food as Medicine
“Cooking with the curriculum: a pilot culinary medicine program at the Larner College of Medicine”
“Bringing Culinary Medicine to Yale’s New Teaching Kitchen”
Bird Flu
CDC: H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation
“Vietnam reports H5N1 avian flu case with encephalitis”
Exercise and Brain Waste
“Long-term physical exercise facilitates putative glymphatic and meningeal lymphatic vessel flow in humans”
“The brain makes a lot of waste. Now scientists think they know where it goes”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Deepak D'Souza, the Vikram Sodhi ’92 Professor of Psychiatry at Yale, explains risks from highly potent cannabinoids and research on treating mental health conditions with psychedelics. Harlan reports on efforts to understand the neuroscience around artificial sweeteners. Howie highlights insights from a physician pay survey.
Links:
Artificial Sweeteners
"WHO advises not to use non-sugar sweeteners for weight control in newly released guideline"
"Non-caloric sweetener effects on brain appetite regulation in individuals across varying body weights"
"Artificial sweetener found in diet drinks linked to brain changes that increase appetite, study finds"
"Why One Cardiologist Has Drunk His Last Diet Soda"
Cannabis
"Marijuana: Rising THC Concentrations in Cannabis Can Pose Health Risks"
"Cannabis and Driving"
"CBD vs. THC: What's the Difference?"
"The Psychotomimetic Effects of Intravenous Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol in Healthy Individuals: Implications for Psychosis"
"Rapid Changes in CB1 Receptor Availability in Cannabis Dependent Males after Abstinence from Cannabis"
"Cannabidiol (CBD): What we know and what we don't"
"FDA Approves First Drug Comprised of an Active Ingredient Derived from Marijuana to Treat Rare, Severe Forms of Epilepsy"
"Jacques Joseph Moreau (1804–1884)"
"Cannabis and psychosis: revisiting a nineteenth century study of 'Indian Hemp and Insanity' in Colonial British India"
"Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol effects in schizophrenia: implications for cognition, psychosis, and addiction"
"The contribution of cannabis use to variation in the incidence of psychotic disorder across Europe (EU-GEI): a multicentre case-control study"
"Association of Cannabis Use During Adolescence With Neurodevelopment"
"The endocannabinoid system: Essential and mysterious"
Dronabinol: MedlinePlus
Dr. D’Souza
"D’Souza named Vikram Sodhi Professor of Psychiatry"
"CT Yale researcher gets $3 million chair to study DMT use for depression, PTSD"
Physician Pay
"Comparing Your Pay Against Your Peers’: Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2025"
"Physician compensation rose 3.6% in 2024, but not all specialties got a raise"
"Biggest Match Day ever: Here’s what the 2025 numbers reveal"
"Ryan Schwarz: Thinking Differently about the Primary Care Crisis"
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan welcome Evan Sussman, the CEO of Granata Bio, which aims to bring IVF and fertility drugs that have been proven in other markets to the United States. Harlan reports on Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which will test a technology to restore rudimentary sight to the blind; Howie tries to reconcile conflicting reports about the viability of the Medicare trust fund.
Links:
Neuralink
“Elon Musk announces Neuralink’s first human implant of Blindsight coming this year”
“Musk's Neuralink gets FDA's breakthrough device tag for 'Blindsight' implant”
“Elon Musk's Neuralink receives Canadian approval for brain chip trial”
Forbes: Elon Musk
Granata Bio
Granata Bio
“Fertility treatment costs are out of reach for many Americans, even with insurance”
“Acceptable cost for the patient and society”
“Meeting the demand for fertility services: the present and future of reproductive endocrinology and infertility in the United States”
RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association: Insurance Coverage by State
“Politicians say health plans should cover IVF. Currently only 1 in 4 employers do”
“Catching Up with Alumni: The Founders of Granata Bio”
“IBSA Group and Granata Bio announces first patient screened in pivotal PROGRESS clinical trial of Progesterone-IBSA”
“Women's Health Innovator Granata Bio Raises $14M Series A led by GV to Accelerate Fertility Biopharma Pipeline”
“Women's Health Innovator Granata Bio Raises $15M Series A+ to Further Develop and Expand Reproductive Health Pipeline”
“Trump signs executive order seeking to expand IVF access”
The Medicare Trust Fund
“The Long-Term Budget Outlook: 2025 to 2055”
“Medicare gets a big (unofficial) surprise: a 17-year extension on when it’ll run dry”
“CMS Finalizes 2026 Payment Policy Updates for Medicare Advantage and Part D Programs”
“Health Insurer Stocks Soar on Medicare Rate Boost”
“Insurer-Level Estimates of Revenue From Differential Coding in Medicare Advantage”
Medicare.gov: “How is Medicare funded?”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Alexi Nazem, a Yale-trained internist who co-founded the healthcare staffing company Nomad Health and now leads healthcare investments at AlleyCorp. Harlan reports on new research from the American College of Cardiology meeting; Howie examines the consequences of vast staffing cuts in the federal healthcare infrastructure.
Links:
Research from the American College of Cardiology Meeting
“Semaglutide and walking capacity in people with symptomatic peripheral artery disease and type 2 diabetes (STRIDE): a phase 3b, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial”
“Early Intra-Aortic Balloon Support for Heart Failure-Related Cardiogenic Shock: A Randomized Clinical Trial”
“Extended Reduced-Dose Apixaban for Cancer-Associated Venous Thromboembolism”
Alexi Nazem
The Human Genome Project
Institute for Healthcare Improvement
“100,000 Lives Campaign: Ten Years Later”
“Continuous Improvement as an Ideal in Health Care”
“The Science of Improvement”
Health & Veritas Episode 145: Max Laurans: An Entrepreneurial Life in Medicine
Nomad Health
Yale School of Management case study: “Nomad Health: The disruption of physician staffing services"
“Staffing Marketplace Nomad Health Raises $105 Million As It Expands Beyond Travel Nurses”
“America Is Running Out of Nurses”
“Staffing Marketplace Nomad Health Lays Off 17% Of Workforce”
“Why AI deals in healthcare have grown faster than other areas of tech — and what VCs are paying close attention to”
Turmoil at Federal Health Agencies
“Mass Layoffs Hit Health Agencies That Track Disease and Regulate Food”
“The top FDA vaccine official is forced out, cites RFK Jr.'s 'misinformation and lies'“
“NIH cuts halt 24-year program to prevent HIV/AIDS in adolescents and young adults”
“Princeton's US grants frozen, follows Trump actions against other schools”
“Trump Administration Abruptly Cuts Billions From State Health Services”
“Texas measles outbreak grows to 90 cases, worst level in 30 years”
“As Trump pursues his policies, Democratic states block his path”
“Proposed foreign aid cuts could lead to millions of HIV deaths, study estimates”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Ryan Schwarz, a Yale-trained MD-MBA who oversees accountable care for the Massachusetts Medicaid program, to discuss new models for addressing the severe shortage of primary care doctors in the U.S. Harlan looks at the fallout from the bankruptcy of 23andMe; Howie reports on Match Day at Yale and medical schools around the country.
Links:
New Leadership
“Senate Confirms Bhattacharya and Makary to H.H.S. Posts”
“Keir Starmer Wants to Abolish N.H.S. England: What to Know About His Plan”
23andMe
“23andMe Files for Bankruptcy Amid Concerns About Security of Customers’ Genetic Data”
“Data Breach at 23andMe Affects 6.9 Million Profiles, Company Says”
“23andMe user data targeting Ashkenazi Jews leaked online”
“Attorney General Bonta Urgently Issues Consumer Alert for 23andMe Customers”
U.S. Senate Bill S.5433: Genomic Data Protection Act
Ryan Schwarz
“The Health of US Primary Care: 2025 Scorecard Report—The Cost of Neglect”
“Finger on the Pulse: The State of Primary Care in the U.S. and Nine Other Countries”
Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey
“Revisiting the Time Needed to Provide Adult Primary Care”
“How Algorithms Could Improve Primary Care”
Ryan Schwarz: “Primary Care Sub-capitation in Medicaid: Improving Care Delivery in the Safety Net”
MassHealth Primary Care Sub-Capitation: Program Overview
“The first community health centers: a model of enduring value”
“Community Health Centers’ Progress and Challenges in Meeting Patients’ Essential Primary Care Needs”
Match Day
“Biggest Match Day ever: Here’s what the 2025 numbers reveal”
“Yale School of Medicine Celebrates Match Day”
Video: Match Day 2025: Winners & Losers Edition
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Mark McLellan, a physician, economist, and longtime public servant, to discuss lessons learned from the COVID-19 response and the successes and failures of the healthcare payment innovations he helped to create. Harlan reports on a wave of illness caused by slushy drinks; Howie considers the merits of accelerated training for doctors.
Links:
The Dangers of Slushies
“Glycerol intoxication syndrome in young children, following the consumption of slush ice drinks”
Institute for Government: Sugar tax
Mark McClellan
Health economist Alan M. Garber, MD, PhD
Mark McClellan: “Catheterization and Mortality in Elderly Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction-Reply”
Mark McClellan: “National Coronavirus Response: A Road Map to Reopening”
“COVID-19 pandemic-related excess mortality and potential years of life lost in the U.S. and peer countries”
“Medicare Should Put Its Dollars on Value, Says McClellan”
“What Forced CMS to Terminate the MA Value-Based Insurance Design Model?”
“How to Create Incentives for Improvement”
Accelerating Med School
“Outcomes of Accelerated 3-Year MD Graduates at NYU Grossman School of Medicine During Medical School and Early Residency”
“Three-Year Medical School Has Benefits, Ethicist Says”
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Howie and Harlan check in on health issues in the news, including the big bet that went wrong for Walgreens, prohibited words at federal health agencies, the weaknesses of a much-discussed study suggesting that people age in bursts, and the long-term impact of the HPV vaccine.
Links:
Walgreens
“Walgreens to Be Bought by Private Equity Firm in $10 Billion Deal”
“Walgreens is heading down a risky path”
“Walgreens to Be Acquired by Sycamore Partners: Where Did the Retail Giant Go Wrong?”
“Amazon, CVS, and Walgreens went all in on primary care. Their bets are bleeding money.”
Cuts to the ACA
“Trump administration plans to restrict Obamacare enrollment period”
“DACA recipients worry about being ensnared in Trump's immigration crackdown”
Medicaid
“Cutting Medicaid?”
“WATCH: Dr. Jay Bhattacharya testifies at Senate confirmation hearing for NIH director”
“‘Wrong,’ ‘misleading,’ and ‘reasonable’: How Jay Bhattacharya became, for some, the least bad option to run NIH”
“The Debate Over Federal Medicaid Cuts: Perspectives of Medicaid Enrollees Who Voted for President Trump and Vice President Harris”
“Medicaid’s True Improper Payments Double Those Reported by CMS”
“Hundreds of Billions in Medicaid Savings from Financing Schemes”
Prohibited Words
“C.D.C. Suggests Terms Like ‘Race’ and ‘Health Equity’ Are Off-Limits, Then Backtracks”
“For Google, health equity becomes ‘health optimization’ as Trump targets DEI”
Aging
“Do We Age Steadily, or in Bursts?”
“Nonlinear dynamics of multi-omics profiles during human aging”
“What does it take to be a super-ager?”
The HPV Vaccine
“Trends in Cervical Precancers Identified Through Population-Based Surveillance — Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Impact Monitoring Project, Five Sites, United States, 2008–2022”
“People Have Been Having Less Sex—whether They’re Teenagers or 40-Somethings”
“RFK Jr. says he’ll stop collecting fees from HPV vaccine lawsuit, but other ethics questions remain”
Norovirus
“An oral norovirus vaccine tablet was safe and elicited mucosal immunity in older adults in a phase 1b clinical trial”
“How to Prevent Norovirus”
The Measles Outbreak
CDC: Expanding Measles Outbreak in the United States and Guidance for the Upcoming Travel Season
“Texas measles cases grow to 223, mostly among children and teens”
“West Texas measles outbreak expands to three states”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale neonatologist Sarah Taylor to discuss our growing understanding of breastfeeding, including the active role that infants play in shaping the composition of breast milk. Harlan discusses the rapid growth of Hims & Hers Health, which provides treatment and medication over the internet; Howie reports on the promising initial results from a pilot program in North Carolina that seeks to reduce healthcare costs by providing support in non-medical areas like food security and housing.
Links:
Hims & Hers
“Why Hims & Hers Stock Has Further to Fall: Heard on the Street”
“Hims & Hers Super Bowl Spot Draws Drug-Industry Backlash”
“Why We Don’t Trust Doctors Like We Used To”
Breastfeeding
Sarah Taylor and Howard Forman: “No such thing as a free lunch: The direct marginal costs of breastfeeding”
Sarah Taylor: “Infant factors that impact the ecology of human milk secretion and composition—a report from ‘Breastmilk Ecology: Genesis of Infant Nutrition (BEGIN)’ Working Group 3”
Sarah Taylor: ”Parent and grandparent neonatal intensive care unit visitation for preterm infants”
Sarah Taylor: “Quantifying the Association between Pump Use and Breastfeeding Duration”
The North Carolina Healthy Opportunities Pilot Program
“Reflecting on Nearly Two Years of North Carolina’s Healthy Opportunities Pilots”
Health & Veritas, Episode 97: Mallika Mendu: Improving Operations
“Medicaid Spending and Health-Related Social Needs in the North Carolina Healthy Opportunities Pilots Program”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by infectious disease specialist Michael Dunne to discuss the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance and what’s needed to incentivize the development of new antibiotics. Harlan reflects on the controversy sparked by the release of his study on post-vaccination syndrome; Howie provides an update on the measles outbreak in Texas.
Links:
Post-Vaccine Syndrome
Harlan Krumholz: “Immunological and Antigenic Signatures Associated with Chronic Illnesses after COVID-19 Vaccination”
“A small study on Covid vaccine safety sparks an online tempest”
“Scientists Describe Rare Syndrome Following Covid Vaccinations”
Antimicrobial Resistance and New Antibiotics
"New bill would create a subscription payment model to jumpstart antibiotic development"
Antimicrobials Working Group
H.R.4127—DISARM Act of 2021
S.1355—PASTEUR Act of 2023
CDC: Antimicrobial Resistance Facts and Stats
Michael Dunne: “Impact of Empirical Antibiotic Therapy on Outcomes of Outpatient Urinary Tract Infection Due to Nonsusceptible Enterobacterales”
Michael Dunne: “A multicenter analysis of trends in resistance in urinary Enterobacterales isolates from ambulatory patients in the United States: 2011-2020"
CDC: Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship
"Crisis Looms in Antibiotics as Drug Makers Go Bankrupt"
"Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute Initiates Phase 3 Clinical Trial of Tuberculosis Vaccine Candidate"
Michael Dunne: “Replacing serum with dried blood microsampling for pharmacokinetics, viral neutralisation and immunogenicity bioanalysis supporting future paediatric development of RSM01, a candidate respiratory syncytial virus neutralising monoclonal antibody”
The Measles Outbreak
“An unvaccinated child has died in the Texas measles outbreak”
CDC: Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) Vaccine Safety
WHO: Measles
"Consequences of Undervaccination—Measles Outbreak, New York City, 2018-2019"
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Howie and Harlan are joined by legal historian Paul Lombardo to discuss his work exploring the role of the legal and medical establishments in eugenics and sterilization in the United States. Harlan reports on his new research on post-vaccination syndrome, a constellation of chronic symptoms experienced by some people after getting the COVID-19 vaccine; Howie discusses the science behind a measles outbreak in Texas.
Links:
Anxiety in Academia
Yale Office of the President: Our commitment to our research mission
Post-Vaccination Syndrome
Harlan Krumholz: “Immunological and Antigenic Signatures Associated with Chronic Illnesses after COVID-19 Vaccination”
“Immune markers of post vaccination syndrome indicate future research directions”
Eugenics in America
U.S. Supreme Court: Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927)
Paul Lombardo, New England Journal of Medicine: “‘Ridding the Race of His Defective Blood’—Eugenics in the Journal, 1906–1948”
“Clarence Thomas tried to link abortion to eugenics. Seven historians told The Post he’s wrong.”
Paul Lombardo: Three Generations, No Imbeciles
In the Name of Eugenics
Paul Lombardo: “Republicans, Democrats, & Doctors: The Lawmakers Who Wrote Sterilization Laws”
Measles and Herd Immunity
“West Texas measles outbreak grows to 58 cases, including some people who said they were vaccinated”
“Supreme Court rejects challenge to Connecticut law that eliminated religious vaccination exemption”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Deborah Rhodes, a Yale internist and the chief quality officer for Yale Medicine and Yale New Haven Health System. They discuss how she helped develop a better approach to scanning for breast cancer in women with dense breast tissue, and the obstacles to wide adoption. Harlan reports on the Trump administration’s plan to slash indirect support for research; Howie explains the potential consequences of cuts to Medicaid.
Links:
Flu and Research Cuts
“Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report: Key Updates for Week 5, ending February 1, 2025”
“This Is One of the Worst Flu Seasons in Decades”
“Court Pause on Trump Cuts to Medical Research Funds Is Expanded Nationwide”
“What National Institutes of Health funding cuts could mean for U.S. universities”
Harlan Krumholz: “The NIH’s drastic cut to indirect cost rates is a critical threat to U.S. research infrastructure"
Breast-Cancer Screening
TED Talk by Deborah Rhodes: “A test that finds 3x more breast tumors, and why it's not available to you”
Deborah Rhodes: “A Survey of Patient Experience During Molecular Breast Imaging”
Mayo Clinic Breast Clinic: “How To Decide What To Do If You Have Dense Breasts On Mammogram”
Deborah Rhodes: “Dedicated dual-head gamma imaging for breast cancer screening in women with mammographically dense breasts”
Cleveland Clinic: Fibroglandular Density
Are You Dense?
“Evaluation of a Clinical Decision Support System for Imaging Requests”
Medicaid
“House Republicans release budget plan, with trillions in tax and spending cuts”
“Trump's return puts Medicaid on the chopping block”
“Red states likely to feel the pain of Medicaid cuts”
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Howie and Harlan discuss a breakthrough pain medication, studies on AI-assisted medicine, the explosion of sports gambling, and the health consequences of the shutdown of USAID.
Links:
A First-in-Class Painkiller
“F.D.A. Approves Drug to Treat Pain Without Opioid Effects”
“FDA Approves Novel Non-Opioid Treatment for Moderate to Severe Acute Pain”
“Peripheral Sodium Channel Blocker Could Revolutionize Treatment for Nerve Pain”
“Alabama to Beijing… and Back: The Search for a Pain Gene”
AI Screening
“Screening performance and characteristics of breast cancer detected in the Mammography Screening with Artificial Intelligence trial (MASAI): a randomised, controlled, parallel-group, non-inferiority, single-blinded, screening accuracy study”
“3D mammograms show benefits over 2D imaging, especially for dense breasts”.
“The Robot Doctor Will See You Now”
USAID and Foreign Aid
“Trump and Musk move to dismantle USAID, igniting battle with Democratic lawmakers”
“What USAID does, and why Trump and Musk want to get rid of it”
“The Status of President Trump’s Pause of Foreign Aid and Implications for PEPFAR and other Global Health Programs”
“The Case For Global Health Diplomacy”
The Super Bowl and Legalized Sports Gambling
“Super Bowl LIX: Betting By The Numbers”
“Americans expected to bet $1.39B legally on Super Bowl 2025”
“Record 68 million people plan on making Super Bowl bets”
“Gambling problems are mushrooming. Panel says we need to act now.”
COVID and Flu
“The U.S. Is Having Its Mildest Covid Winter Yet”
“Estimated Vaccine Effectiveness for Pediatric Patients With Severe Influenza, 2015-2020”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Lisa Rosenbaum, a cardiologist and the national correspondent for the New England Journal of Medicine, to discuss her writing illuminating critical topics in medicine. Harlan reports on the companies claiming to prevent illness through a non-invasive full-body scan; Howie explains the healthcare impact of the Trump administration’s freeze of federal aid.
Links:
Body Scanning
“Neko Health raises $260M to expand body scan service, fund R&D”
Neko Health
“Kim Kardashian Promotes $2,500 Body Scan—Here’s What To Know And Why Some Experts Warn Against It”“
“Daniel Ek’s body scanning startup hits £1.4 billion valuation with 100,000 people lining up to pay £299 for a health check”
“The rise and fall of Theranos: A timeline”
Lisa Rosenbaum
Lisa Rosenbaum: “Gray Matters: Analysis and Ambiguity”
Lisa Rosenbaum: Not Otherwise Specified podcast
Lisa Rosenbaum: “Beyond Moral Injury—Can We Reclaim Agency, Belief, and Joy in Medicine?”
