DISPATCHES
How Should We Police a Pandemic?
The role of law enforcement has never been so fiercely debated. So should health officials rethink how the rules of COVID-19 get enforced?
God Panels, Then and Now
Who most deserves a medical device? A brief history of an impossible conversation.
Bullies on Notice
Toxic work environments are bad for science. Morteza Mahmoudi is on a crusade to clean them up.
Heroes for a Day
Infectious disease doctors are the linchpin of the pandemic response. But once the crisis passes, will we be wise enough to train more?
Where the Rubber Meets the Road, Ethically
The pressure is on to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. The human risks in that process are already front and center.
Podcast: The Good Life Under Lockdown?
Psychiatrist Robert Waldinger’s TED talk about what makes a good life has been viewed more than 32 million times. Can those rules be applied to quarantining as well?
How Should We Talk About COVID-19?
When bad information spreads online, vulnerable groups often suffer the most. So how can you craft a public health message that people will hear?
Why Do Young, Healthy People Die from COVID-19?
They represent a small minority of victims. But their illness could hold valuable lessons about how COVID-19 works—and how to stop it.
How to Build a Pop-Up Hospital
Conventional hospitals are running out of room. Convention centers, parking garages—what does it take to press them into service?
In the Shadow of the Pandemic, a Mental Health Crisis
The dangers of COVID-19 go beyond the physical risks, especially for those with psychiatric health needs.
No COVID-19 Tests? Let Us Make One
With tests in short supply, some hospitals are creating homegrown versions in their own labs. The pandemic may prove how essential such efforts are.
When Will We Get a COVID-19 Vaccine?
The world’s leading labs want to create a novel vaccine in record time. A researcher from Boston’s Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard shares his view from the front lines.
God is My Co-Investigator
Religious fasts offer opportunities for reflection, penitence and good data about human dietary needs.
Podcast: The Examination of a Poem
How can literature serve medicine? An interview with the first “writer-in-residence” at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Why It’s Time to Rethink Birth Control
Can new approaches—a male contraceptive or a gel that stops disease as well as pregnancy—work better?
The Beloved Elucidator
Pathologist Husain Sattar is becoming an icon—and a meme—to a generation of medical students.
A Personal “Flybrary”
People with hard-to- treat cancer might get unlikely new allies: 400,000 genetically engineered fruit flies.
Who Needs to Know?
Addiction treatment comes with its own strict privacy rules. Perhaps it shouldn’t.
Facial Feminization
Photographer Elle Pérez documents the intimate lives of those in the LGBTQ community.
Passenger Hotspots
n: A run of mutations in a tumor genome that don’t offer any particular survival advantage.
Broken Hearted
An unusual syndrome connects grief and stress to cardiac damage. Discoveries about its physiology reveal a complex connection to the brain.
Where Is the Next HPV Vaccine?
At least 10% of cancers are probably caused by a viral infection. But researchers struggle to replicate the success they have had with cervical cancer.
Podcast: Medicine on the Mountain
The body can behave strangely at high altitudes. What can that teach researchers about life at sea level?
The Desperate Race for Halal Vaccines
Vaccine skepticism is a growing problem in the Muslim world, too. Making medicines without pork products is one obvious—but tricky—solution.
Google Translate Under the Microscope
The free online tool often takes the place of trained medical translators. How well is it doing?
The Fungal Frontier
The drug-resistant Candida auris has taken up residence in U.S. hospitals. What will it take to fight back?
Is the "Robot Surgeon" Worth It Yet?
Despite a massive investment by hospitals, the jury is still out on how these machines affect outcomes.
Seeing Past the Scale
Obesity expert Fatima Cody Stanford looks at how physician bias around weight causes harm to patients.
The Secrets in Baby Teeth
A pristine record of toxic exposures and psychological trauma rests in a child’s mouth—if only it can be decoded.
Podcast: The Important, Impossible Role of the Chinese Graduate Researcher
Scientific collaborations with China are the latest front in the trade war. Foreign students are torn between two nations—and wrestling with a mental health crisis.
Settling the Score
The debate over one of the most contested exams in medical education comes to a head.
A Poacher in the Gut
Bacteria in the body can soak up or block medications, offering a tantalizing explanation for why drugs sometimes don’t work.
A Secret Sense
Receptors that can smell and taste exist throughout the body. Can they be allies in learning to fight disease?
Podcast: A Battle Plan for Sepsis
Hospitals get a step closer to conquering a deadly disease that most people have never heard of.
Higher Education
Medical marijuana has swept the country, but physicians aren’t trained how to use it.
Homegrown
Kayse Shrum is launching the first U.S. medical school affiliated with a Native American tribe—part of a strategy to train doctors where they’re needed most.
Out of Pediatric Care, Into…?
For young people with chronic illnesses, the transition into adult care can be uncharted—and dangerous—territory.
Beyond Cold Storage
A metabolic slowdown would press pause on the body until surgeons can repair damage. How close is it to becoming a reality?
Riding a Wave of Sound
One way to get drugs through the blood-brain barrier: smuggle them across using sound waves.
Under Your Skin
Chronic itch is agony, but new treatments that target the neural pathways responsible could finally offer some relief.
The Neuroscience of Giving Up
Why do some people react poorly, even catastrophically, in emergency situations?
Saving Generation Juliana
Climate change becomes a flashpoint for a new generation of physician activists.
Leave No Limb Behind
The human costs of amputation are sky high. A wave of innovation is working to keep patients intact.
What Comes After Transvaginal Mesh?
Prolapse of the pelvic organs is uncomfortable and widespread, and its treatments are sometimes dangerous. But new approaches are on the way.
Sins of the Past
The California Death Certificate Project is finding the physicians associated with opioid overdoses. Is it justice or a witch hunt?
Medicine and the Makers
Roderic Pettigrew is training a new hybrid specialty—half physician, half engineer.
Prohibition at 100
The 18th Amendment launched the most sweeping health experiment in U.S. history. Physicians—then and now—have debated its complex legacy.
