Your weekly roundup of STAT's First Opinion

Expert opinion and perspective, curated by Patrick Skerrett ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

'Twas a busy week in First Opinion-land, with authors exploring the lasting lessons of the 1971 movie "Brian's Song," the Supreme Court's role in the Covid-19 test kit shortage, and a dozen other topics. If you have an idea for First Opinion, please send it to first.opinion@statnews.com. 'Brian's Song' at 50 still offers lessons about cancer for today By Barron H. Lerner AP The hit made-for-TV movie "Brian's Song" and a related book raise issues that are relevant today for people with cancer and their families. Read More The Supreme Court is partly to blame for the Covid-19 test kit shortage By Paul R. Michel FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images The 2012 Supreme Court decision known as Mayo v. Prometheus effectively blocked patent protections for diagnostic tests and procedures. Read More The White House's response to Lander's exit could determine whether science remains a factory for bullies By Sherry Moss and Morteza Mahmoudi Adobe Targets of bullying remain silent because they fear retaliation or losing their jobs, and don't trust their workplace will protect them. Read More There's no autism epidemic. But there is an autism diagnosis epidemic By Rachel Burr Gerrard Adobe Rising rates of children with autism is due to sociological and political factors increasing diagnoses and documentation of this condition. Read More Achieving 'distant presence' during virtual visits By Spencer Dorn Adobe It can be a challenge for clinicians to be fully present during virtual visits. The Presence 5 team has good ideas. I aim to Be Here Now. Read More Medicare can help fix the nurse shortage in hospitals By Linda H. Aiken and Claire M. Fagin NIC COURY/AFP via Getty Images Requiring hospitals that participate in Medicare to adhere to safe nurse staffing standards can help solve the nurse shortage. Read More Preventing overdose deaths starts with reducing demand for drugs in the U.S. By Jim Crotty APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images A proposed approach to stopping the flow of drugs from Mexico to the U.S. ignores a key solution: demand reduction in the U.S. Read More STAT+: Biopharma's response to the next pandemic depends on collaboration and the ability to learn and fail fast By Birgit Girshick Jon Cherry/Getty Images The accelerated development of Covid-19 vaccines and therapies can be chalked up to out-of-the-box collaboration and "fail fast" approaches. Read More The U.S. needs to measure health in all of its dimensions: physical, social, and mental By Eric Coles and K. "Vish" Viswanath Adobe If the U.S. intends to use data in its health policy, then a better measure that includes all three of its dimensions is needed. Read More Covid-19 challenge trial results are (finally) in: Here's what should happen next By Josh Morrison BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images Covid-19 challenge trial results could help guide research for testing intranasal vaccines, new antiviral therapies, and more. Read More STAT+: How PDUFA VII can catalyze 'lightspeed' vaccine and drug development By Rod MacKenzie Adobe PDUFA VII will help the U.S. evolve its regulatory framework and set the stage for where science will be in the next several years. Read More Lander's resignation over workplace bullying: The tip of the iceberg of a public health problem By Pauline Chiou and Cherie Lynn Ramirez Adobe Eric Lander's resignation for bullying some White House colleagues is just one snapshot of a national and pervasive public health problem. Read More Development of clinical practice guidelines 'is a mess' By Alan Cassels and Mohamed Ben-Eltriki and James M. Wright Adobe Looking at clinical practice guidelines developed for different countries might give you vertigo, wondering which way is up. Read More STAT+: Manufacturing at the edge: smaller, localized, and agile factories will be key to biopharma drug production By Jose-Carlos Gutiérrez-Ramos Adobe Biopharma must take a lesson from "edge computing" and move toward "edge manufacturing," bringing it closer to the patient. Read More Sunday, February 13, 2022       1 Exchange Pl, Suite 201, Boston, MA 02109 ©2022, All Rights Reserved. I no longer wish to receive STAT emails Update Email Preferences | Contact Us | View In Browser