Lisa Rosenbaum: “Being Well while Doing Well—Distinguishing Necessary from Unnecessary Discomfort in Training”
“The Case Against the Trauma Plot”
“The Rise of Therapy-Speak”
Lisa Rosenbaum: “On Calling—From Privileged Professionals to Cogs of Capitalism?”
“The Moral Crisis of America’s Doctors”
The Ezra Klein Show: “Democrats are Losing the War for Attention. Badly.”
IMDB: The Doctor
The New Administration
“Kennedy, Polarizing Pick for Health Secretary, Makes His Senate Debut”
“WATCH: Sen. Elizabeth Warren questions RFK Jr. in confirmation hearing”
“Trump aid freeze stirs chaos before it is blocked in court”
“Trump administration rescinds order attempting to freeze federal aid spending”
“Uncertainty Causes Chaos as Trump Threatens Funding Pause for Schools”
“Read the Memo Pausing Federal Grants and Loans”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Susan Mayne, a Yale epidemiologist and the former director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, to discuss what the agency can and can’t do to keep contaminants out of food and promote healthier eating habits. Harlan reports on the Trump administration’s cancellation of multiple scientific meetings; Howie explains the administration’s health-related executive orders.
Links:
Changes at the NIH
“Trump administration’s abrupt cancellation of scientific meetings prompts confusion, concern”
“The Trump NIH Pick Who Wants to Take On ‘Cancel Culture’ Colleges”
Food Safety and the FDA
“Beyond Red Dye No. 3: Here’s what parents should know about food colorings”
“FDA to Revoke Authorization for the Use of Red No. 3 in Food and Ingested Drugs”
U.S. Government Accountability Office: Regulation of Cancer-Causing Food Additives—Time for a Change
Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990
FDA: Front-of-Package Nutrition Labeling
“Court ruling curbs unfounded claims for memory supplement”
FDA: Questions and Answers on Health Claims in Food Labeling
FDA Budget Summary
FDA: Closer to Zero: Reducing Childhood Exposure to Contaminants from Foods
FDA: Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
Executive Orders
“Breaking Down All of Trump’s Day 1 Presidential Actions”
KFF Morning Briefing
“Trump orders reflect his promises to roll back transgender protections and end DEI programs”
“Trump wants to pull the US out of the World Health Organization again. Here’s what may happen next”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Sachin Jain, CEO of the nonprofit Scan Health Plan, who argues that the managed care industry must dramatically reorient itself towards patient care. Harlan looks at the long-term health effects of the L.A. wildfires and an effort to replace the widely used body-mass index; Howie reflects on the growing mistrust of doctors and its connection to declining vaccination rates.
Links:
Wildfires and Health
“Los Angeles wildfires: Firefighters face several more critical hours of Wednesday’s dangerous winds”
“Health Effects Attributed to Wildfire Smoke”
“Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke associated with higher risk of death”
Redefining Obesity
“Definition and diagnostic criteria of clinical obesity”
“Move aside BMI: There's a better way to define obesity, commission finds”
“New obesity definition sidelines BMI to focus on health”
“New Obesity Definition Challenges Current Use of B.M.I.”
Toward a More Humane Managed Care Industry
Scan Health Plan
Sachin Jain: “The Path Forward for the Health Insurance Industry”
Sachin H. Jain: “The path forward for the US Health Insurance Industry begins with saying “We Are Sorry”
Sachin Jain: “In 2025, I urge you to start seeing things clearly”
Sachin Jain: “What It Really Takes to Listen to Patients”
“Lyft is driving patients to see their doctors and saving insurers big money”
Trust and Vaccinations
“Americans' Ratings of U.S. Professions Stay Historically Low”
“Childhood Vaccination Rates Were Falling Even Before the Rise of R.F.K. Jr.”
“Falling Child Vaccinations”
Health & Veritas Episode 95 with Peter Hotez
“Meta to end fact-checking, replacing it with community-driven system akin to Elon Musk's X”
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Howie and Harlan discuss health and healthcare headlines, including misaligned incentives keeping medicine from its mission, burdensome out-of-pockets costs, ultraprocessed foods, and serving the growing population of cancer survivors effectively.
Links:
Vivek Murthy’s parting letter to America
“Surgeon General Urges Americans to 'Rethink How We're Living Our Lives' in Closing Letter to the Country (Exclusive)”
Discontent with the Health System in the United States
“View of U.S. Healthcare Quality Declines to 24-Year Low”
“What We Know About the UnitedHealthcare C.E.O.’s Killing and the Suspect”
“Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO brings resentment of the health care system to the fore”
“Out‐of‐Pocket Annual Health Expenditures and Financial Toxicity From Healthcare Costs in Patients With Heart Failure in the United States”
Bird Flu
“First Bird Flu Death in U.S. Reported in Louisiana”
“First H5 Bird Flu Death Reported in United States”
“H5N1 Bird Flu”
“Eyeing Potential Bird Flu Outbreak, Biden Administration Ramps Up Preparedness”
“What is the HMPV virus in China? The human metapneumovirus and its symptoms, explained.”
“Respiratory Virus Activity Levels”
Alcohol and Cancer
“Alcohol and Cancer Risk”
“The cardioprotective association of average alcohol consumption and ischaemic heart disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis”
“Alcohol Exposure and Disease Associations: A Mendelian Randomization and Meta-Analysis on Weekly Consumption and Problematic Drinking”
“No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health”
Cancer Survivorship
“Prevalence of cancer survivors in the United States”
Cancer Survivorship: Cancer.Gov
Ultra-Processed Foods
“Trans fat”
“Low-Grade Inflammation and Ultra-Processed Foods Consumption: A Review”
“The Power RFK Jr. Would Have Over Food”
Lawsuits: "Bad Behavior" on the Physician side
“Sixteen Cardiology Practices to Pay a Total of $17.7M to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Concerning Inflated Medicare Reimbursements”
“CVS-owned insurer Aetna sues Radiology Partners alleging multiphase ‘fraud scheme’”
Jimmy Carter
“Jimmy Carter, Peacemaking President Amid Crises, Is Dead at 100”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale physician Dana Dunne, who leads a new coaching program designed to help medical students develop a lifelong orientation toward growth and building knowledge. Harlan reports on a new generation of AI that can diagnose patients more consistently than human doctors; Howie explains how the state of Connecticut wiped out medical debt for thousands of low-income residents.
Links:
AI Diagnosis
“Superhuman performance of a large language model on the reasoning tasks of a physician”
“Reasoning Foundations of Medical Diagnosis: Symbolic logic, probability, and value theory aid our understanding of how physicians reason” (1959)
Coaching Medical Students
Yale School of Medicine: The Yale System
Yale School of Medicine: Longitudinal Coaching Program
“Developing Master Adaptive Learners: Implementation of a Coaching Program in Graduate Medical Education”
“Risky Business: Psychological Safety and the Risks of Learning Medicine”
Amy C. Edmondson: Psychological Safety
Review: The Fearless Organization
Medical Debt
“Governor Lamont Announces Nearly 23,000 Connecticut Residents Will Have $30 Million in Medical Debt Erased Under First Round of State’s Newly Launched Partnership With Nonprofit”
“CT cancels $30M in medical debt for thousands of residents”
“Disparities in Medical Debt Among U.S. Adults with Serious Psychological Distress”
“63% of workers unable to pay a $500 emergency expense, survey finds. How employers may help change that”
White House Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Reduce Medical Debt and Address Illegal Medical Debt Collection Practices
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Jaewon Ryu, CEO of Risant Health, a nonprofit company that brings together integrated health systems with the goal of spreading the adoption of value-based care. Harlan reports from the annual Cardiovascular Clinical Trialists Forum on progress toward faster and more effective clinical trials; Howie reflects on the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Links:
Clinical Trials
“Artificial Intelligence in Cardiovascular Clinical Trials”
Jaewon Ryu
Wikipedia: Integrated Delivery System
Geisinger: Fresh Food Farmacy
“Geisinger opens a new $5.8 million senior-focused primary care center in Pottsville”
“Kaiser Permanente Unit to Acquire North Carolina Hospital System”
“Value-Based Care: What It Is, and Why It’s Needed”
The Killing of Brian Thompson
“What We Know About the UnitedHealthcare C.E.O.’s Killing and the Suspect”
“A Very Un-American Response to the Murder of Brian Thompson”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Aaron Kesselheim, a physician, attorney, and public health expert, to discuss the shifting legal landscape for healthcare regulation and his experiences serving on an FDA advisory committee. Harlan reports on the growing evidence of widespread health impacts from microplastics; Howie provides an update on the bird flu outbreak.
Links:
Microplastics
“Landmark study links microplastics to serious health problems”
“Microplastics: Are we facing a new health crisis—and what can be done about it?”
“Microplastics are inside us all. What does that mean for our health?”
“Microplastics are everywhere—we need to understand how they affect human health”
“How do plastics, including microplastics and plastic-associated chemicals, affect human health?”
“The potential of micro- and nanoplastics to exacerbate the health impacts and global burden of non-communicable diseases”
Aaron Kesselheim
PORTAL: Program on Regulations, Therapeutics, and Law
“The End of Chevron Deference: What Does It Mean, and What Comes Next?”
“Biden Administration Proposes Covering Obesity Drugs In Medicare And Medicaid”
“Biden-Harris Administration Announces Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Proposals that Aim to Improve Care and Access for Enrollees”
“3 Experts Have Resigned From An FDA Committee Over Alzheimer's Drug Approval”
X: Aaron Kesselheim’s resignation letter
Congressional testimony of Aaron Kesselheim: “The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022: Reducing Excessive Spending and Supporting Patient Access to Brand-Name Drugs while Promoting Meaningful Innovation”
Congressional testimony of Aaron Kesselheim: “How the US Government Supports Meaningful Drug and Device Innovation: Funding Development of Transformative Therapies and Avoiding Excessive Prices for new Products with Limited Benefits”
Aaron Kesselheim: “US public investment in development of mRNA covid-19 vaccines: retrospective cohort study”
Harvard Online: Prescription Drug Regulation, Cost, and Access: Current Controversies in Context
New York Times Weddings/Celebrations: Jennifer Cohn, Aaron Kesselheim
Bird flu
CDC: USDA Reported H5N1 Bird Flu Detections in US Backyard and Commercial Poultry
CDC: H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation
“Bird Flu, Explained”
“California suspends distribution of Raw Farm raw milk products after bird flu detection”
“Canadian probe into teen's critical H5N1 infection finds no clear source”
USDA Economic Research Service: Farm Labor
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Vin Gupta, a physician, a medical analyst for NBC News, and the chief medical officer of Amazon Pharmacy. Harlan reports on the Biden administration’s proposal to cover obesity drugs with Medicare and Medicaid; Howie offers some reasons to be thankful.
Links:
Coverage of Obesity Medication
“White House Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Takes Latest Step to Lower Prescription Drug Costs by Proposing Expanded Coverage of Anti-Obesity Medications for Americans with Medicare and Medicaid”
“The (Minimum) Emergency Savings Needed in America’s 50 Largest Cities”
“The implications of defining obesity as a disease: a report from the Association for the Study of Obesity 2021 annual conference”
“Expanded Medicare Coverage of Antiobesity Drugs May Cost Billions Each Year”
Harlan Krumholz: “Eligibility for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Therapy in the United States Based on SELECT Trial Criteria: Insights From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey”
Vin Gupta
“Ozempic and Wegovy may help curb alcohol addiction, study suggests”
“Amazon Launches $5-a-Month Prescription Drug Plan in Further Healthcare Push”
“As Mail Order Pharmacies Continue to Climb in Customer Satisfaction, Chain Drug Stores Fall Behind, J.D. Power Finds”
“The Powerful Companies Driving Local Drugstores Out of Business”
“Amazon Purchase of One Medical Health Clinics Won’t Be Blocked by FTC”
Anthropic: Meet Claude
“A.I. Chatbots Defeated Doctors at Diagnosing Illness”
Reasons to be Thankful
“As Medicaid Unwinding Concludes in Most States, KFF Finds 25 Million Lost Medicaid Coverage but Enrollment is 10 Million Higher Than Pre-Pandemic Levels”
“Egypt has been declared malaria-free by the World Health Organization”
“FDA Approves First Gene Therapies to Treat Patients with Sickle Cell Disease”
“Novel pulsed field ablation offers patients safer and faster atrial fibrillation ablation”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by investor and entrepreneur Halle Tecco to discuss her work connecting the worlds of technology and healthcare, and her latest venture, which allows women to freeze their eggs for future use for free if they donate half of them to a couple in need. Harlan checks in from the annual meeting of the American Heart Association; Howie discusses his concerns about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appointment as secretary of health and human services.
Links:
American Heart Association Meeting
“Tirzepatide Reduces LV Mass and Paracardiac Adipose Tissue in Obesity-Related Heart Failure”
“Intensive Lifestyle Intervention, Cardiac Biomarkers, and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Diabetes: LookAHEAD Cardiac Biomarker Ancillary Study”
“Accelerometer-Measured Sedentary Behavior and Risk of Future Cardiovascular Disease”
Halle Tecco
Halle Tecco: Blog
Halle Tecco: Investing in Digital Health Startups Course
“This power couple bought bitcoin in 2013, and just donated all their gains to a cancer hospital”
Rock Health
Natalist
Cofertility
RFK Jr.
“What to know about RFK Jr.’s views on food, vaccines, abortion, and the FDA”
“How a Kennedy built an anti-vaccine juggernaut amid COVID-19”
“With Trump coming into power, the NIH is in the crosshairs”
“RFK Jr.’s Inside Job”
“How RFK Jr.’s MAHA movement could shake up public health”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Rahul Rajkumar, founder and CEO of Accompany Health, which provides a team of providers for patients who are on both Medicare and Medicaid. Harlan reflects on a visit to China and the healthcare ramifications of proposed legislation that would force U.S. biotech companies to cut ties with some Chinese partners. Howie provides an update on healthcare-related measures on state ballots in last week’s election.
Links:
China and the Biosecure Act
“Congress takes up a series of bills targeting China, from drones to drugs”
“U.S. Drugmakers Are Breaking Up With Their Chinese Supply-Chain Partners”
Accompany Health
Accompany Health
Medicare: Dual-Eligibles
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans
“Medicaid Enrollees by Enrollment Group”
“Justice Department sues to block UnitedHealth Group’s $3.3 billion purchase of Amedisys”
“10 Reasons Why Medicare Advantage Enrollment is Growing and Why It Matters”
Healthcare on the Ballot
“7 states vote to protect abortion rights, while efforts to expand access in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota fail”
“Marijuana and Drug Policy on the Ballot”
“Massachusetts voters reject proposal to legalize certain psychedelic drugs”
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Howie and Harlan discuss health and healthcare headlines, including generational shifts in doctors’ approach to work, a promising vaccine for norovirus, the latest on the bird flu outbreak, and the struggles of corporate-backed primary care companies.
Links:
Norovirus
CDC: Norovirus
“Bivalent norovirus mRNA vaccine elicits cellular and humoral responses protecting human enteroids from GII.4 infection”
“Doctors trial world’s first mRNA vaccine against vomiting bug norovirus”
“Who Didn’t Get a Second Shingrix Shot? Implications for Multidose COVID-19 Vaccines”
Work-Life Balance
“Young Doctors Want Work-Life Balance. Older Doctors Say That’s Not the Job.”
“State of Women in Medicine: History, Challenges, and the Benefits of a Diverse Workforce”
Bird Flu
“CDC Confirms Human H5 Bird Flu Case in Missouri”
STAT: H5N1 Bird Flu
Primary Care Goes Corporate
“Why Large Corporations Are Entering Primary Care”
“Cigna Turns $739 Million Profit Despite $1 Billion Loss On VillageMD”
Prescription for the Future: The Twelve Transformational Practices of Highly Effective Medical Organizations
E. coli
“E. coli Outbreak Linked to Onions Served at McDonald’s”
“How disease detectives’ quick work traced deadly E. coli outbreak to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders”
CDC: Outbreaks of E. coli infections
Elon Musk’s Grok AI Platform
“Elon Musk wants you to submit medical data to his AI chatbot”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Stephen Knight, president and managing partner of the healthcare and technology venture capital firm F-Prime Capital, to discuss his varied career and the breakthroughs he has helped enable. Howie and Harlan discuss AI in medicine and what a second Trump administration could mean for healthcare.
Links:
Respiratory Illnesses, AI, and the Physician Shortage
CDC: Respiratory Illnesses Data Channel
“Capabilities of Gemini Models in Medicine”
“Yale New Haven Health partners with AI company on ambient listening tech”
Stephen Knight
F-Prime Capital
Genentech
F-Prime Capital: Stories and Ideas
“How AIDS Activists Fought for Patients’ Rights”
VC: An American History
Bluebird Bio
F-Prime Capital: Orchard Therapeutics
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency
“Pfizer to Acquire FoldRx Pharmaceuticals”
Beam Therapeutics
Trump and Healthcare
Project 2025: Policy Agenda
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Draws Wellness Influencers to MAGA”
Video: Trump on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on X
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Michael Sherling, a dermatologist and a founder of Modernizing Medicine, which aims to save doctors time with an intelligent, specialty-specific electronic health record. Harlan provides updates on COVID-19 variants and vaccines, and on the acquisition of CareBridge, which provides value-based home care for Medicaid patients. Howie explains why cases of pertussis—whooping cough—are increasing.
Links:
COVID-19 and CareBridge
Akiko Iwasaki, PhD
CareBridge Health
“The Accidental Entrepreneur: Brad Smith’s Journey From Politics to Business”
“America's Fastest-Growing Company Is Tackling the Greatest Challenge in Health Care | Inc.com”
“Elevance unit plans to buy CareBridge”
Michael Sherling and Modernizing Medicine
Modernizing Medicine
Dan Cane, CEO of Modernizing Medicine: “I sold my start-up for $1.6 billion. Here’s what I did next”
“Alumni team crafts electronic medical record that cuts down paperwork and saves time”
“Ambient AI Is Having Its ‘Moment’ In Healthcare”
Dawn Harris Sherling: Eat Everything
Pertussis
CDC: Whooping Cough
“Whooping Cough Is on the Rise, Returning to Pre-Pandemic Trends”
“Whooping cough spikes, especially among unvaccinated teens”
“Falling Vaccinations Contribute to Rising Pertussis Numbers”
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Howie and Harlan discuss health and healthcare issues in the headlines, including a powerful—but dangerous—new gene therapy, racial disparities in excess deaths during the COVID pandemic, and the limited insurance coverage for highly effective new obesity drugs.
Links:
The Physician Shortage
“Opening the Door Wider to International Medical Graduates—The Significance of a New Tennessee Law”
“New Licensure Pathway for Some Internationally Trained Physicians”
“Brain-drain and health care delivery in developing countries”
“Talk of an Immigrant ‘Invasion’ Grows in Republican Ads and Speech”
Subspecialty Expertise from AI
“Towards Democratization of Subspeciality Medical Expertise”
Gene Therapy
“7 children developed blood cancer after Bluebird Bio gene therapy for rare neurological disease”
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: Adrenoleukodystrophy
An AI Warning from a Nobel Laureate
Nobel Prize: Nobel Prize in Physics
“Why the Godfather of A.I. Fears What He’s Built”
“Unions Give Workers a Voice Over How AI Affects Their Jobs”
Conflicts of Interest and the Role of Peer Reviewers
“Medical journal peer reviewers are paid millions by industry, study finds”
“Does industry funding equal conflict of interest? Often it does, Yale authors claim”
COVID, Race, and Excess Deaths
“Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Age-Specific All-Cause Mortality During the COVID-19 Pandemic”
Insurance Coverage for GLP-1 Drugs
KFF: 2024 Employer Health Benefits Survey
“The Miracle Weight-Loss Drug Is Also a Major Budgetary Threat”
CDC: Adult Obesity Facts
Mothers in Medicine
“So Visibly a Mother”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Max Laurans, a Yale neurosurgeon and hospital administrator, and a founder of the healthcare staffing company Nomad Health. Harlan discusses the problem of doctors giving too much weight to suggestions from AI; Howie celebrates a milestone in the campaign to eliminate trachoma, a common cause of preventable blindness in the developing world.
Links:
Automation Bias
“Some doctors are using public AI chatbots like ChatGPT in clinical decisions. Is it safe?”