Podcast: Can AI Save Us from Despair?
Psychiatry is finding its footing with machine intelligence. New tools may dramatically help those who need it the most.
A New Iron Age
As more bacteria gain resistance to standard treatments, is the answer a return to therapeutic metals?
The Pharmacist Will See You Now
As the role of the pharmacist changes, one program explores how it can help people with heart disease and other conditions.
The Battle of the Bouffant
Guidelines for operating room attire may change in 2019 and ease tension over donning the controversial bouffant.
Your Brain on Drugs, Revisited
People with drug addictions produce more of a certain brain chemical—and research may point to new ways to block it.
Podcast: Polar Lessons
Researchers are untangling how animals can live in the Arctic and Antarctic cold. The applications for human medicine could be vast.
First Thoughts
Tiny models of the brain are becoming more complex. When should the ethicists step in?
On Her Wavelength
Indoor light can affect health in good ways and bad. Photobiologist Mariana Figueiro wants to get patients the optimal exposure.
Putting the Dead to Rest
Students at the New York Academy of Art are using their sculptural and artistic training to reconstruct the faces of unidentified remains.
Second Opinion Fall 2018
Experts reflect on the rise of fake medical news and better ways to treat depression.
Too Much of a Good Thing
Exercise is usually healthy. But taken to an extreme, can it put the heart in peril?
Should Older Patients Have Their Own ED?
Advanced age brings special needs, especially in the emergency department. So some hospitals are changing designs and processes for their senior patients.
Is there a Doctor in the Kitchen?
Physician-chef Rani Polak explains why clinicians should learn cooking skills—and teach them to patients.
Podcast: The 100 Year Shadow
Martin Hirsch explores the role of a tenacious virus and the role of “fake news” in the great epidemic of 1918.
A Gentler Gene Edit
Re-engineered cells are making waves in cancer treatment. But there may be a safer way to achieve the same effect.
The Walk-In Genome Clinic
Consumers are curious about their DNA, and Bryce Mendelsohn thinks hospitals should give them answers.
Antibody Necklace
A unique collaboration between an artist and a biomedical engineer moves HIV research forward.
Second Opinion Summer 2018
Experts comment on the need for more research funding and better diabetes technology.
Is Cannabis a Cure for the Opioid Crisis?
Relaxed marijuana laws seem to cause a dip in prescription opioid misuse. But the picture isn’t that simple.
A Better PET
Expensive, clunky yet clinically invaluable, the positron emission tomography scanner is due for reinvention.
Salt: The New Sugar?
It seems as if salt should lead to weight loss, not weight gain. But a more complex metabolic picture is coming into focus.
Podcast: Mothers in Medicine
Women are significant contributors to research, but their careers are often cut short when they have children. What can be done to remedy this gender disparity?
Measuring Blood With Light
Some components of blood can be measured without a needle stick. Now an innovation in light-based methods could make even more of them visible.
The Methadone Blind Spot
Is the oldest treatment for opioid addictions being unjustly overlooked in the response to the current crisis?
The Coming of the Gene Switch
The concept of circuitry, borrowed from computer technology, could make the next generation of gene therapies more flexible and powerful.
Why Doctors Must Solve the Suicide Problem
As despair deaths reach historic levels in the United States, interventions at health care checkpoints may be the best way to bring them down.
Change of Heart
The risk of dying from heart disease varies dramatically from one ZIP code to the next. Researchers are teasing apart the reasons why.
Bumps in the Night
A barrage of well-timed noises may, surprisingly, make for a more restful night’s sleep.
How Poor Diet Shapes the Brain
A high-fat, high-sugar diet can cause harm to the hippocampus—and that may lead, perversely, to even worse impulses around unhealthy food.
Organs on Ice
If transplant organs could be kept fresher for longer, they could help thousands more on waitlists.
The Not-an-Opioid Epidemic
More physicians are prescribing a class of drugs called gabapentinoids to manage pain. Should we be worried?
The Shape of Things
Design choices pervade the health care system, and pediatrician Joyce Lee wants to make them smarter.
The Brain's Beauty
Artist and multiple sclerosis patient Elizabeth Jameson turns her brain scans into works of art.
Second Opinion Winter 2018
Experts reflect on the state of eldercare and questions of genomic privacy.
Feel the (Brain) Burn
Regular exercise has long been associated with better brain function, but researchers are only now piecing together how and why that happens.
Podcast: Enter the Citizen Scientist
Given half a chance, non-scientists can also make discoveries that move medicine forward.
Both Ends of the Leash
Humans and their pets suffer from many of the same ailments, and medications that cross the species barrier may help those on either side of it.
Retired, Took Up Drinking
Alcohol use is at an all-time high among older Americans, and that trend brings a host of health risks.
1917: Halifax
A freak explosion tore through the quiet Nova Scotian city, prompting one of the most dramatic medical responses in history.
Podcast: Fire At the Cocoanut Grove
Disaster struck at a packed Boston nightclub 75 years ago. What happened next became a milestone in burn care.
A World in Transition
Physicians are rarely trained to care for transgender patients. New efforts aim to bridge that gap.
Podcast: Tiny and Cold
The 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry brought cryo-electron microscopy to the front page. What is it and why is it changing drug discovery?
Phasing Out Phase 3
What if drugs were released to the public earlier, then graded on their performance in the real world?
The Food Pharmacy
Poor diet makes some health conditions much worse. For Rita Nguyen, that’s an invitation for hospitals to step into the kitchen.
Lost in the Hospital
In a noisy, disorienting institutional environment, older patients often fall victim to delirium, a severe mental malady. Geriatric expert Sharon Inouye describes a program that can head off problems.
Second Opinion Fall 2017
Experts weigh in on the promise of curing blindness and hospital readiness after mass casualty events.
The Unwelcome and Unwell
An excerpt from a new memoir by Elizabeth Ford, who reflects on nearly two decades of treating patients in New York City’s correctional system.
