Health & Veritas

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” “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 Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” 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 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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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" Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” 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” “House GOP releases budget calling for trillions in cuts to taxes and spending” “Red states likely to feel the pain of Medicaid cuts” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” 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 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” 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 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 Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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 Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” 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 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” 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 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 Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” 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 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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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 Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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 Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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" Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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? Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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" Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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 Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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? Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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: Watch the event on YouTube. 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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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. Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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 Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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 Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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 Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.