“Measuring the Impact of AI in the Diagnosis of Hospitalized Patients: A Randomized Clinical Vignette Survey Study”
“Automation Bias and Assistive AI: Risk of Harm From AI-Driven Clinical Decision Support”
“Combining Human Expertise with Artificial Intelligence: Experimental Evidence from Radiology”
Max Laurans
Maxwell Laurans, MD, MBA, FAANS
Nomad Health: Travel Nurse and Travel Allied Health Jobs
2003 residency placements for Yale medical students
“Yale New Haven Hospital breaks ground on $838 million, 505,000 square foot Neurosciences Center”
“Hospitals across the U.S. face IV fluid shortage after Hurricane Helene”
Trachoma
Mayo Clinic: Trachoma
“Elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in India”
The Carter Center: Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope
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Howie and Harlan welcome Vivek Murthy, the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States and a graduate of the Yale School of Medicine and the Yale School of Management. They talk about his campaigns to tackle parental stress, gun violence, and the dangers of social media, and the importance of communicating across political divides.
Links:
Parents Under Pressure: The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on the Mental Health & Well-Being of Parents
Youth Mental Health: The Surgeon General’s Advisory
Yale School of Medicine | Auguste Fortin VI, MD, MPH, MACP
Vivek Murthy: “Surgeon General: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms”
Firearm Violence: A Public Health Crisis in America: The Surgeon General’s Advisory
The Surgeon General’s 1964 report on smoking and health
Vivek Murthy at Yale College Class Day Exercises
Health Misinformation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on Building a Healthy Information Environment
Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The Surgeon General’s Advisory
Log Off Movement
“Fetterman, Britt Introduce Bill to Require Mental Health Warning Labels on Social Media Platforms”
“The Outrage Industrial Complex”
Instagram: Vivek Murthy and his family at his swearing-in
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Howie and Harlan discuss recent headlines, including the latest round of COVID and flu vaccines, a lousy report card for the U.S. healthcare system, and a rare case of swine flu. Plus: Howie investigates a mysteriously escalating pharmacy bill.
Links:
COVID and Flu Vaccines
CDC FluView: Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report: Key Updates for Week 36, ending September 7, 2024
CDC: Staying Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines
“Florida discourages use of mRNA Covid vaccines in older adults”
“Florida’s New Covid Booster Guidance Is Straight-Up Misinformation”
CDC: COVID Data Tracker
A Failing Grade
“Mirror, Mirror 2024: A Portrait of the Failing U.S. Health System”
CMS Health Equity Conference
“What is Driving Widening Racial Disparities in Life Expectancy?”
Swine Flu
“Minnesota reports 2 H3N2v flu infections in fairgoers”
Shohei Ohtani
“Shohei Ohtani reaches 50-50 in spectacular style as Dodgers clinch postseason berth”
“The Shohei Ohtani Goal Matrix”
Baseball Almanac: A Definition of 50-50 Club
Drug Prices
Mayo Clinic: Flecainide
“Column: Less choice, higher prices feared in CVS’ takeover of health insurer Aetna”
“How to Save Money on Your Prescription Drugs”
Brain Age
“Brain clocks capture diversity and disparities in aging and dementia across geographically diverse populations”
“Brain aging patterns in a large and diverse cohort of 49,482 individuals”
“Associations between alcohol consumption and gray and white matter volumes in the UK Biobank”
“Environmental Cardiology: Studying Mechanistic Links Between Pollution and Heart Disease”
AirPods as Hearing Aids
“FDA Authorizes First Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Software”
Oak Street Health
Department of Justice: Oak Street Health Agrees to Pay $60M to Resolve Alleged False Claims Act Liability for Paying Kickbacks to Insurance Agents in Medicare Advantage Patient Recruitment Scheme
“CVS Reaches $10.6 Billion Deal to Buy Clinic Owner Oak Street Health”
Howie and Harlan are joined by Ania Jastreboff, a Yale endocrinologist and an expert on obesity medication, to talk about the remarkable range of diseases treated by drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Wegovy. Harlan discusses new Apple devices with the ability to detect sleep apnea and aid in hearing; Howie reports on outbreaks of polio in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Gaza.
Links:
Apple and Health
“FDA clears Apple’s sleep apnea detection feature for use. Here’s how it works”
FDA: “FDA Authorizes First Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Software”
“FDA approves some Apple AirPods to be used as hearing aids”
National Council on Aging: Reasons for Low Hearing Loss Treatment
Obesity Drugs
“Semaglutide vs Tirzepatide for Weight Loss in Adults With Overweight or Obesity”
“An Obesity Drug Prevents Covid Deaths, Study Suggests”
“Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Obesity without Diabetes”
“The New Anti-Obesity Drugs: What You Should Know”
Video: Oprah Winfrey and Ania Jastreboff, “What Exactly Is Obesity? A Yale Doctor Explains”
“Obesogenic environments and obesity: a comment on ‘Are environmental area characteristics at birth associated with overweight and obesity in school-aged children? Findings from the SLOPE (Studying Lifecourse Obesity PrEdictors) population-based cohort in the south of England’”
“Oprah Takes on Weight Stigma in the Ozempic Era”
“Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity”
Ania Jastreboff: “Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity”
Ania Jastreboff: “Triple-Hormone-Receptor Agonist Retatrutide for Obesity—A Phase 2 Trial”
“Daily Oral GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Orforglipron for Adults with Obesity”
“Obesity drug black market thrives online in S. Korea”
“Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy Weight-Loss Drug Gets Approval in China”
“A Popular Weight Loss Drug Is Getting a Price Cut”
Polio
Poliovirus outbreak in New York State, August 2022: qualitative assessment of immediate public health responses and priorities for improving vaccine coverage
CDC: Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus
WHO: “Humanitarian pauses vital for critical polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip”
Howard Forman Discusses Polio in Gaza on TikTok
CDC: Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication—Pakistan, January 2023–June 2024
“Afghanistan risks polio outbreak as Taliban restricts women from delivering vaccines”
“Polio eradication: the CIA and their unintended victims”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Margaret McGovern, deputy dean for clinical affairs at the Yale School of Medicine, CEO of Yale Medicine, and chief physician executive of the Yale New Haven Health System. They discuss her path from the lab to healthcare leadership, and her efforts to better align Yale's medical school and its health system. Harlan reflects on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks; Howie provides an update on the bird flu outbreak.
Links:
September 11
“60 Minutes remembers 9/11: The FDNY”
Margaret McGovern
“McGovern Welcomed as Yale Medicine CEO”
“Margaret McGovern, MD, PhD, Appointed YSM Deputy Dean and CEO of Yale Medicine”
“What is Translational Research?”
“Three SBU Leaders Honored for Outstanding Service During Pandemic”
“What Are Relative Value Units (RVUs)?”
“You’re Invited: Alignment-Focused Town Halls”
“Clinically Integrated Networks”
“Elevating Patient Access and the Consumer Experience”
Bird Flu
“Current H5N1 Bird Flu Situation in Dairy Cows”
“How CDC is monitoring influenza data among people to better understand the current avian influenza A (H5N1) situation”
“5 burning questions about Missouri’s mysterious H5 bird flu case”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Lee Schwamm, associate dean for digital strategy and transformation for Yale School of Medicine and chief digital health officer for Yale New Haven Health System, to discuss how AI and other digital tools can be part of fixing a broken healthcare system. Harlan reports on lightly regulated compounding pharmacies producing anti-obesity drugs; Howie gives an update on efforts by the FDA and CDC to fight bird flu.
Links:
"2023 Paul Dudley White Award: Dr. Lee Schwamm"
Yale School of Medicine | Lisa Leffert, MD
Health & Veritas | Dr. Lisa Leffert: Leading in Anesthesiology
Testimony Prepared by Dr. Lee Schwamm Submitted to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Heath
"Ambient AI Is Here, And We Are Blissfully Unaware Of It"
"Yale New Haven Health to provide AI-driven clinical documentation"
"Abridge, Mayo Clinic, And Epic Collaborate To Develop An Integrated Artificial Intelligence Documentation Solution For Nurses"
"Are You Sure Your Ozempic Is Real? Fakes Are on the Rise."
"Bill on Drug Compounding Clears Congress a Year After a Meningitis Outbreak"
CDC | H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation
"Is Bird Flu Spreading Widely to Farm Workers? A Small Study Offers Some Reassurance"
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Joshua Sharfstein, a longtime public health official in federal, state, and local government, to discuss the state of the opioid epidemic, lessons from the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, and our readiness for a bird flu outbreak. Harlan reports on the summer surge in COVID-19; Howie remembers his mentor Gail Wilensky, a health economist who directed Medicaid and Medicare programs and led many other organizations over a 50-year career.
Links:
COVID-19 Update
CDC: COVID Data Tracker
CDC: COVID-19 Current Wastewater Viral Activity Levels Map
“What to Know About COVID FLiRT Variants”
Joshua Sharfstein
Joshua Sharfstein: The Public Health Crisis Survival Guide: Leadership and Management in Trying Times
Joshua Sharfstein: The Opioid Epidemic: What everyone needs to know”
“How Can Over-the-Counter Naloxone Prevent Opioid Overdose Deaths?”
CDC: H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation“Millions of US Children Experience Range of Long COVID Effects”
Joshua Sharfstein: “The Role for Policy in AI-Assisted Medical Diagnosis”“External Validation of a Widely Implemented Proprietary Sepsis Prediction Model in Hospitalized Patients”
“Epic’s overhaul of a flawed algorithm shows why AI oversight is a life-or-death issue”
Podcast: “Baltimore cut infant mortality and helped moms thrive, too”Remembering Gail Wilensky
“In Remembrance Of Gail Wilensky”
“Gail Wilensky, Former CMS Administrator, Dies at 81”
“In Memoriam: Gail Wilensky, Renowned Health Economist & NORC Trustee”Gail Wilensky: “The Health Care Quality Improvement Initiative”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Kate Goodrich, chief medical officer for Humana and a former Medicare staffer, to discuss the improvements in care and outcomes that result when providers are paid for each patient, not each service. Harlan looks at the challenge of payment for AI-based diagnostic tools; Howie asks if free tuition at Johns Hopkins medical school will address the real problems in medical education.
Links:
AI Diagnostic Tools
“Tempus Receives U.S. FDA 510(k) Clearance for Tempus ECG-AF, an AI-based Algorithm that Identifies Patients at Increased Risk of AFib”
“Ensight-Ai Awarded Fda's Breakthrough Device Designation For Their Ecgvision-Ttr© Technology For Early Detection Of Attr-Cardiomyopathy Image”
The Cardiovascular Workforce Crisis: Navigating the Present, Planning for the Future
“American Medical Association Grants PLA Code to Tempus Algorithmic Test, PurISTSM”
Kate Goodrich
Humana: Value Based Care Report
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Value Based Care
“Medicare Spending on Ozempic and Other GLP-1s Is Skyrocketing”
Free Tuition at Johns Hopkins
“Bloomberg gives $1 billion to Hopkins to make tuition free for most medical students”
Johns Hopkins School Of Medicine: Tuition And Financial Aid
“Free med school tuition won’t solve the shortage of primary care physicians”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Timothy Westmoreland to discuss his long career in health policy and law, and the far-reaching consequences of the Supreme Court decision overturning Chevron deference. Harlan looks at President Joe Biden's debate struggles; Howie reports on the many healthcare-related Supreme Court decisions.
Links:
The Presidential Debate
Harlan Krumholz: “Did Cold Medications Affect Biden's Debate Performance?”
CNN Presidential Debate: President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, July 2, 2024
“Biden's Evolving Reasons for His Bad Debate: A Cold, Too Much Prep, Not Feeling Great and Jet Lag”
Timothy Westmoreland
Timothy Westmoreland: “Henry Waxman, the Unsung Hero in the Fight Against AIDS”
“LGBTQ History Month: The early days of America's AIDS crisis”
Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute: Chevron deference
Ballotpedia: Skidmore deference
“How the Chevron case has roiled U.S. healthcare agencies”
SCOTUSblog: Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
“Supreme Court appears likely to allow abortion drug to remain available”
The Supreme Court
“Implications for Public Health Regulation if Chevron Deference Is Overturned”
Supreme Court opinion: Murthy, Surgeon General, et al. v. Missouri et al
SCOTUSblog: Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine
Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute: Moyle v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Health & Veritas Ep. 77: Megan Ranney: What’s Next for Public Health?
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Howie and Harlan catch up on healthcare headlines, including the politics of treating gun violence as a public health crisis, the growing evidence for the dangers of artificial sweeteners, and the latest on the bird flu outbreak.
Links:
Aspen Ideas: Health 2024
Harlan Krumholz: “The Next Era of JACC”
"First Issue of JACC Debuts Under Harlan M. Krumholz"
"U.S. clinical trials begin for twice-yearly HIV prevention injection"
UNAIDS: 2023 Fact Sheet
Rush University System: Dr. Omar B. Lateef
"Rush Signs on as First Partner for Local Laundry Service"
“Health Equity as a System Strategy: The Rush University Medical Center Framework”
"Surgeon General Declares Gun Violence a Public Health Crisis"
Surgeon General’s Advisory on Firearm Violence
"Surgeon General: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms"
“Patient Navigation for Lung Cancer Screening at a Health Care for the Homeless Program A Randomized Clinical Trial”
Vinay Prasad: “CT screening for lung cancer for homeless people: the new JAMA IM paper”
Supreme Court: Murthy v. Missouri Opinion
"US supreme court allows government to request removal of misinformation on social media"
Harlan Krumholz: “Why One Cardiologist Has Drunk His Last Diet Soda"
“Xylitol is prothrombotic and associated with cardiovascular risk”
"Is Xylitol Dangerous?"
CDC: A(H5N1) Bird Flu Response Update June 21, 2024
"Michigan stands out for its aggressive bird flu response. Will other states follow its lead?"
"Finland to offer bird flu vaccinations to at-risk residents in a world first"
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Lisa Suter, a rheumatologist and the senior director of the Quality Measurement Program at Yale’s Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation. Harlan reflects on the meaning of Juneteenth and reports on a Yale-led report card on health equity; Howie comments on Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s call for warning labels on social media.
Links:
Juneteenth
National Museum of African American History & Culture: Juneteenth
Harlan Krumholz: “Excess Cardiovascular Mortality Among Black Americans 2000-2022: A JACC Report Card”
“JACC Report Card Highlights Inequities in CV Care, Death Rates”
Harlan Krumholz: “Excess Mortality and Years of Potential Life Lost Among the Black Population in the US, 1999-2020”
Lisa Suter
Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease: Arthritis
Lisa Suter: “Medical Decision Making in Patients With Knee Pain, Meniscal Tear, and Osteoarthritis”
Lisa Suter: “Projecting Lifetime Risk of Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis and Total Knee Replacement in Individuals Sustaining a Complete Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear in Early Adulthood”
“Voices of DEI: Lisa Suter, MD”
Harlan Krumholz: “Association of door-to-balloon time and mortality in patients admitted to hospital with ST elevation myocardial infarction: national cohort study”
Harlan Krumholz: “Association of Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities With Outcomes Among Patients Hospitalized With Acute Myocardial Infarction, Heart Failure, and Pneumonia
An Analysis of Within- and Between-Hospital Variation”
The Surgeon General on Social Media
“Surgeon General: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms”
“Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S Surgeon General’s Advisory”
Kids Online Safety Act: Senator Richard Blumenthal
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Anna Reisman, a physician and writer who leads Yale’s Program for Humanities in Medicine. They discuss the gaps in care she encountered when her developmentally disabled sister was diagnosed with cancer, and her work reviewing the “dude wall” of portraits at Yale Medical School. Harlan asks what we’ve gained from a new definition of long COVID; Howie provides an update on the spread of the H5N1 bird flu.
Links:
Defining Long COVID
“Federal Government, Clinicians, Employers, and Others Should Adopt New Definition for Long COVID to Aid in Consistent Diagnosis, Documentation, and Treatment”
National Academies: A Long COVID Definition
WHO: Post COVID-19 condition (Long COVID)
Anna Reisman
U.S. News: Yale University department rankings
Wikipedia: The Magic Mountain
Anna Reisman: “A doctor’s life, chronicled”
“Life on wheels” (Yale School of Medicine article on the documentary Rolling)
Anna Reisman: “Standard of Care”
“Academic Science Rethinks All-Too-White 'Dude Walls' Of Honor”
Wikipedia: Stanhope Bayne-Jones
“In Memoriam: Marjorie Rosenthal, MD '95, MPH 1967–2020”
“Yale Internal Medicine Residency Writers’ Workshop celebrates 20th anniversary”.
Bird Flu
FDA: Updates on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)
“CDC Reports A(H5N1) Ferret Study Results”
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Mitesh Rao, co-founder and CEO of OMNY Health, joins Howie and Harlan to discuss his entrepreneurial journey and how his company is creating a common layer of data connecting healthcare providers and researchers. Harlan reports on a study showing how many lives could be saved by improving quality of care; Howie reflects on the health consequences that have accompanied the legalization of cannabis.
Links:
Quality and Lives Saved
“The business case for quality: estimating lives saved and harms avoided in a value-based purchasing model”
The CMS Innovation Center
NCQA: Hedis Measures
South Park: “Navigating the American Healthcare System”
Mitesh Rao
OMNY Health: Connect Data to Transform Lives
“OMNY Health announces $17 Million Raise to Lead the Next Generation of Real-World Data-Driven Decision-Making and Collaboration Across Healthcare”
Crunchbase: OMNY Health
“How Venture Capital Works”
UK Biobank: Enabling Scientific Discoveries that Improve Human Health
“The Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program: Four Decades of Training Physicians as Agents of Change”
HIPAA: Health Information Privacy
Yale Innovation Summit
Cannabis and Health
“Justice Department Submits Proposed Regulation to Reschedule Marijuana”
“Changes in self-reported cannabis use in the United States from 1979 to 2022”
Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome
“Cannabis and Psychosis: Recent Epidemiological Findings Continuing the ‘Causality Debate’”
“High-potency marijuana highlights the risk of cannabis-induced psychiatric disorders”
Marijuana Addiction Facts: Is Marijuana Addictive?
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A special episode recorded at the Yale Innovation Summit, which brings together entrepreneurs and investors in the arts, biotech, climate, health, and tech. Howie and Harlan are joined by Josh Geballe, managing director of Yale Ventures, which hosts the summit; Mary Ann Melnick, site head at Biolabs New Haven; and Lee Schwamm, chief digital health officer at Yale New Haven Health System.
Links:
Yale Ventures: Yale Innovation Summit
State of Connecticut: “Governor Lamont Announces Creation of the Innovation Clusters Program To Support Growth in Cutting-Edge Industries”
Yale Ventures: Venture Lab
BioLabs New Haven
The Provost’s Committee on Conflict of Interest
“Novel BioLaunch program to train New Haven residents for careers in biotech”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Chima Ndumele of the Yale School of Public Health to discuss his research on structural changes to Medicaid that could keep vulnerable populations healthier. Harlan reports on the remarkable abilities of Google's latest medicine-focused AI; Howie reflects on a study showing the impact of race-neutral measures of lung function.
Links:
AI and Medicine
“Capabilities of Gemini Models in Medicine”
Medicaid
Medicaid.gov
“10 Things to Know About Medicaid”
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
“Long-Term Stability of Coverage Among Michigan Medicaid Beneficiaries: A Cohort Study”
“Unwinding And The Medicaid Undercount: Millions Enrolled In Medicaid During The Pandemic Thought They Were Uninsured”
Chima Ndumele: “Variation in Health Outcomes: The Role of Spending on Social Services, Public Health, and Health Care, 2000–09”
Chima Ndumele: “In Medicaid Managed Care Networks, Care Is Highly Concentrated Among A Small Percentage Of Physicians”
“N.C. developing plan to improve Medicaid participants’ job prospects”
“Yale School of Public Health Graduates Urged to Adopt a “Healthy Disregard for the Impossible”
Race and Lung Function
“Implications of Race Adjustment in Lung-Function Equations”
Harlan Krumholz: “Association of Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities with Outcomes among Patients Hospitalized with Acute Myocardial Infarction, Heart Failure, and Pneumonia. An Analysis of Within- and Between-Hospital Variation”
“Q&A: Harlan Krumholz on hospital readmissions”
Health & Veritas Live on May 30
Join Howie and Harlan in person at the Yale Innovation Summit.
Watch live on YouTube.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Ruth Katz, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Health, Medicine & Society Program and a former Capitol Hill staffer, to discuss her work on the Affordable Care Act and other major healthcare laws. Harlan reflects on a study showing that using different analytical approaches to the same data can lead to a wide range of conclusions; Howie reports on a wave of dangerous infections caused by stem cell treatments at clinics in Mexico.
Links:
Reproducible Research
“Grilling the data: application of specification curve analysis to red meat and all-cause mortality”
“Many Analysts, One Data Set: Making Transparent How Variations in Analytic Choices Affect Results”
Ruth Katz
“Reflecting on Past Accomplishments to Make History Moving Forward: The NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 and the New Office of Autoimmune Disease Research
“Thousands Believe Covid Vaccines Harmed Them. Is Anyone Listening?”
