Health & Veritas

Howie and Harlan react to President Joe Biden’s declaration that the pandemic is over. Then they’re joined by Jonathan Rothberg, a Yale-trained scientist who has created new methods for sequencing DNA and founded a series of successful biotech companies. Disclosure: Harlan Krumholz is a consultant to Tesseract, a portfolio company of 4 Catalyzer, which was founded by Jonathan Rothberg. Links: “Biden: ‘The pandemic is over’” Eric Topol: “To boost or not to boost” “An integrated semiconductor device enabling non-optical genome sequencing” ”Butterfly Network Distributes 500 Butterfly iQ+ Devices to Healthcare Workers in Kenya to Transform Maternal and Fetal Health” ”AI Estimation of Gestational Age from Blind Ultrasound Sweeps in Low-Resource Settings” Butterfly Network Protein Evolution Hyperfine ”Uncovered Medical Bills after Sexual Assault” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan discuss the confusion over COVID therapeutics, even among professionals. Then they're joined by Dr. Jeremy Faust, a researcher, emergency physician, and public voice on COVID and other issues—as well as an active choral conductor. They discuss his unusual path, the state of the pandemic, and the importance of understanding “excess mortality.” Links: “Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes New Monoclonal Antibody for Treatment of COVID-19 that Retains Activity Against Omicron Variant” Overview of Bebtelovimab COVID-19 Therapeutics Locator Jeremy Faust: Inside Medicine Robert T. Sataloff: “The Human Voice” Jeremy Faust: “Excess Mortality in Massachusetts During the Delta and Omicron Waves of COVID-19: All-Cause Excess Mortality and COVID-19–Related Mortality Among US Adults Aged 25-44 Years, March-July 2020 Longwood Symphony and World Doctors Orchestra at Symphony Hall “Out-of-pocket spending on insulin among people with private insurance” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Harlan outlines his new study tracking excess mortality over the course of the pandemic in the highly vaccinated state of Massachusetts; Howie discusses how the Inflation Reduction Act will tackle drug prices. They're joined by Dr. Esther Choo to talk about life as a doctor on social media and the crisis facing emergency departments. Links: Esther Choo: “Covid-19 is pushing doctors to the brink. Medicine needs to recognize they’re human and need help.” “Uncoupling of all-cause excess mortality from COVID-19 cases in a highly vaccinated state” “New York Governor Lifts Mask Mandate for NYC Subways” White House Fact Sheet: The Inflation Reduction Act Supports Workers and Families Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Learn more about the MD-MBA program at Yale. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

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.