August 17, 2025

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First Opinion editor

I have a confession to make. This week's First Opinion on whether people should have cellphones in rehab, written by advocate and recovering addict Ryan Hampton, was inspired by a story line on this season of Bravo's reality show "The Valley." Much of the season revolved around a character who was in rehab but kept rage-texting his castmates, including his estranged wife, leading both viewers and some on the show to ask: What kind of rehab lets you keep your phone?

Well, according to Ryan, it's not as out of line as it might sound. "To enforce a complete digital blackout is to prepare individuals for a world that no longer exists," he writes.

Recommendation of the week: The podcast "Flesh and Code" tells the true story of a (married) man who fell in love with an AI. Amid increasing discussion about AI relationships and AI-related psychosis, it was a fascinating listen.

Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

The CDC shooting was public health's Jan. 6

The shooting at the CDC is part of the same trend as Jan. 6 and attempted and successful political assassinations.

By Colin J. Carlson and Sean Kennedy

I just packed Narcan for my daughter's dorm room. Public health made it possible

"I pray she never needs that Narcan. But some kid down her hallway might," the mother of a new college student writes.

By Elizabeth Métraux

STAT+ | The FDA's absence from international standards meetings threatens U.S. leadership

It is absolutely essential that the U.S. government ensure FDA staff are present at international standards meetings.

By Naomi Schwartz and Axel Wirth

Adoe

It's time to end blanket bans on cellphones in addiction recovery

Controlled cellphone access while in addiction treatment can significantly reduce anxiety and resistance by keeping people connected to support.

By Ryan Hampton

Health care organizations screening for depression are skipping a critical question

Omitting the PHQ-9 question about suicidality is not only morally indefensible, it is also unsupported by any evidence and likely born out of stigma.

By Kyle Fitzpatrick, Geoffrey Engel, and J. Wesley Boyd

STAT+ | Japan's green light for making human embryos from stem cells takes us into uncharted territory

Three revolutionary technologies — CRISPR, IPSCs, and IVF — are poised to come together to potentially change our species.

By Paul Knoepfler

Adobe

STAT+ | Medicine's AI era urgently demands new doctor-patient relationship

AI requires a new approach to patients and doctors working together. One possible framework: collaborative health.

By Michael L. Millenson

Kennedy's case against mRNA vaccines collapses under his own evidence

In explaining his decision to terminate federal funding for mRNA vaccine research, RFK Jr. cites sources that explicitly oppose his argument.

By Jake Scott

Keeping pregnant participants out of medical research is more dangerous than including them

Despite calls to improve the pregnancy evidence base, the inclusion of pregnant participants in RCTs has remained flat over the past 15 years.

By Alyssa Bilinski

Craig Jones, center, works with the other pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to fill prescriptions at Basin Pharmacy in Basin, Wyo. Pharmacists face difficult working conditions

Mike Clark/AP

Community pharmacies are in crisis. Three things need to change

Policymakers need to act now to recognize pharmacists as health care providers, reform the broken reimbursement system, and protect community pharmacies.

By Rick Gates

If Americans want abundant primary care, health care needs a YIMBY moment

A thick, sclerotic web of bureaucratic barriers makes it hard to start or expand a primary care practice, or to try new ways of meeting patients' needs.