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
Health Resources and Services Administration: Vaccine Injury Table
“Brilliant Minds. Bold Approaches. Better Health. Aspen Ideas: Health Announces Programming Themes for 2024”
Medical Tourism and Stem Cell Treatments
“Stem cell injections in Mexico can be hazardous. Report identifies US victims”
CDC: Medical Tourism
Health & Veritas Live on May 30
Join Howie and Harlan in person at the Yale Innovation Summit
Watch live on YouTube
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Greg Licholai, a Yale SOM lecturer and biotech entrepreneur, to discuss his career and his work at the contract research organization ICON, which performs clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies. Harlan reports on new research illustrating the dangerous consequences of asking patients to share the costs of life-saving drugs; Howie provides the good news and the bad news from the annual Medicare Trustees Report.
Links:
Cost-Sharing and Mortality
“The Health Costs Of Cost-Sharing”
“The Boys of January”
Greg Licholai
ICON plc
Greg Licholai in Forbes
Boston Children's Hospital: Sickle Cell Disease
The State of the Medicare Trust Fund
Medicare: Coverage Gap
2024 Medicare Trustees Report
KFF: FAQs on Medicare Financing and Trust Fund Solvency
KFF: What to Know about Medicare Spending and Financing
Health & Veritas Live on May 30
Join Howie and Harlan in person at the Yale Innovation Summit
Watch live on YouTube
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan discuss health and healthcare headlines. From flatlining telehealth to Walmart closing retail clinics to months-long waits for healthcare appointments, they try to untangle the challenges in delivering healthcare. Also considered, H5N1 bird flu increasing the risks of drinking unpasteurized milk, promising research on open-source moderation of misinformation on social media.
Links:
Yale Repertory Theater | The Far Country
CDC | H5N1
“US bird flu outbreak spreads to chickens, cattle, raises concerns over human infections”
“Raw Milk Is Being Legalized in More States. Is It Safe?”
“Recipe for a Healthy Gut: Intake of Unpasteurised Milk Is Associated with Increased Lactobacillus Abundance in the Human Gut Microbiome“
“Long-time Teladoc leader departs as virtual care provider struggles with post-COVID tumble”
“Teladoc sinks $13.7B loss in 2022 tied to plummeting value of Livongo acquisition”
“Optum layoffs: naviHealth CEO out; Virtual care business shuttered”
Connecticut | Certificate of Needs
Characteristics of X (Formerly Twitter) Community Notes Addressing COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation
“Walmart is closing down its health centers. What’s that mean for Amazon, Walgreens and CVS?”
“Walgreens narrows profit outlook for 2024, takes $6B hit in Q2 from VillageMD investment”
“Why It Takes Forever to Get a Doctor’s Appointment”
Yale Innovation Summit 2024
Link for the Health & Veritas Livestream at the Yale Innovation Summit
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Arthur Caplan, Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor of Bioethics and founding head of the division of medical ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, to discuss the ethical failings of the pharmaceutical industry and how a community-focused ethos prioritizing justice and protection of the vulnerable would have reshaped the COVID response. Harlan reports on developments in synthetic proteins. Howie recognizes World Malaria Day.
Links:
Division of Medical Ethics: NYU Langone
“‘You’ve got bad blood’: The horror of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment”
“When Evil Intrudes”
“Surgeons Perform World’s First Combined Heart Pump And Pig Kidney Transplant—Latest Breakthrough Involving Pig Organ”
“Biden trolls Trump on injecting bleach anniversary”
Frequently Asked Questions on Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act (DWDA)
“A quiet revolution in organ transplant ethics”
Center for Healthcare Ethics: The Provider-Patient Relationship
“Ex-Stanford President’s AI Drug Startup Pulls In $1 Billion in Commitments”
“Protein wrangler, serial entrepreneur, and community builder: Inside David Baker’s brain”
Baker Lab: Home Page
“Atomically accurate de novo design of single-domain antibodies”
National Cancer Institute: Definition of a Monoclonal Antibody
Malaria: World Health Organization
CDC: Malaria’s Impact Worldwide
UNICEF: Ten things you didn’t know about malaria
Yale Innovation Summit 2024
Link for the Health & Veritas Livestream at the Yale Innovation Summit
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Scott Berkowitz ’03, cardiologist and chief population health officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine, to discuss the necessity of moving from fee-for-service to value-based care delivery to improve outcomes for all. Harlan highlights the dangers of misinformation about Ivermectin. Howie reports on the potential conflicts of interest created by device manufacturers’ payments to cardiologists.
Links:
Johns Hopkins Medicine: Home
Johns Hopkins Community Health Partnership
“Association of a Care Coordination Model With Health Care Costs and Utilization”
“Planning for the Future of Population Health: The Johns Hopkins Medicine Experience”
“Califf’s long day on Capitol Hill”
“The FDA Deleted Its Viral Ivermectin Tweets. Now There’s Even More Misinformation.”
“Philly Nonprofit Awarded $48 Million to Apply AI in Search for New Uses for Approved Drugs
Posted on March 12, 2024”
“Effect of Early Treatment with Ivermectin among Patients with Covid-19”
“Effect of Ivermectin vs Placebo on Time to Sustained Recovery in Outpatients With Mild to Moderate COVID-19”
“Effect of Higher-Dose Ivermectin for 6 Days vs Placebo on Time to Sustained Recovery in Outpatients With COVID-19”
“Systematic review and meta-analysis of ivermectin for treatment of COVID-19: evidence beyond the hype”
Ivermectin and Covid
“FDA settles lawsuit over ivermectin content that doctors claimed harmed their practice”
“Intravascular Microaxial Left Ventricular Assist Device Manufacturer Payments to Cardiologists and Use of Devices”
“Impact of Industry Payments on Prescribing Patterns for Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors Among Medicare Beneficiaries”
Yale Innovation Summit 2024
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Atheendar Venkataramani, a physician, health economist, and director of the Perelman School of Medicine’s Opportunity for Health Lab, to discuss the powerful role of economic opportunity in population health outcomes. Harlan reports on two studies where treatments’ unexpected benefits leapt ahead of understanding why they work. Howie reflects on the business model of the pharma industry and the market reaction to anti-obesity drugs.
Links:
Opportunity for Health | Home
“College Affirmative Action Bans and Smoking and Alcohol Use among Underrepresented Minority Adolescents in the United States: A Difference-in-differences Study”
“Police Killings and Their Spillover Effects on the Mental Health of Black Americans: A Population-based, Quasi-experimental Study”
“Officer-Involved Killings of Unarmed Black People and Racial Disparities in Sleep Health“
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System | Home
“Building Black Wealth — The Role of Health Systems in Closing the Gap“
KFF | Understanding Mergers Between Hospitals and Health Systems in Different Markets
“In Hospitals, Affordable Housing Gets the Long-Term Investor It Needs”
American College of Cardiology 73rd Annual Scientific Session & Expo
“Semaglutide in Patients with Obesity-Related Heart Failure and Type 2 Diabetes“
“Coronary sinus reducer for the treatment of refractory angina (ORBITA-COSMIC): a randomised, placebo-controlled trial”
“A Placebo-Controlled Trial of PCI for Stable Angina“
“Trial of Lixisenatide in Early Parkinson’s Disease“
“The Cream of The Crop: 5 Biotechs That Outrank Most Stocks”
“How High Can Eli Lilly Stock Go? $1,000 A Share, One Analyst Says”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Kate McEvoy, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, to discuss the programs’ underappreciated advances in holistically addressing health, housing, and food security. Reflecting on the upcoming election, Harlan notes that facts matter, whether in medicine or politics. Howie reports on the dangers of glyoxylic acid in hair straightening products.
Links:
“Trump Leads Biden in Six of Seven Swing States, WSJ Poll Finds”
“Takeover: Hitler’s Final Rise to Power”
“The Forgotten History of Hitler’s Establishment Enablers”
The Future of Health Policy in a Partisan United States
“Netflix blockbuster ‘3 Body Problem’ divides opinion and sparks nationalist anger in China”
“The Future of American Democracy Depends on Improving U.S. Health”
Wikipedia | Glyoxylic acid
Kidney Injury and Hair-Straightening Products Containing Glyoxylic Acid
American Cancer Society | Formaldehyde and Cancer Risk
Kaiser Family Foundation | 10 Things to Know About the Unwinding of the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Provision
Kaiser Family Foundation | Medicaid Postpartum Coverage Extension Tracker
CMS | NHE Fact Sheet
Moral Injuries in Healthcare Workers: What Causes Them and What to Do About Them?
NCDHHS | Healthy Opportunities Pilots
HealthTech4Medicaid | About
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Margo Harrison, an OB-GYN and femtech entrepreneur, to discuss how innovative solutions to women’s health problems offer deeper understanding and expanded choices. Harlan and Howie each offer a caveat emptor for lightly regulated, unproven supplements and treatments such as Prevagen and hydration spas.
Links:
“Prevagen Review: A Word of Caution”
“Prevagen®: Analysis of Clinical Evidence and Its Designation as a ‘#1 Pharmacist Recommended Brand’”
“NY Jury Rules Some Claims About Prevagen Are Misleading”
“Effects of a Supplement Containing Apoaequorin on Verbal Learning in Older Adults in the Community”
Mate Fertility: Home
Dahlia Ventures
Margo Harrison, MD: Assistant Adjoint Professor, OB-GYN-Basic Repro Science
Margo Harrison: LinkedIn
“Use of Cesarean Birth at Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital, Mizan Aman, Ethiopia”
“Postpartum Contraceptive Use Among Denver-Based Adolescents and Young Adults: Association with Subsequent Repeat Delivery”
“Warnings grow about risky IV drips and injections at unregulated med spas”
“FDA highlights concerns with compounding of drug products by medical offices and clinics under insanitary conditions”
“Drip bar: Should you get an IV on demand?”
“Are Your Therapies FDA Compliant?”
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale health economist Zack Cooper to discuss his work on surprise medical bills and the impact of high healthcare costs on households, wages, and the economy. Harlan reports on Hippocratic AI’s efforts to develop AI nurses. Howie looks at the global effort to eradicate tuberculosis.
Links:
“Hippocratic AI banks $53M backed by General Catalyst, a16z, Memorial Hermann, UHS and other health systems”
“Polaris: A Safety-focused LLM Constellation Architecture for Healthcare”
Yale | Eli Whitney Students Program
Touching the Dragon: And Other Techniques for Surviving Life’s Wars
The Price Ain’t Right? Hospital Prices and Health Spending on the Privately Insured
“Costs Can Go Up Fast When E.R. Is in Network but the Doctors Are Not”
“Bankrupt Envision Healthcare approved to split in two, cut debt”
“The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills”
Surprise! Out-of-Network Billing for Emergency Care in the United States
“Medical LLM developer Hippocratic AI gets $53M at $500 valuation”
The Breakthrough of Large Language Models Release for Medical Applications: 1-Year Timeline and Perspectives
World Health Organization | World Tuberculosis Day
Partners In Health | Tuberculosis
“WHO urges investments for the scale up of tuberculosis screening and preventive treatment”
“The latest twist in John Green’s anti-tuberculosis story: working with governments”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Robert Alpern, a Yale nephrologist and the former dean of the Yale School of Medicine, to discuss the importance of a fiscal base for enabling a medical school to deliver top-quality training, research, and clinical care. Harlan asks whether widespread norovirus is a reason to call it quits on shaking hands. Howie reports on a study of the increased mortality among those with ADHD.
“Nephrologist Robert Alpern Named Dean of Yale School of Medicine”
“UT Southwestern: From Army” Shacks to Research Elites”
“National Clinician Scholars Program”
“A ‘bittersweet’ end: Historic merger creates one of the nation’s largest hospitals”
“Yale New Haven Health: Smilow Cancer Hospital”
“Alpern will not seek a fourth term as School of Medicine dean”
“Alpern to Step Down After Current Term as Dean”
“Cleveland Clinic: Norovirus”
“State of Affairs: March 12: Flu, measles, norovirus, and interesting Pew results”
“Norovirus has entered the chat”
“ADHD Pharmacotherapy and Mortality in Individuals With ADHD”
“Overdiagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents”
“Racial Disparities in Diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in a US National Birth Cohort”
“Longitudinal associations between digital media use and ADHD symptoms in children and adolescents: a systematic literature review”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Robert Rohrbaugh, professor of psychiatry and deputy dean for professionalism and leadership at the Yale School of Medicine, to discuss his work training doctors in antiracist practices and ensuring the wellbeing of clinicians during the pandemic. Harlan reports on the problematic history of medical journals promoting eugenics; Howie highlights a cyberattack that has paralyzed Change Healthcare, the country’s largest payments processing hub.
Links:
Antiracist Documentation Practices — Shaping Clinical Encounters and Decision Making
American Psychological Association | Implicit Bias
“YSM Ranks #1 in U.S. News Survey for Psychiatry”
COVID-19 Traumatic Disaster Appraisal and Stress Symptoms Among Health Care Workers
Application of Artificial Intelligence on Psychological Interventions and Diagnosis: An Overview
Is AI the Future of Mental Healthcare?
ChatGPT outperforms humans in emotional awareness evaluations
“Ridding the Race of His Defective Blood” — Eugenics in the Journal, 1906–1948
Problems Underlying Public Hospital Administration
Wikipedia | Public Hospital
Eugenics and Involuntary Sterilization: 1907–2015
“Cyberattack Paralyzes the Largest U.S. Health Care Payment System”
“Physicians beg for relief amid Change Healthcare payment crisis”
“Court Rejects Vertical Merger Challenge Brought by DOJ”
“Aledade Takes Steps to Support Independent Primary Care Partners in Wake of Change Healthcare CyberAttack”
Howie and Harlan discuss health and healthcare headlines, including a cheating scandal that has led to the invalidation of hundreds of scores from Nepal on the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination, the problem of research that never sees the light of day, new anti-obesity medications, and Florida’s unorthodox approach to measles.
Links:
Standardized Testing
“Cheated out of the American Dream”
“MCAT scores and medical school success: Do they correlate?”
”Reducing Medical School Admissions Disparities in an Era of Legal Restrictions: Adjusting for Applicant Socioeconomic Disadvantage”
“Medical School Admissions — A Movable Barrier to Ending Health Care Disparities?”
“Yale Reinstates Standardized Test Score Requirement For Admissions”
“New SAT Data Highlights the Deep Inequality at the Heart of American Education”
Research at Universities
Good Science Project: Stuart Buck
“Why Are We Screwing Over Researchers Who Make Innovative Discoveries?”
Intellectual Property: Ownership and Protection in a University Setting
Measles in Florida
“From COVID-19 to Measles, Florida’s War on Public Health”
CDC: About Measles
“Additional measles case reported at Florida elementary school as lawmaker urges public health emergency”
Obesity Drugs
“Heard on the Street: Viking Therapeutics Invades Eli Lilly’s Obesity Territory”
Unreleased Research Data
“The Ghost Research Haunting Nordic Medical Trials”
“Publication of NIH funded trials registered in ClinicalTrials.gov: cross sectional analysis”
Harlan Krumholz: “What have we learnt from Vioxx?”
A Transformative Gift
“$1 Billion Donation Will Provide Free Tuition at a Bronx Medical School”
IVF in Alabama
The Alabama Supreme Court’s Ruling
“Florida Suspends Bill to Protect ‘Unborn Child’ After I.V.F. Ruling”
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: The Alabama Supreme Court’s Ruling on Frozen Embryos
Faculty for Yale
Faculty for Yale
“The Need For Institutional Neutrality At Universities”
“Yale faculty sign letter addressed to Yale’s future president, affirms commitment to social justice”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Lucila Ohno-Machado, the Yale School of Medicine’s deputy dean for biomedical informatics. She explains how expanding use of data science, informatics, AI, and technology could enable doctors to spend more time with patients. Harlan celebrates mentorship while marking the death of Irwin Birnbaum, a mentor to many in his time as COO of the Yale Medical School and long after retiring. Howie discusses the mixed evidence from a study on vaping as a tool for helping cigarette smokers quit.
Links:
“Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, MBA, Will Lead Biomedical Informatics and Data Science”
“Lucila Ohno-Machado: Yale Medicine Profile”
“Halıcıoğlu Data Science Center”
“2024 AI in Medicine Symposium at Yale School of Medicine”
“Doctors Vs. ChatGPT: Which Is More Empathetic?”
“Irwin M. Birnbaum Obituary”
“What is a mentor?”
“A Randomized Trial of E-Cigarettes versus Nicotine-Replacement Therapy”
“Episode 78, Health and Veritas: Elizabeth Arleo: Advice for Working Mothers from a Women’s Health Specialist”
Howie and Harlan are joined by Farzad Mostashari, co-founder and CEO of Aledade, an "accountable care organization" that seeks to align patient-provider incentives so doctors can make a profit by prioritizing preventive care. Harlan discusses a study suggesting that physical exercise may be protective from severe COVID. Howie highlights the introduction of Apple’s VR headset and the importance of further study to understand the technology’s capacity to “rewire” our brains.
Links:
"Aledade: Home Page"
“Farzad Mostashari: Man On A Digital Mission”
“Health Reform and Physician-Led Accountable Care:The Paradox of Primary Care Physician Leadership”
“Staggering Rise in Catheter Bills Suggests Medicare Scam”
“Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs): General Information”
“Novid: Definition”
“Prepandemic Physical Activity and Risk of COVID-19 Diagnosis and Hospitalization in Older Adults”
“VR risks for kids and teens”
“2024 Outlook: Despite hurdles, stakeholders bullish on VR in behavioral health”
“AI therapy and ICU training: A first look at health apps for Apple Vision Pro”
“Effects of an Immersive Virtual Reality Intervention on Pain and Anxiety Among Pediatric Patients Undergoing Venipuncture”
“Virtual Reality for Management of Pain in Hospitalized Patients: Results of a Controlled Trial”
“Virtual Reality Reduces Pain in Laboring Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
“Apple Vision Pro”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Learn more about the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Christopher O’Connor, CEO of Yale New Haven Health, to discuss his career path and his experience leading hospitals through Hurricane Katrina and COVID-19. Harlan reports on promising AI tools for taking clinical notes; Howie looks at the financial headwinds facing the companies offering Medicare Advantage plans.
Links:
AI Notetaking
“OpenAI-backed healthcare AI startup raises $70 million Series B”
“Burnout Related to Electronic Health Record Use in Primary Care”
“Ambient Artificial Intelligence Scribes to Alleviate the Burden of Clinical Documentation”
“Medical AI scribe startup Nabla rolling out tool to the Permanente Medical Group docs in Northern California”
“Ambience Healthcare reels in $70M for generative AI tools to battle clinician burnout”
Hospital Leadership
"After 20 Years and $16,000, A Hospital Debt Is Canceled"
Harlan Krumholz: “Out‐of‐Pocket Annual Health Expenditures and Financial Toxicity From Healthcare Costs in Patients With Heart Failure in the United States”
"Connecticut hospitals face record financial losses"
"Update on Effect of Hurricane Katrina on Ochsner Clinic Foundation, LA"
"YNHH and Hospital of Saint Raphael become one"
Medicare Advantage
“Humana slashes profit predictions amid soaring Medicare Advantage costs”
HHS: “Biden-Harris Administration is Strengthening Medicare; Protecting and Serving America’s Seniors”
"Cano Health’s downfall offers a warning for Medicare Advantage"
CMS: Risk Adjustment
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Manisha Juthani, a Yale infectious disease specialist and commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health. They discuss her research, including a study casting doubt on the use of cranberries to prevent urinary tract infection, and her priorities for Connecticut. Harlan reports on a wave of study retractions from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Howie reflects on the progress made toward eradicating Guinea worm and malaria.
Links:
Retractions from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
“Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Researchers Accused of Manipulating Data”
“Top Cancer Center Seeks to Retract or Correct Dozens of Studies”
Pubpeer: The Online Journal Club
“‘A lot of it is sloppiness’: the biologist who finds flaws in scientific papers”
Manisha Juthani
“An Outbreak of Domestically Acquired Typhoid Fever in Queens, NY”
Manisha Juthani: “Effect of Cranberry Capsules on Bacteriuria Plus Pyuria Among Older Women in Nursing Homes—A Randomized Clinical Trial”
“Reduction of Bacteriuria and Pyuria After Ingestion of Cranberry Juice”
Yale School of Medicine Medical Grand Rounds: “Debunking a myth: cranberry products for UTI prevention”
Connecticut Department of Public Health
Connecticut Department of Public Health: About the Commissioner
Connecticut Department of Public Health: Statistics and Research
“Court: CT can keep law that ends religious exemptions for vaccines”
“Congenital syphilis cases in the U.S. have skyrocketed, CDC says”
Eradicating Parasites
“Jimmy Carter took on the awful Guinea worm when no one else would—and he triumphed”
“Cape Verde reaches malaria-free milestone”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale SOM alum Claudine Litman, a designer and the director of Yale‘s Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation, to talk about using the tools of design to build more effective healthcare spaces and processes. Harlan looks at seven charts illustrating the state of healthcare in 2023; Howie reports on the FDA reprimanding a drug company for misleading advertising.