Bright Future for the Feces Cure
Transplanting healthy human feces became a breakthrough treatment for C. diff infection. Now researchers ask—can it do more?
Scourge of the Summer
Lyme disease cases spike in the warmer months. Research on the disease is inching forward, as the number of reported infections reaches new heights.
Cocoanut Grove, 1942
The largest nightclub fire in U.S. history became a milestone in modern medicine.
Pain for Women, Pain for Men
Males and females experience pain differently—and appear to process it differently, too. Why has it taken so long for science to find out?
Is Skipping a Child’s Vaccines Medical Neglect?
Pediatricians want to know whether they can call child protective services if a parent refuses to vaccinate. The answer remains unclear.
After Surgery, Less Pain
Changing the norms of surgery may head off the addiction that can take root during recovery.
Podcast: The Minutes After
It's a matter of time before the next bombing, shooting or violent attack. How can emergency physicians save more lives?
Safe Harbor
Scientists in unstable regions sometimes fear for their lives. Allan Goodman helps them find refuge and a chance to work again.
The Gene Drive
A new technology quickly spreads genetic mutations in the wild. Who will keep it from getting out of hand?
Near Death, New Life
More children survive cancer, but infertility is often the cost. New techniques offer hope.
Diagnosis on the Go
A portable detection system can identify disease-causing bacteria far from the laboratory.
When Industry Funds the Advocates
Patient advocacy groups play a role in the approval of drugs. Should their donors come under scrutiny?
The Blood Depot
An invention for the battlefields of World War I led to the modern blood transfusion.
The Secret of Vitamin B7
The most damaging forms of multiple sclerosis get new treatments, including one that is already widely available.
Blood Gets an Upgrade
The long search for a blood substitute could take a major step forward this year.
The Mobile Menace
Talking and texting while driving cost hundreds of lives every year. Should physicians intervene before those accidents happen?
Sniffing Out Lung Cancer
Testing cells in the nostril may change how doctors diagnose the deadliest form of cancer.
Why Aren’t Women Running Hospitals?
Reshma Jagsi suggests that sponsorships may play a big role in the gender imbalance at the top levels of academic medical centers.
A New Genomics of Race
Gene changes related to culture may play into how disease affects the body, according to researcher Esteban Burchard.
On the Desert Wind
A new vaccine may prevent valley fever and break a long-standing impasse on fungal research.
Going Deep
Next-generation MRI machines can look far inside the brain, and map in minute detail where things go wrong.
Caught by the Tail
A discovery about the “tails” of tuberculosis antibodies may help in the fight against other diseases as well
Allies Within
Bacteria in the body produce their own powerful antibiotics. Some may lead to new tools for fighting superbugs.
The Rehearsal Epidemic
A measles outbreak in 1917 inspired the blueprint for fighting the devastating Spanish flu.
More Transplants, Fewer Drugs
Antirejection medicines may someday be unnecessary for transplant patients. But some body parts pose more of a challenge than others.
Second Opinion Winter 2017
Readers weigh in on the risks of data sharing and the promise of the OpenNotes program.
Under Lock and Key?
Genetic databases have helped medicine make great leaps forward. But is it really possible to keep the identities behind those genes a secret?
The Heart of a President
When Eisenhower came clean about his heart attack, it allowed one physician to change the nation’s views on cardiac health.
Crystal in the Sky
The best place to observe the building blocks of the human body might be in outer space.
What’s Behind the Aspirin Cure?
Aspirin can keep some cancers from growing and spreading—that much we know. Now it’s a race to find out why.
For Diabetes, a Better Crystal Ball
An ambitious data project may help doctors predict when a patient’s diabetes will take a turn for the worse.
Podcast: The Story Prescription
Health Story Collaborative explores the value of letting patients talk about their illnesses. Also: how terrorist attacks affect us.
The Patchwork Quilt of Naloxone Laws
A drug that reverses overdoses saves thousands of lives. Does its prescription status keep it from saving more?
The Cobblestones of Memory Lane
Fifty years ago, Terje Lømo made a breakthrough in how we understand learning and memory.
The Pill and the Pessary
Margaret Sanger was a lifelong pioneer for birth control—and drove major innovations in the devices that made it possible.
Should Patients Read Their Progress Notes?
A nationwide program advocates that patients should have seamless access to their doctors' notes. But not everyone thinks this is a good idea.
Physician, Rest Thyself
Burnout is on the rise among doctors. Is medical school the place to make a difference?
Making the Leap
Ten years ago, researchers coaxed normal adult cells into stem cells for the first time
And Free the Medical Records
Data from patients’ everyday medical records can also be mined—anonymously—to offer new insights on how diseases work.
Death and Distance
Telehealth programs are changing how people get better—and sometimes the way they die.
Second Opinion, Fall 2016
Readers weigh in on the importance of social activism amongst physicians and the various approaches to childhood transgenderism
Loose the Hounds
Prized for more than 10,000 years as loyal companions, domestic dogs now also become a powerful ally in the fight against cancer
A Tradeoff for T Cells
Researchers are looking into a simple, promising way to boost the immune system. But the price is steep.
Podcast: Eli, Age 11
Coming of age when you’re transgender isn’t easy. A mother and son discuss how they’re meeting the challenges.
Podcast: Young Minds on Cannabis
A new Proto podcast explores the effects of pot on the teen brain and how one woman became part of the do-it-yourself medical device movement.
Sleeping Rough
The homeless are the most vulnerable population in the country. How can health care reach them?
How a Sea Anemone Can Help Us Hear
A new way to understand and treat hearing loss comes from the deep waters of comparative biology.
The Sky Is the Limit
Drug prices are increasing at a historic rate. Should (and can) they be capped?
Peril on the Plate
One recent diagnostic advance may be guilty of stalling the fight against food-borne illness.
Same Pig, Second Act
After major breakthrough in gene editing, pig organs show new promise for use in humans.
Hidden Americans
Xóchitl Castañeda looks for the immigrants invisible to the U.S. health care system.
