Viewpoints: New Leaders Worsen FDA’s Credibility Crisis; Who Can Afford $27,000 A Year Health Insurance?
Opinion writers discuss these public health issues.
Today’s Food and Drug Administration seems to be of two very different minds about oversight. For some things like vaccines, even strong data apparently are not good enough. But for other products, the FDA is signaling that relatively little data will be needed. This dualism seems driven more by ideology than biomedical science, so it presents big risks to patients and the field. (Paul Knoepfler, 12/9)
The high cost of health care in America is suppressing wages, driving job losses and fueling inequality. (Zack Cooper, 12/10)
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) thinks he has a new idea: no taxes on health care. He has proposed making all out-of-pocket health care expenses tax deductible, saying that would “help people immediately.” But would it? (12/8)
I have spent my career caring for people facing some of the world’s most dangerous infectious diseases — Ebola, mpox, Covid-19. I have worked in outbreak zones, in understaffed hospitals, in field units built out of necessity. I’ve seen firsthand how vaccines transform the trajectory of a disease, a community, and a country. But nothing has prepared me for the exam room conversations I’m having now. (Krutika Kuppalli, 12/10)
On Wednesday, December 10, Australian kids are waking up to a world that was once inconceivable: They don’t have social media anymore. The country is the first to prohibit social apps for children under age 16. The ban on 10 platforms includes TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook, X and Reddit. If parents outside of Australia adopt the same rules, our kids will thank us later. (Kara Alaimo, 12/9)