Links:
Healthcare in 2023
"Seven Charts That Sum Up U.S. Healthcare In 2023"
Designing Better Healthcare
Yale School of Medicine:Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation
Design for Care: Innovating Healthcare Experience
This Is Service Design Doing: Applying Service Design Thinking in the Real World
The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage
Misleading Advertising
"FDA scolds Novartis over a misleading TV ad for a breast cancer treatment"
Public Law 87-781, 76 STAT 780
FDA: Letter to PharmD
Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertisements: Presentation of the Major Statement in a Clear, Conspicuous, and Neutral Manner in Advertisements in Television and Radio Format Final Rule Questions and Answers Guidance for Industry
NIH: Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Reshma Ramachandran, a Yale family physician and co-director of Yale Collaboration for Regulatory Rigor, Integrity, and Transparency. They discuss the potential ramifications for healthcare regulation if the Supreme Court overturns the Chevron decision requiring judges to defer to federal agencies. Harlan looks at surveys suggesting an erosion of trust in medicine; Howie reports on the growing measles outbreak.
LInks:
Trust in Healthcare
“Nurses First, Doctors Distant Second in Healthcare Provider Ratings”
“KFF Health Tracking Poll: Health Care Issues Emerge as Important Topics on 2024 Campaign Trail, Plus Concerns Loom Large Around Medicaid Unwinding”
Reshma Ramachandran
“What is Ayurveda?”
“On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit: BRIEF OF DR. RESHMA RAMACHANDRAN AND DR. JOSEPH S. ROSS AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS”
“Agencies’ Power Under Scrutiny in Supreme Court Arguments”
“Supreme Court could reel in power of federal agencies with dual fights over fishing rule”
“Case brought to Supreme Court by herring fishermen may gut federal rulemaking power”
Reshma Ramachandran: “Medical Product Industry Ties to Patient Advocacy Organizations’ Executive Leadership”
Reshma Ramachandran: “Do Advocacy Groups Always Put Patient Interests First?”
“Citizens United Explained”
The Measles Outbreak
“Another person infected with measles at a Northeast daycare as Philadelphia outbreaks grows to nine cases”
“DC Cautions Residents of a Potential Measles Exposure”
CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks
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Howie and Harlan discuss the winter wave of COVID-19 and Howie’s experience with the Novovax vaccine, report on potential side effects of the next-generation weight-loss drugs, and unpack the economics of Florida’s plan to import drugs from Canada.
Links:
Sid Wolfe
“Sidney M. Wolfe, Scourge of the Pharmaceutical Industry, Dies at 86”
COVID-19
“Florida surgeon general calls for halt on mRNA covid vaccines, citing debunked claim”
"Safety and Adverse Events Related to Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccines and Novavax;a Systematic Review"
“Paul Offit Debunks Florida Surgeon General's Anti-Vax Warning”
“Does Novavax's Covid vaccine cause fewer side effects?”
“SOTP: State-of-the-Pandemic: The pandemic's 2nd biggest wave of infections and what the JN.1 variant is telling us”
“Deaths induced by compassionate use of hydroxychloroquine during the first COVID-19 wave: an estimate”
Weight-Loss Drugs
“FDA looking into reports of hair loss, suicidal thoughts in people using popular drugs for diabetes and weight loss”
“Semaglutide and risk of suicidal ideations”
“January - March 2023 | Potential Signals of Serious Risks/New Safety Information Identified by the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS)”
Elevance and Medicare
“Elevance sues HHS over Medicare Advantage star ratings”
“How the Tukey Method Could Impact Star Ratings”
TriNetX: Explore. Discover. Connect
Large Language Models
“Diagnostic Accuracy of a Large Language Model in Pediatric Case Studies”
“Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Clinical Medicine, 2023”
Drug Imports
“US FDA to allow Florida to import cheaper drugs from Canada”
“FDA approves Florida's request to import cheaper drugs from Canada”
“Price-Fixing Case Reveals Vulnerability of Generic Drug Policies”
June Jackson Christmas
“June Jackson Christmas, Pioneering Psychiatrist, Dies at 99”
Read an unedited transcript of this episode.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Julie Ann Sosa, chair of the University of California San Francisco department of surgery. She reports on new approaches to treating thyroid nodules, addressing sexual harassment within the medical profession, and supporting personal and professional success for doctors caring for elderly parents. Harlan and Howie discuss the upswing in COVID-19 cases and research on whether the benefits of exercise could be delivered by a pill.
Links:
Prospects for Faculty in the Arts and Sciences: A Study of Factors Affecting Demand and Supply, 1987 to 2012
Trends in Thyroid Cancer Incidence and Mortality in the United States, 1974-2013
Active Surveillance Versus Thyroid Surgery for Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: A Systematic Review
The importance of surgeon experience for clinical and economic outcomes from thyroidectomy.
Addressing Eldercare to Promote Gender Equity in Academic Medicine
Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape by colleagues in the surgical workforce, and how women and men are living different realities: observational study using NHS population-derived weights
CDC | COVID Data Tracker
CDC | Stay Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines
"Could exercise pills help create a healthier society?"
Safety and Efficacy of Plasma Transfusion From Exercise-trained Donors in Patients With Early Alzheimer's Disease (ExPlas)
"Latest data shows millions of eligible Americans have been disenrolled from Medicaid"
KFF | Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker
National Bureau of Economic Research | Oregon Health Insurance Experiment
"More than 13 million people lost Medicaid coverage this year, with Texas an epicenter of the 'unwinding'"
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Learn more about the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Eric Winer, director of the Yale Cancer Center and president of Yale's Smilow Cancer Hospital. They discuss his career, his personal experiences with hemophilia and HIV, and the state of breast cancer treatment. Harlan reports on the retraction of a high-profile study on the effect of hearing aids on dementia; Howie provides some good news from an annual report on health expenditures in the U.S.
Links:
A Retracted Study
“Retraction—Association between hearing aid use and all-cause and cause-specific dementia: an analysis of the UK Biobank cohort”
The original study: “RETRACTED: Association between hearing aid use and all-cause and cause-specific dementia: an analysis of the UK Biobank cohort”
Eric Winer
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Wikipedia: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia
Wikipedia: Nicholas and Alexandra
CDC: What is Hemophilia?
“Bayer division 'knowingly sold' HIV-infected protein”
Eric Winer: 2023 ASCO Presidential Address, “Partnering With Patients: The Cornerstone of Clinical Care and Research”
Eric Winer: “Breast Cancer Treatment: A Review”
"‘I’m Scared to Death.’ Behind the Shortage Keeping Cancer Patients From Chemo"
National Health Expenditures
CDC: National Health Expenditure Data
Read an unedited transcript of this episode.
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
Learn more about the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Tina Loarte-Rodríguez, associate director, health equity measures, at Yale’s Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation and the author of Latinas in Nursing: Stories of Determination, Inspiration, and Trust. And Howie and Harlan discuss the clinical and economic dimensions of two newly approved CRISPR-based treatments for sickle cell disease.
Links:
Tina Loarte-Rodríguez
Tina Loarte-Rodríguez: Latinas in Nursing: Stories of Determination, Inspiration, and Trust
Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation (CORE)
Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation: Quality Measurement
“Sociodemographic Disparities in Queue Jumping for Emergency Department Care”
New Treatments for Sickle Cell Disease
“In historic decision, FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease”
“F.D.A. Approves Sickle Cell Treatments, Including One That Uses CRISPR”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020
Yale New Haven Health: Sickle Cell Program
“Milestones in Sickle Cell Research and Care”
Bluebird Bio
Yahoo Finance: Bluebird Bio, Inc.
“Tough road ahead for Bluebird Bio despite FDA approval for sickle cell therapy”
“Harlan M. Krumholz Named Next Editor-in-Chief of JACC”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Tara Sanft, chief patient experience officer at Yale’s Smilow Cancer Hospital and director of the Survivorship Program at the Yale Cancer Center. Harlan reports on his study of patients with long-lasting symptoms after the COVID-19 vaccine; Howie reflects on the historic decline in cigarette smoking in the United States.
Links:
Post-Vaccination Syndrome
Harlan Krumholz: “Post-Vaccination Syndrome: A Descriptive Analysis of Reported Symptoms and Patient Experiences After Covid-19 Immunization”
Patient Experience and Cancer Survivorship
Tara Sanft: “Rekindling Joy in Medicine Through Thoughtful Communication: A Practical Guide”
“Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Screening and Operative Treatment”
“Impact of Financial Burden of Cancer on Survivors’ Quality of Life”
Yale Medicine: Cancer Survivorship
The White House: Cancer Moonshot
The Decline in Smoking
“Trends in US Adult Smoking Prevalence, 2011 to 2022”
"BAT Writing Off £25 Billion on US Cigarettes, Shares Fall"
"Vaping Declines Among High School Students, Survey Shows"
"Why Philip Morris Stock Is Falling After Earnings Beat Expectations"
"Big Tobacco Rethinks Its Smoking Addiction"
National Cancer Institute: Cancer Stat Facts: Common Cancer Sites
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Stephanie Sudikoff, an expert on using simulation to train healthcare professionals, to discuss her new venture working to expand treatment for neonatal jaundice and how simulating procedures can assist in quality control and ongoing training. They also look at new developments in AI in radiology and the economics of a powerful treatment for inflammation.
Links:
AI and Radiology
“Imaging AI hogs the spotlight at RSNA, with debuts from GE, Siemens, Philips”
“Accuracy of ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Microsoft Bing for Simplifying Radiology Reports”
“Characterizing the Clinical Adoption of Medical AI Devices through U.S. Insurance Claims”
“Kim Kardashian Got a Full Body Scan, Why Medical Experts are Concerned”
“Design goal: Photon Counting CT engineered with Deep Silicon technology to enable advanced CT Imaging”
Heart Flow: Revolutionizing Precision Heart Care
Neonatal Jaundice and Medical Simulation
Little Sparrows Technologies: Big Ideas for Little Babies
Stephanie Sudikoff: “Variability in quality of chest compressions provided during simulated cardiac arrest across nine pediatric institutions”
“‘The Damar Effect’—the nationwide backorder on a lifesaving machine and the 620% increase in CPR”
Stephanie Sudikoff: “An Approach to Confederate Training Within the Context of Simulation-Based Research”
"Assessing the quality of primary healthcare in seven Chinese provinces with unannounced standardised patients: protocol of a cross-sectional survey"
The Economics of Dupixent
“Sanofi, Regeneron say Dupixent succeeds in another late-stage COPD study, setting up filing for FDA approval”
“With new trial data, a blockbuster therapy from Sanofi, Regeneron could find an even bigger market”
“A Drug for Itchy Dogs Costs $1,200. Why Is the Human Equivalent $43,000?”
“Dupilumab for COPD with Type 2 Inflammation Indicated by Eosinophil Counts”
Regeneron: “Dupixent ® (Dupilumab) significantly reduced COPD exacerbations in second trial”
“HHS Selects the First Drugs for Medicare Drug Price Negotiation”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Jerold Mande, a nutrition expert who has served in the FDA, where he led the graphic design of the Nutrition Facts label, and the USDA. Harlan reports on promising new therapies for sickle cell disease, high cholesterol, and hypertension; Howie reflects on the Thanksgiving holiday and the contributions of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who died this week.
Links:
New Therapies
“Sickle-Cell Treatment Created With Gene Editing Wins U.K. Approval”
“Updated data show long-term benefits of CRISPR treatment for sickle cell, beta thalassemia”
“A Randomized, Double-Blind, Dose-Ranging Study of Zilebesiran in Patients With Mild-to-Moderate Hypertension—KARDIA-1”
“Effects of Intensive Blood Pressure Lowering Treatment in Reducing Risk of Cardiovascular Events —ESPRIT”
“VERVE-101: CRISPR-Based Gene Editing Therapy Shows Promise in Reducing LDL-C and PCSK9 Levels in Patients With HeFH”
Food and Health
“An Epidemic of Chronic Illness Is Killing Us Too Soon”
“Fatty Liver Was a Disease of the Old. Then Kids Started Getting Sick.”
“Bariatric Surgery at 16”
Nourish Science
USDA: Characteristics and Influential Factors of Food Deserts
Tufts University | Food Prices for Nutrition | Diet cost metrics for a better-fed world
Trouble With Erythritol
“Lead and Cadmium Could Be in Your Dark Chocolate”
“New evidence links ultra-processed foods with a range of health risks”
“Americans Are Addicted to 'Ultra-Processed' Foods, and It's Killing Us”
The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite
USDA: Learn how to eat healthy with MyPlate
Rosalynn Carter and Doing Good
“Altruism, Happiness, and Health: It’s Good to Be Good”
The Carter Center: Remarks of Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C
“It’s Good To Be Good: 2014 Biennial Scientific Report On Health, Happiness, Longevity, And Helping Others”
“Rosalynn Carter, First Lady and a Political Partner, Dies at 96”
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Howie and Harlan review the results of a new study testing the effects of anti-obesity medications on cardiovascular health. Then they're joined by Yale's John Morton, a leading bariatric surgeon, to discuss the state of weight-loss surgery and its long-term impact on patients' lives.
Links:
Obesity Drugs
“GLP-1 agonists: Diabetes drugs and weight loss”
“Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Obesity without Diabetes”
“AMA urges insurance coverage parity for emerging obesity treatment options”
“National Coverage Determination: Treatment of Obesity”
“Real-World Adherence and Discontinuation of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in the United States”
“2022 Employer Health Benefits Survey: Section 10 - Plan Funding”
Bariatric Surgery
Mayo Clinic: Bariatric Surgery Overview
John Morton: “Correlating actual one-year weight loss with predicted weight loss by the MBSAQIP: bariatric surgical risk/benefit calculator”
“Outcomes of the Ontario Bariatric Network: a cohort study”
“Review of the key results from the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) trial – a prospective controlled intervention study of bariatric surgery”
“Weight loss drugs and the push for Medicare coverage”
“Comparative Safety of Sleeve Gastrectomy and Gastric Bypass Up to 5 Years After Surgery in Patients With Severe Obesity”
“A Short History of Bernard Fisher’s Contributions to Randomized Clinical Trials”
“Persistent metabolic adaptation 6 years after The Biggest Loser competition”
“Eligibility for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Therapy in the U.S. Based on SELECT Trial Criteria: Insights from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by the New Yorker's Dhruv Khullar to talk about his life as a clinician, researcher, and journalist. Harlan looks at how direct-to-consumer healthcare companies like Hims & Hers Health are capitalizing on patients' reluctance to share sensitive issues with traditional providers; Howie reports on the health issues on the ballot in this week's election.
Links:
The Loss of Trust and the Rise of Hims & Hers Health
hims.com
forhers.com
“Hims & Hers reports 57% revenue increase, launch of AI offering and more earnings news”
“Hims & Hers Health Sees Long-Term Tailwind from Weight Management Business”
“FDA approves Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide for weight loss, paving way for wider use of blockbuster drug”
“A study of the nature and level of trust between patients and healthcare providers, its dimensions and determinants: a scoping review protocol”
Dhruv Khullar
Dhruv Khullar: “Why Are We So Bad at Getting Better?"
The New Yorker: Articles by Dhruv Khullar
“A Program to Prevent Functional Decline in Physically Frail, Elderly Persons who Live at Home”
Articles by Atul Gawande
Dhruv Khullar: “What a Heat Wave Does to Your Body"
Kim Stanley Robinson: The Ministry for the Future
Dhruv Khullar: “The Struggle to Define Long Covid"
Health on the Ballot
“Democrats Take Control of Virginia Legislature”
“Ohio Vote Continues a Winning Streak for Abortion Rights”
“Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves wins 2nd term, defeating Democrat Brandon Presley”
“Poll: 92% of Mississippi voters concerned about hospital crisis, 72% favor Medicaid expansion”
“Marijuana use linked with increased risk of heart attack, heart failure”
NIH: Marijuana and hallucinogen use among young adults reached all-time high in 2021
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Melinda Pettigrew of the Yale School of Public Health to discuss the changes needed in the prescription and agriculture use of antibiotics to address the crisis of antimicrobial resistance. Harlan reports on a survey underlining the scale of medical misinformation among Americans; Howie discusses a new tool for the treatment of unhoused people.
Links:
Medical Misinformation
Harlan Krumholz: “A prescription for the US FDA for the regulation of health misinformation”
“Vaccine Confidence Falls as Belief in Health Misinformation Grows”
Melinda Pettigrew and Antimicrobial Resistance
“Melinda Pettigrew—The next dean of SPH!”
“New Law Will Help Combat Growing Threat of Antibiotic Resistance”
“Short- vs Standard-Course Outpatient Antibiotic Therapy for Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children”
"Gastrointestinal Microbiome Disruption and Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea in Children Receiving Antibiotic Therapy for Community-Acquired Pneumonia"
“Two Yale alum tackle infection diagnostics”
“A Review of the Effectiveness of Current US Policies on Antimicrobial Use in Meat and Poultry Production”
FDA Fact Sheet: Veterinary Feed Directive Final Rule and Next Steps
CDC: Measuring Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing
Treating the Unhoused
“Housing Supply and the Drivers of Homelessness”
CMS: Place of Service Code Set
“New place of service code for treating unsheltered people”
Rough Sleepers
“‘You Have to Learn to Listen’: How a Doctor Cares for Boston’s Homeless”
VA: VA Homeless Programs
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Howie and Harlan discuss current issues in healthcare, including burnout at the hospital, the downsides to Medicare Advantage, and how AI is helping radiologists catch tiny blood clots.
Links:
COVID-19 and Vaccinations
“Newborn and Early Infant Outcomes Following Maternal COVID-19 Vaccination During Pregnancy”
CDC: Stay Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines
“Myocarditis and Pericarditis After mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination”
“‘On track’: 3 percent of Americans have gotten the new Covid shot, but the CDC director remains confident”
“COVID Shots May Slightly Raise Stroke Risk in the Oldest Recipients”
“Evaluation of Stroke Risk Following COVID-19 mRNA Bivalent Vaccines Among U.S. Adults Aged ≥65 Years”
“SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers pro-atherogenic inflammatory responses in human coronary vessels”
CDC: COVID Data Tracker—USA
Medicare Advantage
2023 Medicare Open Enrollment Guide
“How Health Insurers and Brokers Are Marketing Medicare”
“Benchmark Survey: Annual Family Premiums for Employer Coverage Rise 7% to Nearly $24,000 in 2023; Workers Contribute $6,575 on Average Now, But Potentially More Soon”
“Elevance Health Reports $13 Billion Profit and Insurer ups Forecast once again”
Mental Health in Healthcare
“Health care workers report increase in burnout, harassment since the COVID pandemic: CDC”
“Health Workers Face a Mental Health Crisis”
“Suicide Risks of Health Care Workers in the US”
“Stabbed. Kicked. Spit On.Violence in American Hospitals Is Out of Control.”
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
“Prospective Evaluation of AI Triage of Pulmonary Emboli on CT Pulmonary Angiograms”
“Artificial intelligence for breast cancer detection in screening mammography in Sweden: a prospective, population-based, paired-reader, non-inferiority study”
“AI Risk Score on Screening Mammograms Preceding Breast Cancer Diagnosis”
What’s a Normal Temperature?
“Defining Usual Oral Temperature Ranges in Outpatients Using an Unsupervised Learning Algorithm”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by health economist Katherine Baicker of the University of Chicago to discuss her career in academia and government, the landmark Oregon Health Insurance Experiment, and the optimal design for universal healthcare coverage. Harlan asks why life expectancy in the U.S. increasingly lags behind peer nations; Howie discusses the politics threatening the PEPFAR program, which has saved millions of lives around the world.
Links:
U.S. Life Expectancy
“How does U.S. life expectancy compare to other countries?”
