Health & Veritas

Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Eric Topol, a physician and writer who is widely recognized both as a leading researcher and a public voice on medicine and health. They discuss his career turn toward genomics and digital health, and the fight against misinformation on Twitter.  Links: "Adding Salt to Foods and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease" Eric Topol: Ground Truths Eric Topol: The Creative De...

Harlan reports on a unprecedented recall of ventilators and CPAP machines; Howie discusses a new approach to tackling the issue of antimicrobial resistance. And they're joined by Dr. Nancy Brown, dean of the Yale School of Medicine, to discuss her career path and her investments in developing talent. Links: FDA Update: Certain Philips Respironics Ventilators, BiPAP Machines, and CPAP Machines Reca...

Harlan provides updates on R.S.V., flu, and COVID-19; Howie considers the growing use of hallucinogens for treatment of severe depression. And they are joined by Dr. Vineet Arora, dean of medical education at the University of Chicago, to discuss the future of medical Twitter and how medical education is changing in the wake of the pandemic. Links: "A 'Tripledemic'? Flu, R.S.V. and Covid May Colli...

Harlan reports on three negative—but striking—trials presented at the American Heart Association's annual meeting; Howie reflects on the victories for health in Tuesday's election. And they're joined by Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Yale internist and nationally known expert on healthcare equity, to discuss her service in the Biden administration and the need for a broad approach to tackling racism...

Harlan describes a revealing new study on the long-term impacts of COVID; Howie reflects on the escalating costs of health insurance. And they are joined by Dr. Lisa Leffert, Yale's chief of anesthesiology, to discuss her unusual career path, disparities in maternal mortality, and her approach to tackling the gender pay gap in the field. Links: "Cardiovascular disease and mortality sequelae of COV...

Howie and Harlan are joined by physician, sociologist, and thinker Nicholas Christakis to talk about how humans have evolved to form powerful connections. Howie provides updates on concussions among high school athletes and the use of Ivermectin for COVID, and Harlan remembers Dr. Barry Zaret, an important figure in cardiology at Yale and beyond. Links:  In Memoriam: Barry L. Zaret, MD Yale News:...

Harlan reports on a new study testing the effectiveness of the OCD drug fluvoxamine in treating COVID; Howie reflects on the potential of continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes. And they're joined by Dr. Utibe Essien of the University of Pittsburgh to discuss the barriers preventing people of color from getting innovative new treatments and medications.  Links: "Fluvoxamine for Out...

Howie and Harlan check in on new research and health issues in the news, including studies on colonoscopies and the timing of hypertension medication, the state of the monkey pox and polio outbreaks, and the wave of legislation restricting treatment of trans youth. Links: "Effect of Colonoscopy Screening on Risks of Colorectal Cancer and Related Death"   "Monkeypox Cases Are Declining in New York...

Howie and Harlan look at the plunging cost of sequencing an individual genome, and the problem of concussions among athletes at all levels. And they're joined by Dr. Ania Jastreboff, a Yale obesity specialist, to discuss the dramatic results from a new class of drugs that target the brain's system for regulating body fat. Links: "llumina Unveils Revolutionary NovaSeq X Series to Rapidly Accelerate...

Harlan discusses the problem of "financial toxicity"—how medical bills can wreak havoc in vulnerable patients' lives. Howie reflects on the protests in Iran and the precariousness of the freedoms we enjoy in the United States. And they are joined by Ingrid Nembhard of the University of Pennsylvania to discuss her work on the organizational factors that shape patient care. Links: Cancer.gov: Financ...

Howie and Harlan react to President Joe Biden's declaration that the pandemic is over. Then they're joined by Jonathan Rothberg, a Yale-trained scientist who has created new methods for sequencing DNA and founded a series of successful biotech companies. Disclosure: Harlan Krumholz is a consultant to Tesseract, a portfolio company of 4 Catalyzer, which was founded by Jonathan Rothberg. Links: "Bid...

Howie and Harlan discuss the confusion over COVID therapeutics, even among professionals. Then they're joined by Dr. Jeremy Faust, a researcher, emergency physician, and public voice on COVID and other issues—as well as an active choral conductor. They discuss his unusual path, the state of the pandemic, and the importance of understanding "excess mortality." Links: "Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update:...