Fighting for Social Medicine
Jack Geiger discusses the importance of physician activism in promoting community health
The Black Dog
A mother details her internal struggles during her son's battle with clinical depression
The Trauma of War
A photography exhibit profiles veterans who return home with life-altering wounds.
Second Opinion, Summer 2016
Readers weigh in on the expanding field of community paramedicine and the role of chaplains in hospitals.
Feeling Your Pain
The quest to find an objective measure for physical pain may be getting closer to its goal.
Defined: Unbefriended
Every incapacitated patient needs someone to help make medical decisions on their behalf. But some lack any friends or family members who could help.
What a President Can Do
Which U.S. president left the biggest mark on modern medicine? Four historians cast their votes.
The Foggy Future of Brain Games
Can a video game really improve cognitive function? One company holds out hope for the holy grail: the blessing of the FDA.
Babies, the Open Books
Soon it will be both easy and inexpensive to screen a newborn’s whole genome. But that could be a terrible idea.
How Cancer Gets From A to B
Cancer travels through the body in surprising ways, new research shows. That discovery comes with both good news and bad.
In the Event of Disaster, Children First
Children are the most vulnerable during a disaster. So why isn’t the emergency response system better at helping them?
Second Opinion Winter 2016
Readers weigh in on a national pain strategy and innovative new technologies that could help the blind see.
Should Congress Pass the Cures Act?
Two experts face off on new legislation that aims to speed up the approval process for drugs and medical devices.
Dementia and the Loaded Gun
Gun ownership is highest among the elderly. When dementia strikes, few laws can step in to keep these patients and their caregivers safe.
Defined: Information Blocking
When a company in the electronic health records industry interferes with its clients’ ability to access, exchange or use the data the company stores.
Beating Zika in the Wild
Fighting mosquitoes is no walk in the park. A disease ecologist describes the landscape of mosquito-borne diseases here in the United States.
Blue Light Special
Drug-resistant bugs have spurred research into a promising—and surprisingly simple—treatment.
10 Years That Changed Medicine
Proto’s first issue came out in 2005. The decade that followed brought landmark changes to the world of health care.
Outsmarting the Common Cold
Throwing antibiotics at viral infections is bad and sometimes dangerous medicine. Tests based on gene expression may help.
The Grim and Marvelous Story of Chemotherapy
Research on chemical treatments for cancer began in the ashes of a world war.
Roald Dahl and the Curious Shunt
The beloved author’s first great gift to children was medical, not literary.
The Bleeding Edge
A Boston lab looks to the plucky and omnipresent red blood cell for a new generation of therapies.
The Secret in Mother’s Milk
Does the body have a hidden highway between a mother’s digestive tract and the milk she produces?
A Touch of Sugar
The science behind placebos has come a long way since the sugar pill. Ted Kaptchuk is leading the revolution.
A Drastic Cure
The lobotomy won its inventor the Nobel prize, but remains a shadowy chapter in the history of mental health.
Temporary Passengers
Advances in pacemaker technology are making the devices safer, smaller and longer-lived.
Defined: Oral Parity
Advocates rally around a new standard for cancer drug pricing. But will it have the desired effect?
Senses in Practice
A special kind of synesthesia helps physician Joel Salinas feel what his patients feel.
Second Opinion–Fall 2015
A Proto feature about changing screening protocols draws a vigorous response.
Progress on Prostates
A new genetic test may hold the promise of greatly reducing unnecessary treatment in prostate cancer.
Superbugs in Their Sights
The Cures Act wants to put more tools in the hands of those who fight drug-resistant bacteria. Can this war be won?
For Rent: The Eureka Moment
Will rent-by-the-hour robotic labs change the way that medical research happens?
The Month of Beginning
An excerpt from Matt McCarthy’s tales of being a medical resident: The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly.
Where There’s Smoke
Cigarette labeling hits a big milestone, but the battle continues over the perception of tobacco’s risks.
Mortal Remains
The teaching cadaver is as old as the study of medicine. Is there a better alternative?
A World of Pain
Prescription abuse has reached epidemic levels. So why is the FDA approving powerful new painkillers?
Retirement and the Physician Shortfall
A graph that outlines the gap between physician supply and demand between 2013 and 2035.
The Awakening of Oliver Sacks
The final illness of the physician and author happens 100 years after the greatest outbreak of encephalitis lethargica.
Measuring the Impact
Researchers are still searching for answers about how best to diagnose and treat childhood concussions.
Pricing Transparency
When it comes to the cost of treatments, hospitals struggle to give customers a straight answer.
The Explosive Child Revisited
Bad behavior in children may come from a lack of certain cognitive skills. Studies show that those skills can be taught.
Down and Dirty
Culturing bacteria in the soil from which they came could lead researchers to breakthrough antibiotics
Second Opinion Spring 2015
Readers weigh in on the promises of artificial intelligence in medical diagnosis and the shortcomings of end of life care in the U.S.
Does This Cause That?
Whether it’s smoking and cancer or vaccines and autism, the Bradford Hill guidelines celebrate 50 years of tracing diseases to their proper roots.
The Epidemic That Medicine Made
The misuse of opioid painkillers has become a major health crisis. How can the tide be turned?
A Shock From Outside
Implanted devices are just one approach to neuromodulation therapy. Transcranial stimulation is achieving results and reaching new audiences.
A Shake-Up in Stroke Treatment
A new approach for restoring blood flow to the brain is having unprecedented success.
Nature Bites Back
More than half of infectious diseases pass through animals first. A strain on their natural habitats may be making these ailments more dangerous.
A New Weapon Against Sepsis?
MGH researcher Biju Parekkadan may have discovered a breakthrough treatment for this global killer.
Feeling Nature’s Pull
Researchers have harnessed the power of the immune system to remove foreign pathogens from the blood.
Second Opinion Winter 2015
Readers weight in on the promise of 3D printing in medicine and the importance of telehealth technology.
X-Ray Vision
Wilhelm Röntgen stumbled upon one of medicine’s first imaging techniques 120 years ago.