The American Health Care Paradox: Why Spending More is Getting Us Less
Healthcare Policy
Katherine Baicker: “Oregon Health Insurance Experiment”
Katherine Baicker: “The Oregon Experiment—Effects of Medicaid on Clinical Outcomes”
“How to Use the Oregon Medicaid Study to Your Ideological Advantage”
Katherine Baicker: “Workplace wellness programs can generate savings”
Katherine Baicker: “Health And Economic Outcomes Up To Three Years After A Workplace Wellness Program: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
We’ve Got You Covered: Rebooting American Health Care
Katherine Baicker: “A Different Framework to Achieve Universal Coverage in the US”
Yale President Howard K. Lamar’s 1993 Baccalaureate Address: “An Honorable Theatre of Action: Using A Yale Education in the 21st Century”
PEPFAR
The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
“PEPFAR Reauthorization: The Debate About Abortion”
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In the 100th episode of Health & Veritas, Howie and Harlan are joined by Peter Salovey, the president of Yale University and a pioneering psychology scholar. They discuss Salovey’s tenure as president, which ends in 2024; the future of the newly independent Yale School of Public Health; and Salovey’s influential research on emotional intelligence.
Links:
“Statement regarding YSPH transitioning to an independent school at Yale”
Peter Salovey: “Emotional Intelligence”
Yale School of Medicine: “Medical school and health system form a new affiliation”
“President's house will be a home”
For Humanity: the Yale Campaign
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Marc Auerbach, a professor of pediatric emergency medicine at Yale, to discuss his work using standards and simulation to improve the treatment of children in emergency departments throughout the United States. Harlan reflects on the importance of simple, well-designed clinical trials to make rapid improvements to care; Howie reports on a congressional study asking whether the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center has succeeded in lowering costs and increasing quality.
Links:
Timely Clinical Trials
“Dexamethasone in Hospitalized Patients with Covid-19”
“Now is the time to fix the evidence generation system”
“The Clinical Trials Enterprise in the United States: A Call for Disruptive Innovation”
The Yale Paxlovid for Long COVID (PAX LC) Trial
Pediatric Emergency Medicine
CDC: Emergency Department Visits Among Children Aged 0–17 by Selected Characteristics: United States, 2019–2020
“Emergency Department Pediatric Readiness and Short-term and Long-term Mortality Among Children Receiving Emergency Care”
“The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA): what it is and what it means for physician”
Connecticut Emergency Medical Services for Children: Innovation and Improvement Center
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center
CMS: About the CMS Innovation Center
“Accelerating Care Delivery Transformation—The CMS Innovation Center’s Role in the Next Decade”
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Howie and Harlan discuss the inspiring story behind the Nobel Prize in medicine, the settlement in the Cigna false billing case, and new research providing more evidence for the effectiveness of statins in reducing cardiovascular risk.
Links:
The Nobel Prize
“Press Release: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine”
The Daily: “The Unlikely Pioneer behind MRNA Vaccines”
“Halting Progress and Happy Accidents: How mRNA Vaccines Were Made”
“How Our Brutal Science System Almost Cost Us A Pioneer Of mRNA Vaccines”
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman: “Suppression of RNA Recognition by Toll-like Receptors: The Impact of Nucleoside Modification and the Evolutionary Origin of RNA”
“The Karikó problem: Lessons for funding basic research”
Cigna and Medicare Advantage
“Cigna Group to Pay $172 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations”
“Overpayments to Medicare Advantage Plans Could Exceed $75 Billion in 2023, USC Schaeffer Center Research Finds”
Health & Veritas: “Helen Burstin: Research with an Impact”
The Cigna Group (CI) Stock Price, News, Quote & History
Humana Inc. (HUM) Stock Price, News, Quote & History
HIV and Cardiovascular Outcomes
“Pitavastatin to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease in HIV Infection”
Health & Veritas: “Dr. Amy Justice: Unlocking the Insights in Healthcare Data”
“Shifting from “Morbid Obesity” to “Class III Obesity””
Healthcare Data
“Officials Struggle to Regulate Pop-Up Covid Testing Sites—and Warn Patients to Beware”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Mallika Mendu to discuss how innovations in operations can lead to improved inpatient care and her work as both a practicing nephrologist and associate chief medical officer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Harlan highlights the Lasker Award in medicine; Howie reports on a promising $650 million pilot in North Carolina to comprehensively address the social determinants of health.
Links:
US Bureau of Labor Statistics | Skilled Nursing Facilities Employment
“What Went Right? A Mixed-Methods Study of Positive Feedback Data in a Hospital-Wide Mortality Review Survey”
“The Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative: The Challenge of Overcoming the Status Quo”
Haven Free Clinic | Home Page
“A Holy Grail — The Prediction of Protein Structure”
Wikipedia on AlphaFold
“Lasker Award for Revolutionizing Protein Structure Predictions”
“A.I. Predicts the Shape of Nearly Every Protein Known to Science”
NC Medicaid Managed Care Healthy Opportunities Pilot Fee Schedule and Service Definitions
Meanings and Misunderstandings: A Social Determinants of Health Lexicon for Health Care Systems
NCDHHS | Healthy Opportunities Pilots
“In North Carolina, a radical experiment targets social determinants of health with fresh produce and safe housing”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Nita Ahuja, a Yale surgeon and researcher, to discuss new methods in for detecting and treating cancers and the barriers faced by women surgeons. Harlan answers questions about an FDA panel’s finding that the decongestant phenylephrine is ineffective; Howie looks at the trends making hospital finances unsustainable.
Links:
“FDA clarifies results of recent advisory committee meeting on oral phenylephrine”
“Phenylephrine vs. Pseudoephedrine: What’s the Difference?”
“Why Has a Useless Cold Medication Been Allowed on Shelves for Years?”
“Surgeon Sex and Long-Term Postoperative Outcomes Among Patients Undergoing Common Surgeries”
“Differences in Cholecystectomy Outcomes and Operating Time Between Male and Female Surgeons in Sweden”
“Age, Gender And Ability To Listen: Who Listens Best?”
“Women surgeons are punished more than men for the exact same mistakes, study finds”
“Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape by colleagues in the surgical workforce, and how women and men are living different realities: observational study using NHS population-derived weights”
“Board of Supervisors denies Greenwood Leflore Hospital’s $1 million request”
“Money and ambition split up Dana-Farber and Brigham”
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc. and Subsidiaries: Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Information
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In a special episode, Howie and Harlan are joined by the virologist and advocate Peter Hotez to discuss his new book, The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist’s Warning. This interview was recorded in late August.
Links:
Peter Hotez: The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist’s Warning
Peter Hotez: Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism
“Red Covid, an Update”
“The Red/Blue Divide in COVID-19 Vaccination Rates Continues: An Update"
“Swiss study finds connection between watching Fox News and vaccination rates going down"
“The Paranoid Style in American Plutocrats"
“Wakefield’s article linking MMR vaccine and autism was fraudulent"
“Peter Hotez is not alone: Online harassment of doctors is a public health issue"
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Ted Long, senior vice president of ambulatory care and population health at New York City Health + Hospitals, to discuss New York City’s remarkable success in providing care to its most vulnerable citizens. Harlan discusses the state of research into long COVID, including his own studies; Howie reports on the first round of drug-price negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Links:
“Scientists look at the progress made toward understanding—and treating—long COVID”
National Institutes of Health “NIH launches new initiative to study ‘Long COVID’”
The Yale Paxlovid for Long COVID (PAX LC) Trial
Internal tremors and vibrations in long COVID: a cross-sectional study
“Burnout threatens primary care workforce and doctors' mental health”
NYC Health and Hospitals: Housing for Health
“NYC Health + Hospitals Wins Superbowl Of Reducing Blood Pressure Awards”
“Over 5,000 Patients Have Worked With NYC Health + Hospital Community Health Workers, Who Address Patients’ Pressing Social Needs To Improve Their Health”
The White House: Biden-Harris Administration Announces First Ten Drugs Selected for Medicare Price Negotiation
“Drugmakers Are ‘Throwing the Kitchen Sink’ to Halt Medicare Price Negotiations”
“The 4 Arguments You Will Hear Against Drug Price Negotiation”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Zhenqiu Lin, senior director of analytics at Yale’s Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, to discuss how quality measures can make care more consistent and effective and improve outcomes for patients. Howie provides an update on research on repetitive head trauma among young football players; Harlan reports on new findings about the benefits of semaglutide for people with heart disease.
Links:
“Neuropathologic and Clinical Findings in Young Contact Sport Athletes Exposed to Repetitive Head Impacts”
American Academy Of Pediatrics: “Tackling in Youth Football”
“National Use and Effectiveness of β-Blockers for the Treatment of Elderly Patients After Acute Myocardial Infarction”
“Twenty-Year Trends in Outcomes for Older Adults With Acute Myocardial Infarction in the United States”
“Quality Measure Public Reporting Is Associated with Improved Outcomes Following Hip and Knee Replacement”
“Novo Nordisk A/S: Semaglutide 2.4 mg reduces the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events by 20% in adults with overweight or obesity in the SELECT trial”
“Semaglutide in Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction and Obesity”
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Howie and Harlan look back on some of their favorite moments from the first 92 episodes of Health & Veritas.
Featured episodes:
Ania Jastreboff: The Revolution in Obesity Medication
Josh Geballe: Turning Yale Innovation into Startups
Anna Kaltenboeck: Untangling Drug Prices
Akiko Iwasaki: Is Long COVID One Disease or Many?
Perry Wilson: The Formula for Medical Misinformation
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld: The CEO Whisperer
Harlan Krumholz, This Is Your Life
Megan Ranney: What’s Next for Public Health?
Michael Alosco: The Toll of Repetitive Head Impacts
Gil Addo: Building a Model for Virtual Specialty Care
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In this special episode, Howie and Harlan are joined by Vivek Murthy, the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States, and a graduate of the Yale School of Management and the Yale School of Medicine.
Links:
The Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service
CDC: Understanding the Opioid Overdose Epidemic
“How Sleep Deprivation Impacts Mental Health”
CMS: Delivering Services in School-Based Settings
Vivek Murthy and Harlan Krumholz: “Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials Race-, Sex-, and Age-Based Disparities”
U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation
Surgeon General’s Advisory on E-cigarette Use Among Youth
Vivek Murthy: “U.S. surgeon general: I am concerned about social media and youth mental health”
Visions Worldwide
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Alan Friedman, chief medical officer at Yale New Haven Hospital, to talk about the organizational and cultural changes that the hospital has made to minimize medical errors and unprofessional behavior that harm patients. Howie reports on a Yale study showing a gap in excess deaths between Republicans and Democrats after the COVID-19 vaccine was introduced; Harlan discusses the continued problem of financial toxicity for patients, and a new study casting doubt on the effectiveness of “neuroprotective” diets.
Links:
“Excess Death Rates for Republican and Democratic Registered Voters in Florida and Ohio During the COVID-19 Pandemic”
“State-Level Excess Mortality in US Adults During the Delta and Omicron Waves of COVID-19”
“Incidence of adverse events and negligence in hospitalized patients: results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study”
“To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System”
“The Safety of Inpatient Health Care”
“We’re Already Paying for Universal Health Care. Why Don’t We Have It?”
“Out-of-Pocket Annual Health Expenditures and Financial Toxicity From Healthcare Costs in Patients With Heart Failure in the United States”
“Trial of the MIND Diet for Prevention of Cognitive Decline in Older Persons”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Melissa Davis, a Yale radiologist and a graduate of Yale SOM’s MBA for Executives program, to discuss the ‘whoa’ moments and the weaknesses she has encountered using artificial intelligence to help interpret scans. Harlan reflects on the slow progress toward a healthcare system that rewards value rather than volume; Howie reports on new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.
Links:
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggests covid was designed to spare Jews, Chinese people”
“The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Unethical Behavior”
“Vinod Khosla: Machines will replace 80 percent of doctors”
“Affirmative action ruling raises concerns over impact on medical school diversity”
Yale School of Management: MBA for Executives
Sepsis DX, co-founded by Melissa Davis
“Donanemab in Early Symptomatic Alzheimer Disease: The TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 Randomized Clinical Trial”
“Editorial: Amyloid-Targeting Monoclonal Antibodies for Alzheimer Disease”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Julius Chapiro to discuss advances in the use of machine learning and molecular imaging to understand and treat liver cancer and his work as the director of Yale’s Center for Minimally Invasive Therapies. Harlan reports on a medical journal paper that highlights positive outcomes while ignoring negative ones; Howie warns of the impact of private equity ownership of medical practices.
Links:
“MR Imaging Biomarkers for the Prediction of Outcome after Radiofrequency Ablation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Qualitative and Quantitative Assessments of the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System and Radiomic Features”
“Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin - Liver Cancer Minimally Invasive Therapies”
”Predicting tumor recurrence on baseline MR imaging in patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma using deep machine learning”
“Comparison of Existing Response Criteria in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Transarterial Chemoembolization Using a 3D Quantitative Approach”
“Bempedoic Acid and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Statin-Intolerant Patients”
“Bempedoic Acid for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Statin-Intolerant Patients”
“Monetizing Medicine: Private Equity And Competition In Physician Practice Markets”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Dawn Harris Sherling, an internist at Florida Atlantic University and the author of Eat Everything: How to Ditch Additives and Emulsifiers, Heal Your Body, and Reclaim the Joy of Food. Harlan provides an update on the dangers of the artificial sweetener aspartame; Howie reflects on the lessons from an outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to a plastic surgery clinic in Mexico.
Links:
“The WHO is about to declare aspartame can cause cancer. Here’s why you should listen.”
“Donald Rumsfeld and the Strange History of Aspartame”
Dawn Harris Sherling: Eat Everything How to Ditch Additives and Emulsifiers, Heal Your Body, and Reclaim the Joy of Food
Harvard School of Public Health: The Microbiome
“5 Food Additives You Should Avoid”
“The UN Decade of Nutrition, the NOVA food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing”
CDC: All about your A1C
“A Shadowy Industry Group Shapes Food Policy Around the World”
CDC: Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Associated with Procedures Performed under Epidural Anesthesia in Matamoros, Mexico
“Joan Rivers Died From Complication in Treatment, Officials Say”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Hil Moss, a graduate of Yale SOM and the Yale School of Public Health, to discuss her experience being diagnosed with breast cancer while a Yale student, the challenges facing cancer survivors after treatment, and the virtual clinic that she founded to help fill the void. Harlan reports on highly effective new obesity treatments on the horizon; Howie discusses the far-reaching effects of the Dobbs ruling, one year later.
Links:
“Retatrutide, a GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon receptor agonist, for people with type 2 diabetes: a randomised, double-blind, placebo and active-controlled, parallel-group, phase 2 trial conducted in the USA”
American Diabetes Association: “American Diabetes Association Highlights Novel Agent Retatrutide which Results in Substantial Weight Reduction in People with Obesity or Type 2 Diabetes During Late Breaking Symposium”
“Experimental Lilly pill, Mounjaro both lead to 15% weight loss in clinical trials”
Hil Moss: About
VivorCare: The First Virtual Cancer Survivorship Clinic
Hil Moss: “Enough pink: We’re doing Breast Cancer Awareness Month all wrong”
“Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022)”
“A National Survey of OBGYNs’ Experiences After Dobbs”
“Indiana board reprimands Dr. Caitlin Bernard over 10-year-old's abortion case”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Sejal Hathi, a physician, podcaster, and social entrepreneur who recently left a White House role to become New Jersey’s health officer. Harlan asks if ChatGPT’s imagination is a bug or a feature; Howie discusses the toll of motorcycle accidents and makes the case for helmet laws.
Links:
“Exclusive: 42% of CEOs say AI could destroy humanity in five to ten years”
“Artificial Hallucinations in ChatGPT: Implications in Scientific Writing”
“Ikigai: A Japanese concept to improve work and life”
Sejal Hathi at TEDWomen: Girls Helping Girls
Nurture NJ: Combating New Jersey’s Maternal and Infant Mortality Crisis
About Civic RX
“Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Laws in the United States: Origins, Context, and Controversies”
“Motorcycle Accident Statistics & Numbers For 2023”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by David Fiellin, a Yale internist and an expert in addiction medicine. Harlan reports on a new study showing a surprising benefit from a daily multivitamin; Howie explains how a 1994 law is fueling hype around an untested herbal supplement for weight loss.
Links:
“Multivitamin Supplementation Improves Memory in Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial”
Earlham College: Mission, Principles, and Values
“What Ozempic Reveals About Desire”
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Buprenorphine
National Institute on Drug Abuse: Naloxone DrugFacts
CDC: Understanding the Opioid Overdose Epidemic
“The Truth About ‘Nature’s Ozempic’”
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Abbe Gluck of Yale Law School to discuss how law shapes the health of Americans. Harlan explains how flaws in data privacy affect patients; Howie gives an update on the millions losing their Medicaid coverage, often despite qualifying for the program.
Links:
Harlan Krumholz: “In the US, patient data privacy is an illusion”
“Medical Legal Partnerships”
“A prospective cohort study examining exposure to incarceration and cardiovascular disease (Justice-Involved Individuals Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology – JUSTICE study): a protocol paper”
Abbe Gluck: COVID-19 and the Law: Disruption, Impact and Legacy
“Explaining Litigation Challenging the ACA’s Preventive Services Requirements: Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra”
“Abortion pill case: where does the lawsuit against the pill currently stand”
“Chevron case: Supreme Court could take sledgehammer to agency power”
“SAFFORD UNIFIED SCHOOL DIST. #1 v. REDDING (No. 08-479)”
“What Do the Early Medicaid Unwinding Data Tell Us?”
“As Medicaid Purge Begins, ‘Staggering Numbers’ of Americans Lose Coverage”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Sandeep Jauhar, a cardiologist and the author, most recently, of the memoir My Father’s Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s. Harlan reports on new research about the timing of blood thinners for stroke patients with atrial fibrillation; Howie checks in on two physician groups that were acquired by private equity investors earlier this year and are now facing bankruptcy.
Links:
“Early versus Later Anticoagulation for Stroke with Atrial Fibrillation”
Sandeep Jauhar: Heart: a History
Sandeep Jauhar: “How Would You Feel About a 100-Year-Old Doctor?”
Sandeep Jauhar: My Father’s Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s
“The Dutch Village Where Everyone Has Dementia”
National Institute on Aging: What Causes Alzheimer's Disease?
“Early versus Later Anticoagulation for Stroke with Atrial Fibrillation”
“KKR-Backed GenesisCare Preps for Bankruptcy Filing Within Days”
“KKR-Backed Envision Healthcare Plans Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing”
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Howie and Harlan welcome Yale’s Albert Ko back to the podcast to discuss the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and his career as an infectious disease specialist and public health researcher. Harlan reports on a breakthrough in pacemaker technology; Howie reflects on the complex relationship between obesity, social media, and mental health for young people.
Links:
“A Dual-Chamber Leadless Pacemaker”
Health & Veritas, Ep. 14: Albert Ko: A Wider View of COVID-19
“What’s Going On With Covid Right Now?”
Weill Cornell Medical School: Warren Johnson
Berkeley Public Health: Lee Riley
WHO: Social Determinants of Health
“The role of dieting, happiness with appearance, self-esteem, and bullying in the relationship between mental health and body-mass index among UK adolescents: a longitudinal analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study”
“Surgeon General Issues New Advisory About Effects Social Media Use Has on Youth Mental Health”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Joseph Sakran, whose career as a trauma surgeon and advocate grew out of his own experience with gun violence. Harlan discusses his new study enumerating the vast scale of excess deaths among Black Americans; Howie reports on improvements in the insurance rate, nearly a decade after the Affordable Care Act went into effect.
Links:
Harlan Krumholz: “Excess Mortality and Years of Potential Life Lost Among the Black Population in the US, 1999-2020”
“Shot in the neck at 17, this is the trauma surgeon now leading doctors against gun violence and the NRA”
Written Testimony of Joseph Sakran—U.S. House Judiciary Committee, February 6, 2019
“Doctors See the Wreckage of Gun Violence Every Day. We've Had Enough”
“In 2019, Congress Pledged Millions to Study Gun Violence. The Results Are Nearly Here.”
“U.S. gun deaths disproportionately high”
“The State of U.S. Health Insurance in 2022”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Josh Geballe, a Yale SOM graduate who serves as managing director of Yale Ventures, Yale’s initiative overseeing the translation of research into impactful new companies. Harlan reports from the debate on AI in medicine; Howie reflects on the FDA’s approval process for an over-the-counter birth control pill.
Links:
“Iwasaki to Receive Else Kröner Fresenius Prize Supporting Research Into Long COVID and Similar Conditions”
“As Covid Emergency Ends, U.S. Response Shifts to Peacetime Mode”
“ChatGPT - Reshaping medical education and clinical management”
“Performance of ChatGPT on USMLE: Potential for AI-assisted medical education using large language models”
“Artificial Hallucinations in ChatGPT: Implications in Scientific Writing”
Yale Ventures
Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale
“The economic transformation: What would change in the net-zero transition”
“Joint Meeting of the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Obstetrics, Reproductive, and Urologic Drugs Advisory Committee May 9, 2023 – May 10, 2023”
FDA | May 9-10, 2023: Joint Meeting of the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Obstetrics, Reproductive and Urologic Drugs Advisory Committee Meeting Announcement
“F.D.A. Advisers Weigh Allowing First U.S. Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill”
Food and Drug Administration | Prescription-to-Nonprescription (Rx-to-OTC) Switches
“Over-the-counter sales of statins and other drugs for asymptomatic conditions”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Amanda Skinner, a Yale SOM graduate who leads Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. Harlan reflects on the potential and the dangers of artificial intelligence; Howie reports on an advisory from Surgeon General Vivek Murthy about the public health impact of loneliness and social isolation.