Harlan outlines his new study tracking excess mortality over the course of the pandemic in the highly vaccinated state of Massachusetts; Howie discusses how the Inflation Reduction Act will tackle drug prices. They're joined by Dr. Esther Choo to talk about life as a doctor on social media and the crisis facing emergency departments. Links: Esther Choo: "Covid-19 is pushing doctors to the brink. M...

Monkeypox, polio, and COVID-19 have all received the World Health Organization's rarely used global health emergency designation. Howie and Harlan offer a needed sense of proportion alongside health information, updates on research, and policy developments for the grim trio of diseases.

Howie and Harlan talk with Dr. James Hamblin, a journalist and a lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health. They discuss his approach to communicating about public health, his prescient February 2020 article on COVID-19, and why he's quit taking showers. Links: James Hamblin: The Body "You're Likely to Get the Coronavirus" Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM . Email Howi...

Howie and Harlan are joined by Teresa Chahine, the Sheila and Ron '92 B.A. Marcelo Senior Lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship at Yale SOM. They discuss how social entrepreneurs use an interdisciplinary, iterative, community-centric approach to innovation to create self-sustaining solutions to problems in public health and other areas. Links: "Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity" T...

Howie and Harlan discuss Harlan's large new study tracking the trajectory of patient safety in hospitals, and consider how individuals should respond to the latest COVID-19 variants. They're joined by Jennifer Miller, a Yale bioethicist and the director of the Good Pharma Scorecard, which evaluates the performance of pharmaceutical companies on measures like the transparency of clinical trials and...

Howie and Harlan discuss a concerning new COVID-19 variant, the discovery casting doubt on a major fish-oil study, and the need for new models of funding research. Links: "New Omicron subvariant Centaurus could be the most immune-evasive yet, expert warns" "Cardiovascular Risk Reduction with Icosapent Ethyl for Hypertriglyceridemia" "Effects of Randomized Treatment With Icosapent Ethyl and a Miner...

Harlan reviews the latest COVID-19 research, and Howie reflects on the vast ramifications of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. They're joined by Dr. Rebekah Gee, an ob-gyn and the CEO of Nest Health, which aims to deliver care to vulnerable children and their parents at home. She also describes her experience as a pro-choice physician serving as secretary of the Louisiana Department of H...

Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale epidemiologist and MacArthur 'genius' Gregg Gonsalves to discuss his non-traditional route to improving responses to global public health challenges. Links: Eric Topol on COVID reinfections Harlan's Twitter thread on insurance debt "Health Savings Accounts No Longer Promote Consumer Cost-Consciousness" Sherry Glied in Health Affairs The Best Little Boy in the Wo...

Harlan interviews Howie about his life as a doctor and teacher, including how a radiologist without a PhD got to teach economics at Yale, why he engages in the daily battles that come with speaking out on Twitter, and the extraordinary return on investment from time spent mentoring young people. Links: Arnold Schwarzenegger on deaths attributable to pollution "Intravenous Vitamin C in Adults with...

Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Seth Trueger of Northwestern University, who was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder in 2020. They discuss his experience navigating the healthcare system as a patient and what he's learned about the challenges facing people with complex medical issues. Links: 2022 Medicare Trustees Report  "A Cancer Trial's Unexpected Result: Remission in Every Patient" "P...

Harlan explains what the research says about the immunity acquired from a COVID-19 infection, and suggests a framework for thinking about exposure risk. Then Howie and Harlan are joined by Thomas Balcezak, chief clinical officer at the Yale New Haven Health System. They discuss the financial and human capital challenges faced by hospitals in the wake of the pandemic. Links: "Protection and Waning...

Howie and Harlan are joined by Dr. Amy Justice, a Yale clinical epidemiologist. They discuss the influential long-running studies she has conducted using the electronic medical record from the Veterans Administration Healthcare System.  Links: Basketball coach Steve Kerr on the shooting in Uvalde, Texas The Veteran Aging Cohort Study  "Comparison of Risk and Age at Diagnosis of Myocardial Infarcti...

Howie and Harlan are joined by Jason Schwartz of the Yale School of Public Health. They discuss what went wrong with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and how Schwartz's background in history and ethics informs his research on vaccine policy. Links: "Effect of Sleep Extension on Objectively Assessed Energy Intake Among Adults With Overweight in Real-life Settings" "Effects of Experimental Sleep Restric...