The Right to Try
Five state legislatures now allow terminal patients to circumvent the FDA. Will this new path to experimental drugs help or hurt?
Fixing Medicare's Hospice Problem
New approaches can combat the steep costs of caring for dementia patients.
A Killer Still on the Loose
MRSA infections are down by more than half, and new treatments are on the way. But the pathogen still takes a deadly toll.
The Rise of the Robot Scientists
Artificial intelligence may also prove key to the future of research, as computers serve up relevant studies and make connections that humans might miss.
Do Ebola Quarantines Make Sense?
Treating the epidemic means re-evaluating a public health tool with a storied past.
Tech Meets Quarantine
New digital systems can help keep infectious agents at arm’s length—or further away.
A Tragedy of Rural Proportions
A new documentary explores health care inequality in rural America, and why the Affordable Care Act isn’t enough.
Joint Venture?
The need for a U.S. joint replacement registry is urgent, but should the government or orthopedic surgeons control the data?
The Value of Good Feelings
New research suggests that having a positive outlook may improve health and longevity.
An Infernal Ringing
There's never a quiet moment for the millions suffering from a persistent buzzing in their ears.
Where Have All the Microbes Gone?
Internist and researcher Martin Blaser believes that disturbances in the gut may underlie several modern maladies.
Dotter's Folly
The first angioplasty procedure was performed 50 years ago. But it was some time before the work of "Crazy Charlie" Dotter caught on.
Supply-Side Solutions
Simplifying fecal transplants could make the treatment safer and more accessible.
New Technology, Old Rules
The use of 3-D printing technology in hospitals and labs has raised new regulatory issues for the FDA.
Second Opinion Fall 2014
Readers weigh in on more efficient methods of coding medical conditions and current debates in hormone therapy.
Judgment Call or By the Book?
Medical guidelines aim to encourage best practices, but these physician bloggers argue that guidelines shouldn’t determine treatment.
Going the Distance
Longitudinal studies have provided both puzzles and insights about human health and well being.
The Science of Lyme Disease
Peter L. Slavin and David F. Torchiana on the science and importance of Lyme disease.
What Lies Beneath
A young woman's uncomfortable experience in the hospital and the memory it forged.
New Fuel for the Hormone Therapy Debate
Attitudes towards hormone therapy have shifted toward a more nuanced approach.
Second Opinion Spring 2014
Readers weigh in on the challenges of medical literacy and issues with replicating research.
The Electric Brain
Eighty years ago, what he perceived of as a telepathic experience led Hans Berger to create the electroencephalogram.
Decoding Violence
Psychiatrist Paul Appelbaum talks about the factors that can contribute to violent behavior.
Carolyn Greene: The Data Miner
Epidemiologist Carolyn Greene aims to use electronic health records to track chronic disease trends.
The Legacy of Agent Orange
The fallout from exposure to Agent Orange—used to defoliate jungles during the Vietnam War—continues to be felt.
Doctress of Medicine
One hundred and fifty years ago, Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first black woman to receive a medical degree in the United States.
In Framingham, Deep Cuts
Sharply pared budgets could kill the Framingham Heart Study—after 50 years of astonishing research breakthroughs.
These Hands
At her great-uncle's bedside, the author considers the genetic disorder that binds her family.
Go Live
In this short story, an IT guy reveals the human angle of dealing with new health care technology.
Defined: Helium Cliff
An impending helium shortage could greatly raise the price of helium, an element used to chill MRI scanners.
Does This Gene Look Patentable?
The Supreme Court ruled on whether genes can be patented. But the answers aren't crystal clear.
When It's All in Their Heads
Three physician bloggers discuss how to treat patients with imagined ailments.
The Second Attack
After her husband's first heart attack, the author cannot escape the fear that it will happen again.
Defined: Super-Utilizers
One group of patients, also known as frequent fliers, account for a disproportionate share of health care spending: super-utilizers.
A Malaria Vaccine Clears Another Hurdle
Can a new vaccine, injected intravenously, put the brakes on malaria?
The Red-Tape Blues
Three physician bloggers bemoan—and cope with—administrative headaches that impede caregiving.
Power Struggle
As concerns about cyber attacks on medical devices and hospital networks rise, a new system aims to detect malware intrusions.
A Second Act for Phages
As resistance to antibiotics grows, might phages, a treatment that fell out of favor decades ago, be the answer?
Mother's Little Helper at 50
After 50 years, we take a look back at the pharmaceutical industry's first $100 million brand.
A Gutsy Procedure
Evidence for fecal transplants as effective treatment for stubborn C. diff. infections.
Rooting Out Disrespect
Lucian Leape, the father of the modern patient safety movement, talks about the culture of disrespect in medicine—and how to fix it.
Billiions of Lost Years
China's air pollution provides chilling statistics on air quality and its relationship to disease and life expectancy.
Point of Departure
In an excerpt from physician Danielle Ofri's latest book, a heroin addict makes a group of medical residents rethink their assumptions.
Errors From the Patient's View
A prototype program aims to improve adverse event reporting by giving patients, family members and others a voice in the conversation.
The Integrative Oncologist
Oncologist Donald Abrams confronts cancer with both conventional and integrative methods.
Matej Peljhan: Le Petit Prince
In this photo series, the imagination is the only limit for Luka, a young boy with spinal muscular atrophy.
For Better or Worse
Against all odds, a husband stands by his wife to fight the ultimate battle: cancer.
Still Running Short
Although drug shortages have lessened in recent years, some key classes of medications remain in short supply.
The Off-Label Debate
Physicians routinely prescribe drugs for uses not approved by the FDA. But should drug reps be allowed to tout those uses?
Standards for Surgeons
With his creation of the American College of Surgeons 100 years ago, Franklin Martin introduced a vital aspect to surgery: regulation.
Re-examining the Health Care Market, 50 Years On
Nobel Prize-winning economist Kenneth Arrow discusses the current state of the health care industry.