Links:
“Five Alumni Named 2021-22 Donaldson Fellows”
“Idaho hospital to stop delivering babies as doctors flee over abortion ban”
“Abortion providers in the United States: expanding beyond obstetrics and gynecology”
“‘The Godfather of A.I.’ Leaves Google and Warns of Danger Ahead”
“Is artificial intelligence advancing too quickly? What AI leaders at Google say”
“ChatGPT may have better bedside manner than some doctors, but it lacks some expertise”
“Surgeon General: We Have Become a Lonely Nation. It’s Time to Fix That.”
“Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation”
“Good genes are nice, but joy is better”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Elizabeth Arleo, a radiologist with a focus on breast imaging and the author of First, Eat Your Frog: And Other Pearls for Professional Working Mothers. Harlan reports on the state of AI in healthcare; Howie reflects on the epidemic of lung injuries from vaping.
Links:
“Epic, Microsoft bring GPT-4 to EHRs”
Harlan Krumholz: “Foundation models for generalist medical artificial intelligence”
“Is artificial intelligence advancing too quickly? What AI leaders at Google say”
Elizabeth Arleo: First, Eat Your Frog: And Other Pearls for Professional Working Mothers
Howard Forman: “Why don't female medical students choose diagnostic radiology? A review of the current literature”
American Cancer Society: American Cancer Society Recommendations for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer
CDC: Outbreak of Lung Injury Associated with the Use of E-Cigarette, or Vaping, Products
“Juul Reaches $462 Million Settlement With New York, California and Other States”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Megan Ranney, who will become the dean of the newly independent Yale School of Public Health later this year. Harlan reflects on the research that is helping us understand aging at a cellular level; Howie discusses a new study that he co-authored which examines the costs that make it harder for many mothers to breastfeed.
Links:
“Accelerated Epigenetic Aging Is Associated with Multiple Cardiometabolic, Hematologic, and Renal Abnormalities: A Project Baseline Health Substudy”
Outlive by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford
“Megan Ranney named dean of Yale School of Public Health”
“Yale School of Public Health to become self-supporting, independent school”
Megan Ranney: “To prevent gun injury, build better research”
Megan Ranney: “We need more research on guns. Here are 5 questions we can answer.”
Howard Forman: “No such thing as a free lunch: The direct marginal costs of breastfeeding”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Cary Gross, professor of medicine and public health and director of the National Clinician Scholars Program at Yale, to discuss his creative approach to research and his sometimes contrarian stances on cancer screening and not holding medical conferences in states that ban abortion. Harlan explains the nuances of new research about mortality risks tied to weight loss in older adults; Howie discusses his concerns over courts interfering with FDA drug approval processes arising from two cases tied to the medical abortion pill mifepristone.
Links:
“The Relation between Funding by the National Institutes of Health and the Burden of Disease”
“Allocation of National Institutes of Health Funding by Disease Category in 2008 and 2019”
“Too Many Older Patients Get Cancer Screenings”
National Cancer Institute | National Cancer Act of 1971
“Holding Medical Professional Society Scientific Meetings Only in States That Protect Abortion Rights—Clinical and Ethical Considerations”
“Associations of Change in Body Size With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality Among Healthy Older Adults”
“Judge Invalidates F.D.A. Approval of the Abortion Pill Mifepristone”
“Democratic state attorneys general sue Biden administration over abortion pill rules”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Michael Alosco, co-director of Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center, to discuss the consequences of years of hits to the head for football players and other athletes. Harlan reports on research that clarifies how to treat high cholesterol; Howie discusses a judge's ruling striking down coverage of preventative care.
Links:
“Treat-to-Target or High-Intensity Statin in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease”
Boston University CTE Center
UNITE Brain Bank | BU CTE Center
Michael Alosco: “Repetitive Head Impacts and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy”
Michael Alosco: “White matter hyperintensities in former American football players”
Michael Alosco: “Age of first exposure to tackle football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy”
“Explaining Litigation Challenging the ACA’s Preventive Services Requirements: Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra”
“Federal Judge Strikes Down Obamacare Requirement for Free Preventive Care”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Helen Burstin to discuss her career examining issues of equity and quality in healthcare, and her current role as CEO of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies. Harlan reports on new research about the daily health effects of coffee; Howie looks at two investigations of misconduct by the insurance company Cigna.
Links:
“Acute Effects of Coffee Consumption on Health among Ambulatory Adults”
Helen Burstin: “Socioeconomic Status and Risk for Substandard Medical Care”
Helen Burstin: “Impact of language barriers on patient satisfaction in an emergency department”
National Quality Forum
“Your Surgeon Is Probably a Republican, Your Psychiatrist Probably a Democrat”
Council of Medical Specialty Societies: CMSS Statement on Supreme Court Decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Case
Council of Medical Specialty Societies: The Promise of Patient-Led Research Integration into Clinical Registries and Research
Council of Medical Specialty Societies: Patient-Led Research Scorecards
Patient-Led Research Collaborative: About Us
Medicare.gov: How do Medicare Advantage Plans work?
“How Cigna Saves Millions by Having Its Doctors Reject Claims Without Reading Them”
“DOJ sues Cigna over alleged Medicare Advantage overpayments”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Michael Ivy, a surgeon and Yale New Haven Health's deputy chief medical officer, to discuss the mental health issues facing physicians and his own experience with burnout and depression. Harlan reports on new research casting doubt on the benefits of intermittent fasting; Howie explains how a new drug can help reduce the disproportionate rate of renal failure among people of African descent.
Links:
“Are you napping too much?”
“Effects of Time-Restricted Eating on Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease”
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Health Worker Burnout
Stanford Medicine: The Stanford Model of Professional Fulfillment
College of American Pathologists College: CURES Act Fact Sheet
“Inaxaplin for Proteinuric Kidney Disease in Persons with Two APOL1 Variants”
“Inhibiting APOL1 to Treat Kidney Disease”
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Howie interviews Harlan about his path to medicine and his career as a physician and scientist.
Links:
Harlan Krumholz: “Community-acquired bacteremia in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: clinical presentation, bacteriology, and outcome”
Harlan Krumholz: “Cost effectiveness of thrombolytic therapy with streptokinase in elderly patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction”
Harlan Krumholz: “Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials”
Harlan Krumholz: “Strategies for reducing the door-to-balloon time in acute myocardial infarction”
Harlan Krumholz: “Hospital-Readmission Risk - Isolating Hospital Effects from Patient Effects”
Harlan Krumholz: “An administrative claims measure suitable for profiling hospital performance on the basis of 30-day all-cause readmission rates among patients with heart failure”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Ami Parekh, chief health officer of Included Health, which provides virtual care and data-driven guidance on finding the right doctor. Harlan reviews new research on alternatives to statins; Howie looks at the effect of mandated sick leave for screening tests like mammographs and colonoscopies.
Links:
”Bempedoic Acid and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Statin-Intolerant Patients”
“Side Effect Patterns in a Crossover Trial of Statin, Placebo, and No Treatment”
“Prevalence of statin intolerance: a meta-analysis”
“Effect of statin therapy on muscle symptoms: an individual participant data meta-analysis of large-scale, randomised, double-blind trials”
Included Health
“Cancer Screening after the Adoption of Paid-Sick-Leave Mandates”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Brita Roy of NYU Langone Health to discuss her work drawing on the existing assets of a community to improve health outcomes. Harlan reports on new research on the dangers of sugar substitutes; Howie reflects on the growing openness to the lab-leak hypothesis for the origins of COVID-19.
Links:
“The artificial sweetener erythritol and cardiovascular event risk”
Harlan Krumholz: “Why One Cardiologist Has Drunk His Last Diet Soda”
“NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn Receives $166 Million from the Bezos Family to Transform Community Health”
“Yale Partners With the Urban League and Others to Address Gun Violence in New Haven”
“Meet Yale Internal Medicine: Brita Roy, MD, MPH, MHS”
Brita Roy: “COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Access Among Black and Latinx Communities”
“WHO abandons plans for crucial second phase of COVID-origins investigation”
“U.S. Dept of Energy says with ‘low confidence’ that COVID may have leaked from a lab”
“FBI director says covid-19 ‘most likely’ originated from lab incident”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by health economist Anna Kaltenboeck, a graduate of Yale SOM’s EMBA program who served as senior health advisor to the Senate Finance Committee during the development of the drug pricing reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act. Harlan reports on recent research on the timing of exercise; Howie reflects on the limitations of a blue-ribbon panel’s recommendations on healthcare spending.
Links:
Anna Kaltenboeck: “What The Inflation Reduction Act’s Reforms To Medicare Part D Mean For Prescription Drug Prices”
“Associations of timing of physical activity with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in a prospective cohort study”
“For a longer life, afternoon exercise may be best, a large study shows”
“Time of day determines postexercise metabolism in mouse adipose tissue”
“Atlas of exercise metabolism reveals time-dependent signatures of metabolic homeostasis”
“A Road Map For Action: Recommendations Of The Health Affairs Council On Health Care Spending And Value”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Tara Lagu, a hospitalist, pharmacist, and researcher at Northwestern University, to discuss the startling bias faced by people with disabilities seeking care. Harlan reports on a study of attitudes toward genetic editing of embryos; Howie explains the debate over the looming shortfall in Medicare funding.
Links:
“Public views on polygenic screening of embryos”
IMDB.com: Gattaca
Tara Lagu: “Access to Subspecialty Care for Patients With Mobility Impairment”
Dr. Gretchen Berland: Rolling
Tara Lagu: “Use of Accessible Examination Tables in the Primary Care Setting: A Survey of Physical Evaluations and Patient Attitudes”
Tara Lagu: “Physicians’ Perceptions Of People With Disability And Their Health Care”
Tara Lagu: “Opinion: People With Disabilities Deserve Better Health Care. We All Do.”
Harlan Krumholz: “A Note to My Younger Colleagues...Be Brave”
“Biden has yet to say just how he would strengthen Social Security and Medicare trust funds”
Howie and Harlan are joined by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, an expert on leadership at the Yale School of Management, to discuss his decades of dialogue with top executives and his insights on healthcare leadership. Harlan reports on his new study exploring the causes of persistent hypertension; Howie reflects on CVS’s acquisition of Oak Street Health and asks who benefits from recent innovations in the healthcare industry.
Links:
Harlan Krumholz: “Developing an Actionable Taxonomy of Persistent Hypertension Using Electronic Health Records”
Yale School of Management: Chief Executive Leadership Institute
“How Poisoned Tylenol Became a Crisis-Management Teaching Model”
“Why the Amazon, JPMorgan, Berkshire Venture Collapsed: ‘Health Care Was Too Big a Problem’”
“CVS Health to Acquire Oak Street Health”
“Amazon and One Medical Sign an Agreement for Amazon to Acquire One Medical”
Donald Berwick: “Salve Lucrum: The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health Care”
“CVS Health and RUSH collaborate to increase health care access for Chicago-area Medicare patients”
RubiconMD: Virtual Specialty Care & Online Consultation
Howie and Harlan discuss Howie’s recent bout of COVID-19 and the takeaways from new research on adverse events in hospitals, and they consider claims from Tucker Carlson of Fox News about the pandemic response.
Links:
“5 COVID mistakes Biden’s new chief of staff must admit”
“What older Americans need to know about taking Paxlovid”
NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines | Molnupiravir
“Efficacy of Antiviral Agents against Omicron Subvariants BQ.1.1 and XBB”
“China Cautiously Takes to the Road for Lunar New Year”
“President Biden to end COVID-19 emergencies on May 11”
Donald Berwick: “Salve Lucrum: The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health Care”
“The Safety of Inpatient Health Care”
“Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. hospitalized patients experience harmful events, study finds”
“Trends in Adverse Event Rates in Hospitalized Patients, 2010-2019”
“Implantable Defibrillator System Shock Function, Mortality, and Cause of Death After Magnetic Resonance Imaging”
Howie and Harlan are joined by Leora Horwitz, director of the Rapid Randomized Controlled Trial Lab at NYU Langone Health, to discuss her work using experimentation to improve the delivery of care, and her experience as a clinician and researcher in the chaotic first months of the COVID-19 outbreak in New York City. Harlan reports on his new study examining the impact on patients of early-morning blood draws in hospitals; Howie reflects on new business models for delivering discounted generic drugs.
Links:
Harlan Krumholz: “Timing of Blood Draws Among Patients Hospitalized in a Large Academic Medical Center”
Leora Horwitz: “Constant, rapid testing is key to creating the ‘learning health system’ of the future”
NYY Langone Health: Rapid Randomized Controlled Trial Lab
Leora Horwitz: “‘I Am Not the Same as I Was Before’: A Qualitative Analysis of COVID-19 Survivors”
Leora Horwitz and Harlan Krumholz: “Comprehensive quality of discharge summaries at an academic medical center”
Leora Horwitz: “Tweeting Into the Void: Effective Use of Social Media for Healthcare Professionals”
Leora Horwitz on Twitter
Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs
"Amazon launches $5-a-month unlimited prescription plan"
“Introducing RxPass from Amazon Pharmacy, a $5 prescription subscription that helps Prime members who take multiple medications save time and money”
Amazon: RxPass
Howie and Harlan talk with Gil Addo, CEO and co-founder of RubiconMD, which is aiming to expand access to specialty care by providing virtual consultations to primary care physicians. Harlan’s new study examines a loophole that is allowing unreliable medical devices to enter the market; Howie provides an update on legislature that will soon cause millions to lose Medicaid coverage.
Links:
Harlan Krumholz: “Use of Recalled Devices in New Device Authorizations Under the US Food and Drug Administration’s 510(k) Pathway and Risk of Subsequent Recalls”
“Association Between Regulatory Submission Characteristics and Recalls of Medical Devices Receiving 510(k) Clearance”
RubiconMD: Virtual Specialty Care & Online Consultation
“Oak Street Health Acquires Virtual Specialty Care Provider RubiconMD”
“Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023: Medicaid and CHIP Provisions Explained”
“Medical bills still plague Americans, more than a decade after the ACA”
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Howie and Harlan check in on health issues that are in the news—or will be soon. Harlan discusses his work measuring patient outcomes and new avenues of research on long COVID; Howie reports on the perverse effects of private equity investment in specialty healthcare practices and the looming deadline facing state Medicaid programs.
Links:
"What we learned about the NFL in the aftermath of Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest"
Céline Gounder: "Grant Wahl Was a Loving Husband. I Will Always Protect His Legacy."
Harlan Krumholz: “Outcomes Research: Generating Evidence for Best Practice and Policies”
Harlan Krumholz: “Real-world Imperative of Outcomes Research”
Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy: Outcomes Research
"Families First Coronavirus Response Act Medicaid and CHIP Provisions Explained"
"Millions Could Lose Medicaid by April as Pandemic Rules Ease"
"More Orthopedic Physicians Sell Out to Private Equity Firms, Raising Alarms About Costs and Quality"
Harlan Krumholz: “A Decentralized Phase 2 Efficacy and Safety Study of Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir in Adult Participants With Long COVID (PAXLC)”
Harlan Krumholz: "Long Covid: Understanding Immune, Symptom, and Treatment Experiences Nationwide (LISTEN Study)"
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Harlan answers questions about the cardiac arrest suffered by Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin in a nationally televised football game; Howie reports on the rapid spread of the XBB 1.5 variant of COVID-19. And they are joined by F. Perry Wilson, a Yale nephrologist and an expert in the translation of medical research into clinical care, to discuss his new book, How Medicine Works and When It Doesn’t: Learning Who to Trust to Get and Stay Healthy.
Links:
“Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin suffers a cardiac arrest during Monday's game”
“What Is Cardiac Arrest? What to Know About Why Damar Hamlin Collapsed”
F. Perry Wilson: How Medicine Works and When it Doesn't: Learning Who to Trust to Get and Stay Healthy
“Exposed: conman's role in prayer-power IVF ‘miracle’”
“The MMR vaccine and autism: Sensation, refutation, retraction, and fraud”
“Omicron offshoot XBB.1.5 could drive new Covid-19 surge in US”
Eric Topol: “A new variant alert”
Eric Topol on Twitter: “Why hasn't Paxlovid implementation lived up to its expectations?”
Howie and Harlan are joined by Lisa Sanders, the Yale internist who writes the "Diagnosis" column in the New York Times. Harlan reports on new studies demonstrating the ineffectiveness of ivermectin in treating COVID-19, and the effectiveness of the bivalent booster in improving outcomes. And Howie reacts to headlines about frequent misdiagnoses in emergency departments.
Links:
“Effect of Ivermectin 600 μg/kg for 6 days vs Placebo on Time to Sustained Recovery in Outpatients with Mild to Moderate COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial”
Katelyn Jetelina: “Fall bivalent boosters: Science update round 4”
Eric Topol: “A quick update on the bivalent boosters”
“DeSantis calls for grand jury to investigate Covid-19 vaccines”
Diagnosis: Dr. Lisa Sanders on hard-to-solve medical mysteries
“Introducing 'Diagnosis,' a New Show From The Times and Netflix”
“Diagnostic Errors in the Emergency Department: A Systematic Review”
“E.R. Doctors Misdiagnose Patients With Unusual Symptoms”
“More than 7 million incorrect diagnoses made in US emergency rooms every year, government report finds”
Harlan reports on a new study suggesting dramatic health benefits from bursts of vigorous activity; Howie explains how genetic science is starting to illuminate a mystery in his own medical history. And they are joined by Yale physician and scientist Jeffrey Gruen to discuss his work identifying the genetic variants associated with dyslexia and designing early interventions for kids with learning disabilities.
Links:
”Association of wearable device-measured vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity with mortality”
Dr. Jeffrey Gruen –The New Yale Program for Learning Disabilities Research
New Haven Lexinome Project
Sherman Weissman, MD
“Revenge of the gaslit patients: Now, as scientists, they’re tackling Ehlers-Danlos syndromes”
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Harlan reports on new research on effective prostate cancer screening; Howie explores the potential of the AI language model ChatGPT. And they’re joined by Dr. Kristen Nwanyanwu, a Yale ophthalmologist with a focus on closing the racial gap in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy.
Links:
“Prostate Cancer Screening with PSA and MRI Followed by Targeted Biopsy Only”
Kristen Nwanyanwu: “Addressing Disparities in Ophthalmic Research”
“U.S. Supreme Court rules on University of Michigan cases”
“The Pandemic’s Legacy Is Already Clear”
Kristen Nwanyanwu: “Ophthalmology Departments Remain Among the Least Diverse Clinical Departments at United States Medical Schools”
Minority Ophthalmology Mentoring
Eyeful LLC
ChatGPT: Optimizing Language Models for Dialogue
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Eric Topol, a physician and writer who is widely recognized both as a leading researcher and a public voice on medicine and health. They discuss his career turn toward genomics and digital health, and the fight against misinformation on Twitter.
Links:
“Adding Salt to Foods and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease”
Eric Topol: Ground Truths
Eric Topol: The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care (2011)
Eric Topol: The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine Is in Your Hands (2014)
Eric Topol: Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again (2019)
Eric Topol on Twitter
Scott Gottlieb on LinkedIn: “The GLP-1s emerge as the largest class of peptide drugs of all time”
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Harlan reports on a unprecedented recall of ventilators and CPAP machines; Howie discusses a new approach to tackling the issue of antimicrobial resistance. And they’re joined by Dr. Nancy Brown, dean of the Yale School of Medicine, to discuss her career path and her investments in developing talent.
Links:
FDA Update: Certain Philips Respironics Ventilators, BiPAP Machines, and CPAP Machines Recalled Due to Potential Health Risks
“Getting to know Yale leaders—Nancy Brown”
WHO fact sheet: antimicrobial resistance
PASTEUR Act of 2021
“The PASTEUR Act can help win the war against superbugs”
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Harlan provides updates on RSV, flu, and COVID-19; Howie considers the growing use of hallucinogens for treatment of severe depression. And they are joined by Dr. Vineet Arora, dean of medical education at the University of Chicago, to discuss the future of medical Twitter and how medical education is changing in the wake of the pandemic.
