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Big problems are rarely solved with simple solutions. The opioid crisis is an example. This is an important opportunity to make changes that can save and change tens of thousands of lives — and we already know what needs to be done and how to do it. In today’s society, where we see problems fixed by the end of a 30-minute sitcom, we are sometimes lulled into believing that issues in our own lives similarly can be fixed by a quick pill or the stroke of a pen. However, as we all know too well, health care issues tend to be complicated and involve many stakeholders. The opioid epidemic is no exception, juggling the interests of insurance companies, governments, medical providers, social workers, therapists, pharmacies, facilities and the patients themselves. All of this is done in the backdrop of other limitations, including geography, time, economics and societal stigmas. (Adam Bruggeman, 6/23) 

More than 25,000 people have volunteered so far to be infected with the novel coronavirus through 1DaySooner, an online recruitment organization, as an aid in testing vaccine candidates to prevent Covid-19. These volunteers know that Covid-19 can cause suffering and even death yet they are stepping forward, willing to risk their lives, because some researchers and academics contend that such experiments in humans could accelerate vaccine development. As a physician and a scientist who has cared for patients and who has been involved in the development of vaccines, I feel the urgency to get a vaccine approved for global use. And I have deep admiration for the courageous volunteers who are willing to put themselves in danger. (Michael Rosenblatt, 6/23)

The World Health Organization recently paused — and then restarted — its COVID-19 hydroxychloroquine coronavirus clinical trial over safety concerns. The pause came in the wake of two large reviews of data from patients who received hydroxychloroquine that reported generally negative results. The Lancet, the journal that published one of these studies, recently retracted it due to concerns about its credibility. This came in the wake of two large reviews of data from patients who received hydroxychloroquine that reported generally negative results. (Andrew Stolbach and Jeremy Sugarman, 6/17)

With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to rage, people all over the world are — perhaps like never before — paying rapt attention to the views of experts. Terms such as “R” and “superspreader” — previously confined to labs and conferences attended by the eminent — have become commonplace in conversation. In part, this is down to politicians insisting that in making their decisions on combating the virus they have been “led by the science." But it could also be because at a time of uncertainty, anxious people cling to the apparently clear messages offered by the scientists standing — at a social distance, of course — alongside their political masters. The problem with this is that there is no one science any more than there is any one economics or politics. (Roger Trapp, 6/22)