Clearing Hep C
Several drugs that stop the virus by blocking different pathways are nearing FDA approval.
Victim or Villain?
To quarantine or not to quarantine? To this day, difficult public health case Typhoid Mary still begs the question.
What Veterinarians Can Teach Us
Cardiologist Barbara-Natterson Horowitz explains why the most humanistic medicine today is being practiced by veterinarians.
Rhythmic Entertainment
Help for Parkinson's patients from an unlikely corner: the Mark Morris Dance Group.
Unexpected Cave Dwellers
Researchers have discovered 93 strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in a cave in New Mexico.
Under the Microscope
The author undergoes her first ultrasound, her anxiety heightened by her past as a genetic counselor.
Vocal Chords Restored
Researchers may have discovered a way to restore vocal cords using a polymer found in moisturizing creams.
The Upside to Full Disclosure
After instituting “disclosure, apology and offer” policies, hospitals have seen a drop in malpractice lawsuits.
The Bone Collector
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection. We pay it a visit.
The Case for Research
Economist Larry Summers argues that, despite the need to limit government spending overall, health research must remain a top priority.
Let the Sunshine In
With her daughter fighting cancer, a mother relies on a support system of friends and family to remind her of the world outside.
Filtering Out HIV
Scientists looking to block HIV's evasions of the immune system found an unlikely source of inspiration: the spam filter.
Our Eyes, Our Rhythms
Another possible disruptor of our circadian clock: aging eyes that admit less light.
Shining a Light on ALS
Massachusetts General Hospital's Merit Cudkowicz discovered a key to jumpstarting ALS research: pooling resources.
Experts in Diagnosis
A professor of medicine explains how medical students can learn the art of clinical reasoning from the hosts of NPR's Car Talk.
Failure Redefined
A mother assures doctors who tried to save her son from an incurable disease that their compassionate care was a true success.
Defined: Parsimonious Care
The American College of Physicians’ new ethical guidelines has its members separating prudent cost controls from ones that may adversely affect patient care.
Our Germs, Ourselves
The bacteria inside us may form a symbiotic relationship that not only affects metabolism, but emotions and brain development as well.
Protecting Children's Hearts
A cholesterol test for 10-year-olds could show early signs of cardiovascular disease, yet critics warn that this could lead to unnecessary treatment.
Predicting Suicide
Harvard psychology professor Matthew Nock has undertaken a large-scale study to understand why people take their own lives and find ways to assess those at risk.
Pinpointing Pain
The use of 3-D models to track a patient’s pain has roots in a sixteenth-century sketch by a German master.
The Newborn Score
Lacking a standardized test to assess a baby’s health at birth, anesthesiologist Virginia Apgar created a simple rubric that persists more than a half century later.
The Ethical Investigator
In 1966, the anaesthetist-in-chief of Massachusetts General Hospital published a paper that would yield greater protection for clinical trial subjects.
Sleep, Interrupted
Repeatedly waking up costs sufferers not only a good night’s rest, but their health and money as well.
Facing the Pain
A father and son fight through the ordeal of multiple surgeries to repair the boy's skull.
Foreign Bodies
More than 2,000 objects remarkably unfit for consumption lodged in throats, lungs and stomachs. One physician has retrieved them all.
When Social Ills Become Medical
To treat her young patients, Nadine Burke uses research on how adverse childhood experiences affect health.
A Firewalker's Heart
Researchers found that a stroll over hot coals affects not just the person doing it, but the loved ones looking on as well.
The Forgetting Basket
As her mother’s memory fades, one writer watches it go, one handwritten note at a time.
Policing Physicians Online
Doctors use Facebook and Twitter just like the rest of the public, but their participation brings ethical and legal risks.
The Path to Diagnosis
A century ago, MGH pathologist Richard Cabot made an event out of physicians identifying illnesses—and greatly improved diagnostic methods as a result.
A Healthy Investment
Primary care physician Eric Weil directs a program that shows that more attentive care for high-risk patients may be the most effective way to control costs.
Ending Smallpox
Deep in Central Russia and down in Atlanta are the two remaining stocks of the eradicated virus that's killed millions—should they be destroyed?
Occupational Hazard
When a doctor becomes addicted, colleagues may not be equipped to spot or treat it.
Defined: Biocreep
Trials that involve new drugs being compared to existing versions could let inferior treatments slip through.
Finding Clues Among the Rare Few
New AIDS research and the study of asymptomatic HIV-positive patients has brought optimism to those looking to cure the disease.
The Healing Touch (Screen)
Medical bloggers discuss how smartphones and iPads will change the way they practice medicine.
A Hospital for Boston
The city's first hospital was founded to treat the poor—and serve as a teaching locale for Harvard Medical School.
Dealing with Delirium
Treating delirious patients can be costly and difficult, where hospitalization itself may exacerbate the disorder.
Medical Lampoon
Douglas Farrago’s bimonthly collection of top-ten lists, editorials and “True Stories of Medicine” provides a sharp satire of the health care system.
What Caused the Plague?
Scientists say they’ve confirmed the bacteria behind the pestilence that killed millions in Europe in the Middle Ages.
The Scarlet V
For one woman, a scar left behind by her husband's cancer treatment isn't a disfigurement, but a mark of survival.
Defined: Incidentalome
Genetic tests can be fraught with false positives and insignificant findings that may undermine their effectiveness.
Simulators Surge
High-tech mannequins and simulation software are becoming more prevalent in medical schools.
Should Genes Be Patented?
A federal court recently ruled that they couldn't, whereas supporters and critics continue to debate whether patents foster or hinder innovation.
Lord of the Fly Room
Thomas Hunt Morgan's discoveries won him the Nobel Prize and forever altered American Laboratories.
The Mind's Healing Power
A pioneer in meditation reflects on the past and future of research into the mind body connection.
Accepting Ethan
One father’s emotional limits are put to the test when his newborn son is found to be severely disabled.
An Elusive Isotope
The world’s hospitals rely on technetium-99m for imaging, but the isotope is in short supply.