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Harlan reports on three negative—but striking—trials presented at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting; Howie reflects on the victories for health in Tuesday’s election. And they’re joined by Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Yale internist and nationally known expert on healthcare equity, to discuss her service in the Biden administration and the need for a broad approach to tackling racism in healthcare and systemic inequities in health.
Links:
“Another Fibrate Fails to Show Cardiovascular Benefit”
“DCP: HCTZ vs. Chlorthalidone in Improving CV Outcomes in Elderly Veterans With HTN”
“TRANSFORM-HF: Loop Diuretics Show No Difference in Mortality and Hospitalizations for Heart Failure”
“Nunez-Smith to lead Biden health equity task force”
Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership at Yale University
“Voters will have a say on abortion in 5 states with high-stakes ballot measures”
“South Dakota votes to expand Medicaid”
Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses—2021
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Harlan describes a revealing new study on the long-term impacts of COVID; Howie reflects on the escalating costs of health insurance. And they are joined by Dr. Lisa Leffert, Yale’s chief of anesthesiology, to discuss her unusual career path, disparities in maternal mortality, and her approach to tackling the gender pay gap in the field.
Links:
“Cardiovascular disease and mortality sequelae of COVID-19 in the UK Biobank”
Health & Veritas: Saving Mothers’ Lives (Ep. 7)
Lisa Leffert: “The ‘Unexplained’ Portion of the Gender Pay Gap in Anesthesiology”
KFF: 2022 Employer Health Benefits Survey
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Howie and Harlan are joined by physician, sociologist, and thinker Nicholas Christakis to talk about how humans have evolved to form powerful connections. Howie provides updates on concussions among high school athletes and the use of Ivermectin for COVID, and Harlan remembers Dr. Barry Zaret, an important figure in cardiology at Yale and beyond.
Links:
In Memoriam: Barry L. Zaret, MD
Yale News: “Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society”
Steven Pinker: “The Better Angels of our Nature”
“The Moral Life of Babies”
Nicholas Christakis: “The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years”
Nicholas Christakis: “Algorithms for seeding social networks can enhance the adoption of a public health intervention in urban India”
“Concussions are a bigger problem for kids’ football than the NFL”
“Effect of Ivermectin vs Placebo on Time to Sustained Recovery in Outpatients With Mild to Moderate COVID-19”
”These Doctors Admit They Don’t Want Patients With Disabilities”
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Harlan reports on a new study testing the effectiveness of the OCD drug fluvoxamine in treating COVID; Howie reflects on the potential of continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes. And they’re joined by Dr. Utibe Essien of the University of Pittsburgh to discuss the barriers preventing people of color from getting innovative new treatments and medications.
Links:
“Fluvoxamine for Outpatient Treatment of COVID-19: A Decentralized, Placebo-controlled, Randomized, Platform Clinical Trial”
Utibe Essien: “Association of Neighborhood Disadvantage and Anticoagulation for Patients with Atrial Fibrillation in the Veterans Health Administration: the REACH-AF Study”
“Prevalence and Correlates of Patient Rationing of Insulin in the United States: A National Survey”
Harlan Krumholz: “Life Expectancy after Myocardial Infarction by Hospital Performance”
“Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites”
Antiracism in Medicine podcast
“Intermittently Scanned Continuous Glucose Monitoring for Type 1 Diabetes”
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Howie and Harlan check in on new research and health issues in the news, including studies on colonoscopies and the timing of hypertension medication, the state of the monkey pox and polio outbreaks, and the wave of legislation restricting treatment of trans youth.
Links:
“Effect of Colonoscopy Screening on Risks of Colorectal Cancer and Related Death”
“Monkeypox Cases Are Declining in New York City and Globally”
“WHO declares monkeypox a global health emergency as infections soar”
“Evening dosing of blood pressure medication not better than morning dosing”
“Arkansas cannot enforce ban on gender-affirming care for trans kids, court rules”
“Watch Jon Stewart Calmly Excoriate the Arkansas Attorney General on Anti-Trans Legislation”
“Yale’s Emily Wang and two alumni win MacArthur ‘genius’ awards”
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Howie and Harlan look at the plunging cost of sequencing an individual genome, and the problem of concussions among athletes at all levels. And they’re joined by Dr. Ania Jastreboff, a Yale obesity specialist, to discuss the dramatic results from a new class of drugs that target the brain’s system for regulating body fat.
Links:
“llumina Unveils Revolutionary NovaSeq X Series to Rapidly Accelerate Genomic Discoveries and Improve Human Health”
“The race to a $100 genome” (2013)
Ania Jastreboff: “Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity”
“FDA Approves New Drug Treatment for Chronic Weight Management, First Since 2014”
“NFL under fire over its concussion protocol following Tua Tagovailoa's back-to-back game hits”
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Harlan discusses the problem of “financial toxicity”—how medical bills can wreak havoc in vulnerable patients’ lives. Howie reflects on the protests in Iran and the precariousness of the freedoms we enjoy in the United States. And they are joined by Ingrid Nembhard of the University of Pennsylvania to discuss her work on the organizational factors that shape patient care.
Links:
Cancer.gov: Financial Toxicity
“They Were Entitled to Free Care. Hospitals Hounded Them to Pay.”
Harlan Krumholz: “Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and Financial Toxicity Among Adults in the United States”
Harlan Krumholz: “Out-of-Pocket Annual Health Expenditures and Financial Toxicity From Healthcare Costs in Patients With Heart Failure in the United States”
Ingrid Nembhard: “Responding to Covid-19: Lessons from Management Research”
Ingrid Nembhard: “COVID-19 Inspired Creativity In Health Care: Lessons For Management And Policy”
“Can the CDC Repair Its Reputation?”
Ingrid Nembhard: “A systematic review of research on empathy in health care”
Ingrid Nembhard: “Making it safe: the effects of leader inclusiveness and professional status on psychological safety and improvement efforts in health care teams”
Ingrid Nembhard: “Perceived Usefulness of Patient Narrative Feedback in Primary Care Settings”
“Why Iranian women are burning their hijabs after the death of Mahsa Amini”
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Howie and Harlan react to President Joe Biden’s declaration that the pandemic is over. Then they’re joined by Jonathan Rothberg, a Yale-trained scientist who has created new methods for sequencing DNA and founded a series of successful biotech companies.
Disclosure: Harlan Krumholz is a consultant to Tesseract, a portfolio company of 4 Catalyzer, which was founded by Jonathan Rothberg.
Links:
“Biden: ‘The pandemic is over’”
Eric Topol: “To boost or not to boost”
“An integrated semiconductor device enabling non-optical genome sequencing”
”Butterfly Network Distributes 500 Butterfly iQ+ Devices to Healthcare Workers in Kenya to Transform Maternal and Fetal Health”
”AI Estimation of Gestational Age from Blind Ultrasound Sweeps in Low-Resource Settings”
Butterfly Network
Protein Evolution
Hyperfine
”Uncovered Medical Bills after Sexual Assault”
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Howie and Harlan discuss the confusion over COVID therapeutics, even among professionals. Then they're joined by Dr. Jeremy Faust, a researcher, emergency physician, and public voice on COVID and other issues—as well as an active choral conductor. They discuss his unusual path, the state of the pandemic, and the importance of understanding “excess mortality.”
Links:
“Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes New Monoclonal Antibody for Treatment of COVID-19 that Retains Activity Against Omicron Variant”
Overview of Bebtelovimab
COVID-19 Therapeutics Locator
Jeremy Faust: Inside Medicine
Robert T. Sataloff: “The Human Voice”
Jeremy Faust: “Excess Mortality in Massachusetts During the Delta and Omicron Waves of COVID-19: All-Cause Excess Mortality and COVID-19–Related Mortality Among US Adults Aged 25-44 Years, March-July 2020
Longwood Symphony and World Doctors Orchestra at Symphony Hall
“Out-of-pocket spending on insulin among people with private insurance”
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Harlan outlines his new study tracking excess mortality over the course of the pandemic in the highly vaccinated state of Massachusetts; Howie discusses how the Inflation Reduction Act will tackle drug prices. They're joined by Dr. Esther Choo to talk about life as a doctor on social media and the crisis facing emergency departments.
Links:
Esther Choo: “Covid-19 is pushing doctors to the brink. Medicine needs to recognize they’re human and need help.”
“Uncoupling of all-cause excess mortality from COVID-19 cases in a highly vaccinated state”
“New York Governor Lifts Mask Mandate for NYC Subways”
White House Fact Sheet: The Inflation Reduction Act Supports Workers and Families
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Learn more about the MD-MBA program at Yale.
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Monkeypox, polio, and COVID-19 have all received the World Health Organization’s rarely used global health emergency designation. Howie and Harlan offer a needed sense of proportion alongside health information, updates on research, and policy developments for the grim trio of diseases.
Howie and Harlan talk with Dr. James Hamblin, a journalist and a lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health. They discuss his approach to communicating about public health, his prescient February 2020 article on COVID-19, and why he’s quit taking showers.
Links:
James Hamblin: The Body
“You’re Likely to Get the Coronavirus”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Teresa Chahine, the Sheila and Ron ’92 B.A. Marcelo Senior Lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship at Yale SOM. They discuss how social entrepreneurs use an interdisciplinary, iterative, community-centric approach to innovation to create self-sustaining solutions to problems in public health and other areas.
Links:
“Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity”
Teresa Chahine: “Toward an Understanding of Public Health Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship”
Teresa Chahine: Social Entrepreneurship: Building Impact Step by Step, 2nd Edition (December 2022)
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Howie and Harlan discuss Harlan's large new study tracking the trajectory of patient safety in hospitals, and consider how individuals should respond to the latest COVID-19 variants. They're joined by Jennifer Miller, a Yale bioethicist and the director of the Good Pharma Scorecard, which evaluates the performance of pharmaceutical companies on measures like the transparency of clinical trials and the accessibility of medicines.
Links:
“New Federal Study Evaluates the Safety of US Hospitals and the Answer Is…”
“Trends in Adverse Event Rates in Hospitalized Patients, 2010-2019”
Good Pharma Scorecard
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Howie and Harlan discuss a concerning new COVID-19 variant, the discovery casting doubt on a major fish-oil study, and the need for new models of funding research.
Links:
“New Omicron subvariant Centaurus could be the most immune-evasive yet, expert warns”
“Cardiovascular Risk Reduction with Icosapent Ethyl for Hypertriglyceridemia”
“Effects of Randomized Treatment With Icosapent Ethyl and a Mineral Oil Comparator on Interleukin-1β, Interleukin-6, C-Reactive Protein, Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, Homocysteine, Lipoprotein(a), and Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2: A REDUCE-IT Biomarker Substudy”
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Harlan reviews the latest COVID-19 research, and Howie reflects on the vast ramifications of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. They’re joined by Dr. Rebekah Gee, an ob-gyn and the CEO of Nest Health, which aims to deliver care to vulnerable children and their parents at home. She also describes her experience as a pro-choice physician serving as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
Links:
Rebekah Gee discusses letters from her late mother on This American Life.
About Nest Health
“The War On Abortion Could Turn The US Into A Police State”
“The dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity with changes in aerosol microenvironment”
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Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale epidemiologist and MacArthur ‘genius’ Gregg Gonsalves to discuss his non-traditional route to improving responses to global public health challenges.
Links:
Eric Topol on COVID reinfections
Harlan’s Twitter thread on insurance debt
“Health Savings Accounts No Longer Promote Consumer Cost-Consciousness” Sherry Glied in Health Affairs
The Best Little Boy in the World
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at the Yale School of Management.
Harlan interviews Howie about his life as a doctor and teacher, including how a radiologist without a PhD got to teach economics at Yale, why he engages in the daily battles that come with speaking out on Twitter, and the extraordinary return on investment from time spent mentoring young people.
Links:
Arnold Schwarzenegger on deaths attributable to pollution
“Intravenous Vitamin C in Adults with Sepsis in the Intensive Care Unit”
“Climate Change, Fossil-Fuel Pollution, and Children’s Health“
Merriam-Webster on the origin of the word “doctor”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at the Yale School of Management.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Seth Trueger of Northwestern University, who was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder in 2020. They discuss his experience navigating the healthcare system as a patient and what he’s learned about the challenges facing people with complex medical issues.
Links:
2022 Medicare Trustees Report
“A Cancer Trial’s Unexpected Result: Remission in Every Patient”
“PD-1 Blockade in Mismatch Repair–Deficient, Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer”
Seth Trueger: “The Best Bad News”
“Public Finance Balance of Smoking in the Czech Republic”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at the Yale School of Management
Harlan explains what the research says about the immunity acquired from a COVID-19 infection, and suggests a framework for thinking about exposure risk. Then Howie and Harlan are joined by Thomas Balcezak, chief clinical officer at the Yale New Haven Health System. They discuss the financial and human capital challenges faced by hospitals in the wake of the pandemic.
Links:
“Protection and Waning of Natural and Hybrid Immunity to SARS-CoV-2”
“Medical Education in the United States and Canada” (The Flexner Report)
About Yale New Haven Health
“Mass General Brigham says it will reduce spending by $70m annually”
“US Mass Shootings, 1982–2022: Data From Mother Jones’ Investigation”
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Amy Justice, a Yale clinical epidemiologist. They discuss the influential long-running studies she has conducted using the electronic medical record from the Veterans Administration Healthcare System.
Links:
Basketball coach Steve Kerr on the shooting in Uvalde, Texas
The Veteran Aging Cohort Study
“Comparison of Risk and Age at Diagnosis of Myocardial Infarction, End-Stage Renal Disease, and Non-AIDS-Defining Cancer in HIV-Infected Versus Uninfected Adults”
“Covid-19 Testing, Hospital Admission, and Intensive Care Among 2,026,227 United States Veterans Aged 54–75 Years”
“At Yale, Arya Singh overcame her fears — and found a new side of herself”
Arya Singh's Class Day address
Student Spotlight: Hil Moss
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at the Yale School of Management
Howie and Harlan are joined by Jason Schwartz of the Yale School of Public Health. They discuss what went wrong with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and how Schwartz’s background in history and ethics informs his research on vaccine policy.
Links:
”Effect of Sleep Extension on Objectively Assessed Energy Intake Among Adults With Overweight in Real-life Settings”
“Effects of Experimental Sleep Restriction on Energy Intake, Energy Expenditure, and Visceral Obesity”
“Impact of sleep duration on executive function and brain structure”
“Mass General Brigham posts $867M quarterly net loss”
Howie's Twitter exchange with Elon Musk
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Cecelia Calhoun ’21, a Yale sickle cell disease specialist and a recipient of Yale SOM's Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership. They discuss Calhoun's journey from growing up in Detroit to a clinical and research career focused on the health of the Black community.
Links
Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership
“Heartstopper is dazzlingly brilliant TV – I wish my lonely younger self could have seen it”
“The Secrets Ed Koch Carried”
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Gail D’Onofrio, Yale's Albert E. Kent Professor of Emergency Medicine. They discuss the medications available for opioid addiction and the policy changes needed to allow those treatments to save more lives.
Links
“Sex-Specific Risk Factors Associated With First Acute Myocardial Infarction in Young Adults”
“Medication for Opioid Use Disorder After Nonfatal Opioid Overdose and Association With Mortality: A Cohort Study”
Howie and Harlan talk with Yale’s Melinda Irwin about her research investigating how lifestyle factors impact the prevention and treatment of cancer.
Links
“Intramuscular AZD7442 (Tixagevimab–Cilgavimab) for Prevention of Covid-19”
“Neighborhood and Individual Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Survival Among Patients With Nonmetastatic Common Cancers”
“Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General”
To do better in the next pandemic, Sherry Glied, dean of New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, argues we must ensure that policymakers get answers to their most pressing questions. She joins Howie and Harlan in a conversation about incentivizing relevant research and systematically synthesizing data into actionable information.
Howie and Harlan talk with NYU’s Lauren Taylor about the “dirty hands problem” and other ethical dilemmas inherent in efforts to improve health.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a leading expert on health policy and medical ethics, for a conversation about how to bring greater efficiency and agility to the generation of healthcare knowledge.
Howie and Harlan discuss a new study showing that moderate drinking doesn’t have health benefits after all. Then they’re joined by Dr. Daniel Stein, CEO of Embold Health, which uses clinical data to identify the best-performing doctors and give feedback to those whose treatment isn’t based on the latest evidence.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale operations expert Edward Kaplan, who uses mathematical models to understand a variety of processes. They discuss Kaplan’s ongoing research tracking COVID-19 infections through sewage, which bypasses the biases inherent in data from testing and even hospitalization.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Lakshmanan Krishnamurti, chief of pediatric hematology and oncology at the Yale School of Medicine and an expert on sickle cell disease. They discuss promising new treatments that can effectively cure the painful disease for some patients.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Kristin Mattocks, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts and the Department of Veteran's Affairs. They discuss her research on the complexities of healthcare for the growing number of women veterans.
Howie and Harlan talk with Dr. Mandy Cohen, former secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the CEO of Aledade Care Solutions. They discuss how to create the incentives and infrastructure needed for better outcomes for all patients.
Howie and Harlan talk with Dr. Ijeoma Opara of the Yale School of Public Health about the impact of persistent violence on mental health among urban youth and the power of community-based participatory research.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Saad Omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health. They discuss mistakes made in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and how to avoid a crisis in childhood immunizations.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Emily Wang, director of Yale's SEICHE Center for Health and Justice, to discuss the health effects of mass incarceration on the imprisoned and their families and communities.
Howie and Harlan talk with Dr. Akiko Iwasaki about her research trying to understand the cause or causes of long COVID, which has over 200 reported symptoms.
Howie and Harlan discuss two recent studies (one of them co-authored by Harlan) illustrating the health impacts of racism. Then they're joined by Randi Epstein, a physician and journalist whose most recent book is Aroused: The History of Hormones and How They Control Just About Everything.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale epidemiologist Nathan Grubaugh. They discuss the utility of rapid antigen tests and Grubaugh's work tracking the evolution of COVID-19 variants.
Howie and Harlan talk about the patients who test positive for COVID-19 after being admitted to the hospital for something else, and other health issues in the news, including the explosion in healthcare spending last year, a controversial Alzheimer’s drug, and the consequences of underinsurance in the United States.
Howie and Harlan discuss the state of the omicron surge and what we know and don’t know about the variant. Then they’re joined by Yale scientist Anne Wyllie, whose new research casts doubt on the ability of rapid antigen tests to detect asymptomatic omicron infections.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Albert Ko, a Yale epidemiologist who has advised Connecticut governor Ned Lamont. They discuss the state of the pandemic, rebuilding global public health infrastructure, and what omicron tells us about future variants.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale economist Fiona Scott Morton, an expert on competition in healthcare and other industries. They discuss the forces driving up healthcare costs in the U.S. and the steps that Scott Morton and her colleagues have proposed to bring them under control.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Liza Fisher to talk about her experience navigating the medical system and advocating for patients while enduring 18 months of debilitating COVID symptoms. Fisher is a participant and co-author (with Harlan) for a new study examining internal tremors and vibrations among long COVID patients.
Howie and Harlan discuss what we know and don’t know about the newly identified omicron variant. Then they’re joined by Dr. Joseph Ross to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the FDA’s process for approving new drugs.
Howie and Harlan talk with Dr. Rohan Khera, a Yale cardiologist whose research interests include the use of advanced data science tools to improve diagnosis and treatment. They discuss how artificial intelligence and machine learning can supplement human expertise in summarizing current literature, interpreting electrocardiograms, and other areas.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Jason Abaluck, a health economist at the Yale School of Management. They discuss a massive study co-authored by Abaluck that showed that masks reduce COVID infections in a community setting.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Anne Wyllie, the Yale scientist who developed the SalivaDirect test for COVID-19. They discuss the development of the technology and its potential for enabling easier testing in a variety of communities.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet, who leads Merck for Mothers and Merck's health equity efforts. They discuss the factors that lead to preventable death during pregnancy and childbirth—a risk that disproportionately affects women of color.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Elizabeth Bradley, an expert on global public health and the president of Vassar College. They discuss how the residential liberal arts college navigated the pandemic—and how defining a set of core values helped guide its response.
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale cardiologist Erica Spatz to discuss the benefits of making treatment decisions in collaboration with patients, and the challenges of shifting to a more patient-centered approach.
Howie and Harlan discuss the financial, institutional, and psychological forces encouraging the use of unproven and disproven treatments and tests that drive up healthcare costs.
Howie, a Yale emergency department radiologist, and Harlan discuss whether artificial intelligence will replace human radiologists—or help them do their jobs better.
Howie and Harlan consider what medical schools can do differently to identify and train the doctors we’ll need in the future
This week, Howard Forman and Harlan Krumholz discuss who would benefit from a COVID-19 vaccine booster, and the implications of a study on the side effects of statins.