Your weekly roundup of STAT's First Opinion

Expert opinion and perspective, curated by Patrick Skerrett ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

This week in First Opinion, authors took on their usual range of topics, from a lamentation about herd immunity to a look at Google's search problem for unproven therapies. You can read them all here. How we got herd immunity wrong By David Robertson Adobe Herd immunity was always our greatest asset for protecting vulnerable people, but public health failed to use it wisely. Read More Listen: Pharma companies market their drugs to young adults — so why don't they include them in clinical trials? By Patrick Skerrett This week on "The First Opinion Podcast," an activist talks about the need to include adolescents and young adults in clinical trials. Read More Google's ongoing stem cell problem points to a larger issue with its search results on unproven therapies By Paul Knoepfler Adobe Google's 2019 ban on stem cell clinics advertising unproven therapies didn't last long. Companies are gaming Google with SEO. Read More Sponsor content by STAT+ Biopharma breakthroughs, business, and policy analysis ⁠— at your fingertips Enjoy daily, market-moving analysis of the biotech, pharma, and life sciences industries with STAT Plus. Our award-winning team covers news on Wall Street, policy developments in Washington, early science breakthroughs and clinical trial results, and health care disruption in Silicon Valley and beyond. Don't be the last to know. Subscribe today to start reading. The case for decriminalizing the street sale of buprenorphine By John C. Messinger and Anand Chukka and J. Wesley Boyd Elise Amendola/AP Decriminalizing the street sale of buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid use disorder, can help save lives. Read More Covid-19 vaccine policy should be made by public health experts, not company executives By John P. Moore and Luciana L. Borio Joe Raedle/Getty Images Announcements by Pfizer and Moderna about adding a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines is adding to the confusion about their effectiveness. Read More Checklists work well for complicated health care problems. But they don't work to solve complex ones, like pandemics By Peter Pronovost Adobe A pandemic like Covid-19 is a complex problem — not a complicated problem — and requires a different approach. Read More Private equity, health care, and profits: It's time to protect patients By Jeanne A. Markey and Raymond M. Sarola Adobe The profit-making goals of private equity can be at odds with the needs of patients and the rules of government-financed health care. Read More The Breen bill to protect health providers is well-intentioned. But it won't stop burnout By Greg Jasani Jae C. Hong/AP A bill Congress passed to prevent burnout among health care providers is flawed and is unlikely to achieve its desired effects. Read More Sunday, March 27, 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