Why Recertify?
Does the recertification process prove physicians’ expertise or just waste their time?
Defined: Structure/Function Claim
Critics say a certain type of statement allowed on food labels could mislead—rather than inform—consumers.
Nursing a Profession
One hundred and fifty years ago, Florence Nightingale opened a school that would revolutionize nursing.
What's That Racket?
The sounds of talking and footsteps, overhead paging, and beeping equipment can add up to quite a cacophony.
Medicating Young Minds
One writer planned to write a book about the willful overmedication of children, but what she found was the opposite.
Taking Hit After Hit
Repeat blows to the head can have serious—and long-term—implications for football players.
My Body, Myself
Deciding to keep her medical condition a secret from her parents becomes a declaration of independence for one woman.
Helping Haiti
The aftermath of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti had these medical bloggers pondering everything from the quiet courage of patients to wider issues in health care.
Using Baby's Blood
Storing newborns' blood for research creates a valuable resource—but some parents are trying to put a stop to the practice.
Defined: Zinc Fingers
With zinc finger technology, scientists might be able to “cut and paste” DNA to fight certain diseases.
The Salvarsan Wars
When Paul Ehrlich developed the first clinically tested syphilis treatment in 1910, he sparked hope and controversy.
Sticking Points
Percutaneous injuries among medical students and health care workers hurt in more ways than one.
A Flight Plan for Hospitals
An author and seasoned pilot talks about what aviation can teach hospitals about safety.
Spinning Scaffolding for Skin Grafts
A team of researchers in New York is working on a sweet solution—based on the structure of cotton candy—to help engineered tissue survive.
Radioactive Me
For one mother, getting her thyroid under control could also mean forgoing a second child.
The Cost of Free Drugs
Handouts from drug companies might seem helpful, but some experts contend that they create conflicts of interest and raise prescription costs.
A Pungent Problem
Americans spent $6.7 billion on mouth-freshening products in 2007, but popping a mint or gargling green stuff is no match for hardcore halitosis.
The Literary Physician
Rita Charon, director of a new program in narrative medicine at Columbia University, discusses how developing narrative skills can create better physicians.
Søren Sørenson: The Pioneer of pH
A century ago, chemist Søren Sørensen invented what would become a crucial diagnostic tool: the pH scale.
Choosing Chance
When it comes to breast cancer predisposition, one woman decides she’d rather not know.
The Small-Town Touch
In his new novel, The Spirit of the Place, Samuel Shem explores what it means for physicians to meet high expectations.
In the First Polypill Trial, Compelling Results
An all-in-one medication reduced such cardiovascular risk factors as blood pressure and heart rate.
Defined: Green Chemistry
Pharmaceutical companies are finding that reducing waste in drug manufacturing can also save them millions of dollars.
Don't Tread on M.D.
Jeffrey Segal and his firm, Medical Justice, are using waivers to combat what they see as unfair online reviews of doctors.
Plastic Tips on Shoelaces
Jack Szostak, Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn win the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work with telomeres.
Is No-Pay the Way?
To save money and increase quality of care for Medicare patients, the government is considering denying payment to hospitals for certain procedures.
Defined: Cosmetic Neurology
Some drugs lend extreme wakefulness and focus—but are the enhancements worth the risks?
Curious Medicine
Medicina Curiosa, the first English-language medical journal, mixed the technical with the practical.
Resistance Fighter
Paul A. Offit, an infectious disease specialist, discusses the costs of not vaccinating children for fear of autism.
No Prescription is Necessary
These glasses offer a low-tech, low-cost, no-doctor solution for poor eyesight.
Striking Unlucky
Confronted with her son’s diagnoses with three rare diseases, a mother contemplates luck—good and bad.
Handle With Care
In an excerpt from his novel Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese examines the importance of words of comfort.
To Catch an Addict
Michael G. Fitzsimons, head of the drug-testing program at the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, discusses preventing fallout from addicted physicians.
The Tell-Tale Heart
How an electrified, 660-pound behemoth became a common diagnostic tool: the ECG.
To Sleep, Perchance to Walk
With insomnia drugs yielding bizarre side effects, sleepwalking has wandered back into public consciousness.
A Dance of Musical Color
Artists with a certain neurological condition put all their senses to work.
Your Genes Have Been Scanned. Now What?
New studies aim to determine what consumers do—or don’t do—after they’ve had a mail-order genome test.
Should I Be Worried?
Risk expert David Ropeik argues that despite constant headlines, Americans’ health worries are largely misplaced.
Constant Kidney Care
Dialysis clinics could be a thing of the past with the development of a portable, wearable device.
Drilling for a Century
The level of dental care we now enjoy dates back to the arrival of plug-in electric drills.
Dr. Exotica
Tending to recent immigrants and other travelers, Carlos Franco-Paredes diagnoses diseases that few other physicians in North America have ever seen.
A Cosmic Connection
Forty-three years after his death, a renowned physicist has an unexpected hand in extending his grandson’s life.
Defined: Plug and Play
Getting the various pieces of operating room equipment to communicate with one another could save lives—but it’s easier said than done.
Eyeing Clinical Trials
The United States is launching a database to remedy a lack of transparency in clinical trial results.
Anatomy of Gray's
From hand-drawn illustrations to CD-ROM technology, Gray’s Anatomy has advanced with medicine throughout its 150-year existence.
The Power of No
With their online Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine, editors Christian Pfeffer and Bjorn R. Olsen are encouraging physicians to re-evaluate clinical practices based on negative data.
Damned Spot!
The first dermatologist told the writer that she was just seeing things. But finally, magically, the second dermatologist saw what the writer saw.
Defined: Human Microbiome
Scientists have had only a glimmer of an idea how microbes affect our bodies; a $115 million National Institutes of Health project aims to find out.
The Autism Gene
Researchers have found the first strong genetic cause to be specifically associated with autism.
Class Conflict
Pharmacists propose a third category of drugs—“behind the counter”—which they, not doctors, would prescribe.
