19 May, 2026
The Trump administration has made sweeping changes to vaccine policy over the past year justified by invocations of patients’ “personal autonomy.” In January, Department of Health and Human Services head…
Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Shelley Wood and Eric Topol. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast”…
Allison covers what hot startups are getting up to, and who’s financing them. She is also co-host of the weekly biotech podcast, “The Readout Loud.” You can reach Allison on…
Katie Palmer covers telehealth, clinical artificial intelligence, and the health data economy — with an emphasis on the impacts of digital health care for patients, providers, and businesses. You can…
NEW YORK — No quick dispatching of disease investigators. No televised news conference to inform the public. No timely health alerts to doctors. In the midst of a hantavirus outbreak that involves…

‘Patient autonomy’ is wrong way to think about childhood vaccine policy

The Trump administration has made sweeping changes to vaccine policy over the past year justified by invocations of patients’ “personal autonomy.” In January, Department of Health and Human Services head Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Trump’s slashed the number of routinely recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11 after an HHS report emphasized “personal autonomy and […]

11 mins read

Why longevity ‘blue zones’ are a mixed bag

Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Shelley Wood and Eric Topol. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode by signing up for the “First Opinion Podcast” newsletter. And don’t […]

37 mins read

CDC playing smaller role in MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak

NEW YORK — No quick dispatching of disease investigators. No televised news conference to inform the public. No timely health alerts to doctors. In the midst of a hantavirus outbreak that involves Americans and is making headlines around the world, the U.S. government’s top public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been uncharacteristically missing in […]

10 mins read

More men should go into nursing

While the number of Americans in need of care keeps rising, many health systems are struggling to find qualified nurses. The demand for qualified nurses is projected to increase nationwide, with nearly 200,000 annual job openings expected. This is driven, in part, by a mass exodus of nurses reaching retirement age. At this critical juncture […]

10 mins read