First Opinion

Perspective and opinion on medicine, biotechnology, and the life sciences writ large, curated by Patrick Skerrett. Please send submissions to first.opinion@statnews.com. View the Author Agreement here. Sign up for the weekly First Opinion newsletter here.

Futuristic science

First Opinion

The U.S. government is asking industry to help identify ‘emerging technologies’

By Zack Hadzismajlovic

SARS

First Opinion

‘Outbreak culture’ can derail effective responses to deadly epidemics

By Lara Salahi and Pardis Sabeti

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A dosage of Spinraza.

First Opinion

Cure ‘futures’ offer a way to pay for million-dollar medicines

By Maria Ferrante-Schepis

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IVF

First Opinion

Genetic testing plus IVF can sidestep genetic disease and reduce the need for high-priced therapies

By Lee D. Cooper

hiding mistakes

First Opinion

Solving the fake news problem in science

By Josh Nicholson

Blister packs filled with capsules

First Opinion

How traditional pharmacies can survive the Amazon threat

By Vik Panda

CVS Acquires Aetna

First Opinion

CVS-Aetna deal will save money by cutting supply chain negotiations

By Kathleen Iacocca

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Flu shot close-up

First Opinion

Your brain hates the flu shot. Get one anyway

By Matt Wallaert

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First Opinion

A makeover for oral PrEP: designing real-world HIV prevention for women

By Ann S. Kim

Prescription pill bottles

First Opinion

I’ve been forced to go through ‘step therapy.’ Don’t make Medicare Part B participants do that

By Elizabeth Krempley

Health Insurance Claim Form

First Opinion

Patients need policymakers’ help to enforce mental health parity laws

By Patrice A. Harris and Ellen Weber

Superbug Q And A

First Opinion

What’s holding pharma back from the next antibiotic breakthrough?

By Peter Bak

Eli Lilly insulin

First Opinion

Patent abuse is driving up drug prices. Just look at Lantus

By Tahir Amin

"beyond the diagnosis" 2016

First Opinion

NIH balked at a child’s portrait in a rare disease exhibit because it may ‘evoke negative emotions.’ I’m appalled

By Annette Maughan

AI neuron illustration

First Opinion

Artificial intelligence in pharma, health care: at the crossroads of hype and reality

By Grant Stephen and Michael Jacobson

Hoarding Opioids

First Opinion

Overzealous use of the CDC’s opioid prescribing guideline is harming pain patients

By Kate M. Nicholson, Diane E. Hoffman, and Chad D. Kollas

Facebook cracked screen

First Opinion

Ferreting out prescription drug scams on social media

By Rick Battelle

Pregnancy window

First Opinion

When women are denied an abortion, their children fare worse than peers

By Diana Greene Foster

Health workers - Ebola - DRC

First Opinion

It isn’t crazy to conduct an Ebola clinical trial in a war zone — it’s necessary

By Jeremy Farrar

Blurry doctors

First Opinion

Anomalies shed light on doctors’ compensation

By Halee Fischer-Wright and Todd Evenson

Pills price rebate

First Opinion

Drug ‘rebate walls’ should be dismantled by the FTC’s antitrust arm

By David Balto

The medical device tax on things like knee and hip prostheses wouild increase their cost and harm jobs in the industry.

First Opinion

It’s time to permanently end the job-killing medical device tax

By Newt Gingrich

Laboratory doors

First Opinion

We need a temporary moratorium on using gene editing to create babies

By Paul Knoepfler

He Jiankui looks at a computer screen

First Opinion

Who missed the chance to stop the CRISPR babies scientist? Look in the mirror

By Mark Yarborough

Tuberculosis patient in Somalia

First Opinion

Vaccines: our greatest hope in defeating AIDS, Ebola, TB, and other infectious diseases

By Mark Feinberg

South Africa AIDS outreach

First Opinion

To end HIV/AIDS, invest in community workers and other health care providers

By Vanessa Kerry

Hong Kong Gene Edited Babies

First Opinion

Beyond safety questions, gene editing will force us to deal with a moral quandary

By Josephine Johnston

Passengers in the cabin of the aircraft

First Opinion

Lessons for medical education from a health emergency 35,000 feet over the Pacific

By Richard Schwartzstein

PEPFAR hospital in Kenya

First Opinion

PEPFAR, launched as an emergency response to AIDS, has built a bridge to the future

By Myron S. Cohen

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