The Balm in the Willows
The most popular drug in the world—aspirin—would never have won FDA approval. Fortunately, the active ingredient was isolated in 1828.
Our Earth, Our Health
Eric Chivian, founder of the Center for Health and the Global Environment, worries that some medical mysteries may remain forever unsolved as a result of global climate change.
After a Terrorist Attack
Photographer Diane Covert sheds light on victims of terrorist attacks with her photography exhibit featuring x-ray photos of the victims.
Are public Report Cards that evaluate individual physicians a good thing?
Point: Yes, they are key in the nation’s efforts to develop a value-driven health care system. Counterpoint: No, because the wrong kind of measurements can do more harm than good.
All Over the Map
As Elliott Fisher of the Dartmouth Atlas Project has discovered, more money does not always mean better health care.
A New Light
Engineering students at Duke University created the BlueRay, which is being used experimentally on jaundiced babies in the developing world.
A Beautiful Place
As a daughter discovers, her mother’s personality seems to drift, but she still can appreciate the important things: a wonderful sentence, the snow as it falls outside her bedroom window.
Defined: Technetium-99
The radioactive isotope, used in some 20 million medical scans each year, briefly found itself amid controversy.
A Life Restored
When the author’s macular degeneration worsened, physicians offered cold facts, not help. She had to find her own answers.
A Brain Scanner in Your Hand
On the football field and battlefield, a better way to assess concussion damage.
No Alternative
Despite high patient demand, doctor bloggers argue that complementary alternative medicine may provide more harm than help.
Progress With Prions
New research sheds light on the mystery of prions: misfolded proteins that promote a lethal chain of events.
Sickle Cell Secrets
In 1907, a surgeon and an intern discovered why cells sickle after they noticed something odd.
Outsider on the Inside
When controversy erupts over the safety of a drug, chances are, Steven E. Nissen is not far away.
Body Image
The University of Calgary’s CAVEman, a computer-generated hologram, can display human body parts in ultrasharp resolution.
Heart and Soul
The author climbed a mountain against doctor’s orders—but not against his better judgment.
Should the HPV vaccine become mandatory for girls?
Point: Yes, it will help prevent diseases; Counterpoint: No, it was inadequately tested.
A New Step in Scarless Surgery
Years ahead of schedule, doctors perform on humans a surgery that involves reaching internal organs via the mouth or other natural orifices.
Picturing the Other Side
Photographer Max Aguilera-Hellweg’s most demanding assignment was one he gave himself: to understand doctors not by taking their pictures but by becoming one.
The Health Within Illness
For the author, her illness gave her authenticity, a kind of ability to be.
A Useful Cavity
Another way to ensure patients take their medication: implant a dental prosthesis that releases drugs directly into their mouths.
Stopping Seizures
In 1857, Sir Charles Locock first prescribed bromide, the first effective medication for epilepsy.
The Real Gender Gap
Marianne J. Legato, founder of the field of gender-specific medicine, is only beginning to uncover how different the sexes are.
Survivor?
Brain surgery unexpectedly impaired a writer/illustrator’s abilities to speak, read and write, leaving her to wonder if she would ever get her old self back.
Hindsight is 20/20
Disgraced stem-cell scientist Woo Suk Hwang has become exhibit A in the case for tightening scrutiny of apparent medical advances.
Calling Dr. Kildare
Medical-drama characters may have evolved from saintly to sexy, but at least one aspect of these shows has remained constant: the will to get the medicine accurate.
Frontline Frustrations
Caring for patients is what registered nurses signed up to do, not dealing with patients’ inconsiderate families, defensive colleagues and red tape, as these nurse bloggers explain.
Master of Disguise
Robert Barron, who once created masks for CIA agents, now uses his talent for a different purpose: bringing people disfigured by trauma and disease out from hiding.
Avian Flu, One Year Later
After the panic, the author of our article on avian flu discusses developments in the story.
No Sponge Left Behind
During surgery, dozens of sponges are placed in the body. One company wants to ensure that they all make it out.
Critical Condition
Television portrays ERs as high-tech places where everyone gets saved. But what’s the real deal?
Extreme Doctoring
Doctoring for Kenneth Kamler isn’t limited to his office in New York—or the Amazon rainforest, or the mountains of Bhutan, or even the reaches of space.
The Kid Inventor
The author explains the connection between her appearance on Late Night with David Letterman and the problem of unsupervised drug-taking by the elderly.
Chilled to the Bone
As more people receive joint implants, one company hopes to make a synthetic bone that works with the body, not against it.
The Costs of Care
As these medical bloggers relate, care exacts an ethical toll as well as a financial one.
In Praise of Rules
Debora Spar of the Harvard Business School argues that new medical technology can't go unregulated forever.
Coral Reef's Promise
Coral reefs house millions of species, and each holds the possibility of millions of cures.
Will NIH Cuts Stifle Research?
The National Institutes of Health fund much of U.S. medical research. Could budget cuts stem the flow of breakthroughs?
Should there be different drugs for different races?
Point: Race is a social construct, not a genetic indicator; Counterpoint: Race correlates highly with genetic variation.
First, Do No Harm
In an environment where doctors are paid by the test, Nortin M. Hadler is convinced that many tests are useless, or worse, harmful.
Mum's Metamorphosis
While the author’s mother battled cancer, he took portraits that reflected more than just her cool green glasses.
Half-Baked or Brilliant?
Medical bloggers muse on futuristic hospital devices, getting paid and ER drug seekers.
A Most Curious Surgeon
An excerpt from Wendy Moore’s The Knife Man: The Extraordinary Life and Times of John Hunter, Father of Modern Surgery.
Before the Fall
In an interview pre-scandal, stem cell researcher Woo Suk Hwang explains his methods and motivation.
Made-to-Order Body Parts
Body parts, made quickly out of long-lasting materials, could be the future of prosthetic organs.
Engineering Better Treatments
A cross disciplinary approach has begun to pay dividends for endometriosis research.
