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.

NIH campus, circa 1949

First Opinion

I’ve seen the culture of sexual harassment at NIH. The agency needs to do more than simply apologize

By Orly Nadell Farber

Breast Cancer Cell - pink

First Opinion

Medicare should stop blocking access to next-generation sequencing for people with hereditary cancer

By Roger D. Klein

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Pile of pills in shape of dollar

First Opinion

Ultomiris: Can drug innovation be too expensive?

By Alexander Urry

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National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics

First Opinion

Uninsured Americans were ignored when Congress grilled pharma execs

By Nicole Lamoureux

Measles Outbreak Vaccine Exemptions

First Opinion

Gottlieb’s threat of federal vaccine mandates: questionable legality, poor policy

By Wendy E. Parmet

Polar Vortex

First Opinion

The polar vortex exposed a major flaw in our volunteer blood supply system

By Jonathan Thon

Elderly hands - African American

First Opinion

HHS must act boldly to help African-Americans fight Alzheimer’s disease

By Karen D. Lincoln

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Medicare for all democrats

First Opinion

Pharma and biotech should embrace ‘Medicare for all,’ not defeat it

By Jim Tananbaum

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Hearing aids

First Opinion

Many seniors need hearing aids. Why doesn’t Medicare cover them?

By Elsa Pearson and Austin Frakt

Surgery - operating room

First Opinion

‘Overlapping surgery’ is safe for most patients, but not all

By Eric C. Sun and Anupam B. Jena

Early vaccination -moms and kids

First Opinion

Pharma’s tarnished reputation helps fuel the anti-vaccine movement

By Stewart Lyman

Investing in health

First Opinion

Impact investing: a new way to fund cures for cancer

By Richard G. Hamermesh and Kathy E. Giusti

Pediatrician

First Opinion

Why every child should see a black male doctor

By Dale Okorodudu

One perfect year

First Opinion

The U.S. shouldn’t use the ‘QALY’ in drug cost-effectiveness reviews

By William S. Smith

Grandmother and child

First Opinion

‘Grandmother effect’ helps explain human longevity

By Haider Warraich

Rural Hospitals Hard Times

First Opinion

1 in 5 rural hospitals are at risk of imminent closure. Lawmakers could help some stay open

By Dave Mosley

Medication kick back

First Opinion

Ending drug rebates will increase Medicare Part D premiums. Most seniors will be insulated from it

By Erin E. Trish and Dana Goldman

Ngozi Erondu in Kenya

First Opinion

How do I know about discrimination at top public health universities? I lived through it

By Ngozi Erondu

Pharma scales of justice

First Opinion

Don’t villainize the biopharma industry. It offers hope to people like me

By Jean Walsh

Open vault

First Opinion

Move clinical trial data sharing from an option to an imperative

By Rebecca Li

Nutrition labels - choices

First Opinion

Do food and menu nutrition labels influence consumer or industry behavior?

By Dariush Mozaffarian and Siyi Shangguan

Medical costs photo illustration

First Opinion

Seema Verma: Americans have the right to know their health care and hospital costs

By Seema Verma

Colorful book shelf

First Opinion

We need a Public Domain Day to highlight when drugs go off patent

By Peter Kolchinsky and Jessica Sagers

Asylum seekers at border

First Opinion

The unethical behavior of forensic dentists at our southern border

By Brendan Parent and Nancy Neveloff Dubler

Taking notes at conference

First Opinion

The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference has grown. How can we make it work for everyone?

By Dennis Purcell

Newborns

First Opinion

Embryo editing for higher IQ is a fantasy. Embryo profiling for it is almost here

By Erik Parens, Paul Appelbaum, and Wendy Chung

Patient care hands

First Opinion

Advice for HIMSS: Put patients and their caregivers at the center of your universe

By Leigh Anderson

Thicket

First Opinion

‘One-and-done’ for new drugs could cut patent thickets and boost generic competition

By Robin Feldman

Mozambican contraception

First Opinion

‘Gag rule’ threatens to restrict women’s access to a highly effective HIV therapy

By Meredith Kernan and Cameron Nutt

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