Second Opinion

The Comment In The Operating Room 11.10.2026 5:00 ↓

When no one speaks up, silence can become part of the culture of care.

Want Your Doctor to Write Back? 04.10.2026 5:00 ↓

Need to send your doctor a message? A new study suggests  how  you write it—not just what you say—may affect whether your doctor responds.

No Room In The Hospital 27.09.2026 5:00 ↓

It's not the sniffles clogging our ERs. It's a hospital system with nowhere left to put people.

When Good Enough Is Never Good Enough 20.09.2026 5:00 ↓

An A-minus isn't a crisis. But for some high achievers, it can feel like one. When does striving for excellence become something harmful?

The Pressure to Succeed 13.09.2026 4:41 ↓

American teens are anxious, exhausted, and getting too little sleep. Are phones really the whole problem—or should we also be looking at our culture of achievement?

Would You Get Sick for Science? 06.09.2026 4:55 ↓

They were conscientious objectors who refused to fight in World War II. So they found another way to serve: they offered their own bodies for dangerous medical experiments.

Maybe We've Been Fighting the Wrong Enemy 30.08.2026 5:00 ↓

For 100 years we've been trying to kill mosquitoes. What if the real problem was us?

Mosquitoes Are Winning 23.08.2026 5:00 ↓

We've spent decades trying to kill mosquitoes. So why do they seem to be getting better at living with us?

The Missing Ingredient in Fighting Ebola 16.08.2026 4:54 ↓

You can bring doctors, laboratories, and protective equipment to an Ebola outbreak. But you can't ship trust in a box.

The Choice Dementia Takes Away 09.08.2026 5:00 ↓

Who should make the final decision about your death?  You, your family, your doctor...or a disease that slowly takes away your mind?

Evolution Never Saw this Coming 02.08.2026 4:59 ↓

Your body was built for a world that no longer exists — and that mismatch might be making you sick.  

In The Last Pew 26.07.2026 4:25 ↓

When the family of a longtime patient invited me to her funeral, I found myself wrestling with a question I never addressed in medical school.

Before You Take That Alzheimer's Test, Ask This Question 19.07.2026 5:00 ↓

New Alzheimer's blood tests are accurate, available, and increasingly advertised — but for healthy people, a positive result is rarely useful.

Because We've Always Done It That Way 12.07.2026 5:08 ↓

Standard medical practice isn't the same as proven medical practice — and the difference can be deadly.  

The Comfort Premium 05.07.2026 4:49 ↓

It’s the same medicine. So why does the convenient version cost so much more?

Solving One Problem, Creating Another 28.06.2026 4:59 ↓

From a Pacific island overrun by rats to hospital wards battling superbugs, why our best intentions so often backfire.

What's Your Pain Worth? The Ethics of Paying Research Subjects 21.06.2026 5:00 ↓

Would you take $5,000 to be in a painful medical study? And should researchers even be allowed to ask?

Why Is She Being Blamed for Her Cancer? 12.06.2026 4:48 ↓

We'd never ask a breast cancer patient what she did to deserve it. So why do we ask her?

Gorillas: The Canary in the Jungle 08.06.2026 4:59 ↓

Veterinarians in Central Africa are bracing for an Ebola outbreak among gorillas. It might sound remote. It's not.

The Power of a Passport and the Privilege to Leave 31.05.2026 5:00 ↓

I packed my bag, crossed the border, and eventually flew home to safety. The health care workers I left behind had no such option. 

We Knew It Was Coming — We Just Didn't Care 24.05.2026 4:59 ↓

From the Uganda-Congo border: a firsthand account of an Ebola outbreak, a failing response, and the political decisions that made it worse.

A Ship, a Virus, Nine Countries. And We Weren't There. We Built It, And Then We Broke It. 15.05.2026 5:00 ↓

America built the global health system that protects us all — and then walked away from it.

Cut and No Cure - When Doing Nothing Beats Going Under the Knife 10.05.2026 5:00 ↓

What if one of the most common surgeries performed in the world turned out to be no better than a fake one — and we kept doing it anyway?

Eight Legs, One Bite, Big Trouble 03.05.2026 4:59 ↓

There's a vaccine for your dog. There isn't one for you. And that's not an accident — it's a scandal.

Who Is Qualified to Fix Your Mind? 24.04.2026 4:59 ↓

Millions of Americans need mental health care and can't get it — so should we lower the bar on who gets to provide it?