Health & Veritas

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 Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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” Teresa Chahine: “Toward an Understanding of Public Health Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship” Teresa Chahine: Social Entrepreneurship: Building Impact Step by Step, 2nd Edition (December 2022) Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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 the accessibility of medicines.  Links: “New Federal Study Evaluates the Safety of US Hospitals and the Answer Is…” “Trends in Adverse Event Rates in Hospitalized Patients, 2010-2019” Good Pharma Scorecard Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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 Mineral Oil Comparator on Interleukin-1β, Interleukin-6, C-Reactive Protein, Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, Homocysteine, Lipoprotein(a), and Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2: A REDUCE-IT Biomarker Substudy” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions. 

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 Health. Links: Rebekah Gee discusses letters from her late mother on This American Life.  About Nest Health “The War On Abortion Could Turn The US Into A Police State” “The dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity with changes in aerosol microenvironment” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.

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 World Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at the Yale School of Management.

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 Sepsis in the Intensive Care Unit” “Climate Change, Fossil-Fuel Pollution, and Children’s Health“ Merriam-Webster on the origin of the word “doctor” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at the Yale School of Management.  

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” “PD-1 Blockade in Mismatch Repair–Deficient, Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer” Seth Trueger: “The Best Bad News” “Public Finance Balance of Smoking in the Czech Republic” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at the Yale School of Management

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 of Natural and Hybrid Immunity to SARS-CoV-2” “Medical Education in the United States and Canada” (The Flexner Report) About Yale New Haven Health “Mass General Brigham says it will reduce spending by $70m annually” “US Mass Shootings, 1982–2022: Data From Mother Jones’ Investigation”