Health & Veritas

Howie and Harlan are joined by Margo Harrison, an OB-GYN and femtech entrepreneur, to discuss how innovative solutions to women’s health problems offer deeper understanding and expanded choices. Harlan and Howie each offer a caveat emptor for lightly regulated, unproven supplements and treatments such as Prevagen and hydration spas. Links: “Prevagen Review: A Word of Caution” “Prevagen®: Analysis of Clinical Evidence and Its Designation as a ‘#1 Pharmacist Recommended Brand’” “NY Jury Rules Some Claims About Prevagen Are Misleading” “Effects of a Supplement Containing Apoaequorin on Verbal Learning in Older Adults in the Community” Mate Fertility: Home Dahlia Ventures Margo Harrison, MD: Assistant Adjoint Professor, OB-GYN-Basic Repro Science Margo Harrison: LinkedIn “Use of Cesarean Birth at Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital, Mizan Aman, Ethiopia” “Postpartum Contraceptive Use Among Denver-Based Adolescents and Young Adults: Association with Subsequent Repeat Delivery” “Warnings grow about risky IV drips and injections at unregulated med spas” “FDA highlights concerns with compounding of drug products by medical offices and clinics under insanitary conditions” “Drip bar: Should you get an IV on demand?” “Are Your Therapies FDA Compliant?”

Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale health economist Zack Cooper to discuss his work on surprise medical bills and the impact of high healthcare costs on households, wages, and the economy. Harlan reports on Hippocratic AI’s efforts to develop AI nurses. Howie looks at the global effort to eradicate tuberculosis. Links: “Hippocratic AI banks $53M backed by General Catalyst, a16z, Memorial Hermann, UHS and other health systems” “Polaris: A Safety-focused LLM Constellation Architecture for Healthcare” Yale | Eli Whitney Students Program Touching the Dragon: And Other Techniques for Surviving Life’s Wars The Price Ain’t Right? Hospital Prices and Health Spending on the Privately Insured “Costs Can Go Up Fast When E.R. Is in Network but the Doctors Are Not” “Bankrupt Envision Healthcare approved to split in two, cut debt” “The Company Behind Many Surprise Emergency Room Bills” Surprise! Out-of-Network Billing for Emergency Care in the United States “Medical LLM developer Hippocratic AI gets $53M at $500 valuation” The Breakthrough of Large Language Models Release for Medical Applications: 1-Year Timeline and Perspectives World Health Organization | World Tuberculosis Day Partners In Health | Tuberculosis “WHO urges investments for the scale up of tuberculosis screening and preventive treatment” “The latest twist in John Green’s anti-tuberculosis story: working with governments” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Robert Alpern, a Yale nephrologist and the former dean of the Yale School of Medicine, to discuss the importance of a fiscal base for enabling a medical school to deliver top-quality training, research, and clinical care. Harlan asks whether widespread norovirus is a reason to call it quits on shaking hands. Howie reports on a study of the increased mortality among those with ADHD. “Nephrologist Robert Alpern Named Dean of Yale School of Medicine” “UT Southwestern: From Army” Shacks to Research Elites” “National Clinician Scholars Program” “A ‘bittersweet’ end: Historic merger creates one of the nation’s largest hospitals” “Yale New Haven Health: Smilow Cancer Hospital” “Alpern will not seek a fourth term as School of Medicine dean” “Alpern to Step Down After Current Term as Dean” “Cleveland Clinic: Norovirus” “State of Affairs: March 12: Flu, measles, norovirus, and interesting Pew results” “Norovirus has entered the chat” “ADHD Pharmacotherapy and Mortality in Individuals With ADHD” “Overdiagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents” “Racial Disparities in Diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in a US National Birth Cohort” “Longitudinal associations between digital media use and ADHD symptoms in children and adolescents: a systematic literature review” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Robert Rohrbaugh, professor of psychiatry and deputy dean for professionalism and leadership at the Yale School of Medicine, to discuss his work training doctors in antiracist practices and ensuring the wellbeing of clinicians during the pandemic. Harlan reports on the problematic history of medical journals promoting eugenics; Howie highlights a cyberattack that has paralyzed Change Healthcare, the country’s largest payments processing hub.  Links: Antiracist Documentation Practices — Shaping Clinical Encounters and Decision Making American Psychological Association | Implicit Bias “YSM Ranks #1 in U.S. News Survey for Psychiatry” COVID-19 Traumatic Disaster Appraisal and Stress Symptoms Among Health Care Workers Application of Artificial Intelligence on Psychological Interventions and Diagnosis: An Overview Is AI the Future of Mental Healthcare? ChatGPT outperforms humans in emotional awareness evaluations “Ridding the Race of His Defective Blood” — Eugenics in the Journal, 1906–1948 Problems Underlying Public Hospital Administration Wikipedia | Public Hospital Eugenics and Involuntary Sterilization: 1907–2015 “Cyberattack Paralyzes the Largest U.S. Health Care Payment System” “Physicians beg for relief amid Change Healthcare payment crisis” “Court Rejects Vertical Merger Challenge Brought by DOJ” “Aledade Takes Steps to Support Independent Primary Care Partners in Wake of Change Healthcare CyberAttack”

Howie and Harlan discuss health and healthcare headlines, including a cheating scandal that has led to the invalidation of hundreds of scores from Nepal on the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination, the problem of research that never sees the light of day, new anti-obesity medications, and Florida’s unorthodox approach to measles. Links: Standardized Testing “Cheated out of the American Dream” “MCAT scores and medical school success: Do they correlate?” ”Reducing Medical School Admissions Disparities in an Era of Legal Restrictions: Adjusting for Applicant Socioeconomic Disadvantage” “Medical School Admissions — A Movable Barrier to Ending Health Care Disparities?” “Yale Reinstates Standardized Test Score Requirement For Admissions” “New SAT Data Highlights the Deep Inequality at the Heart of American Education” Research at Universities Good Science Project: Stuart Buck “Why Are We Screwing Over Researchers Who Make Innovative Discoveries?” Intellectual Property: Ownership and Protection in a University Setting Measles in Florida “From COVID-19 to Measles, Florida’s War on Public Health” CDC: About Measles “Additional measles case reported at Florida elementary school as lawmaker urges public health emergency” Obesity Drugs “Heard on the Street: Viking Therapeutics Invades Eli Lilly’s Obesity Territory” Unreleased Research Data “The Ghost Research Haunting Nordic Medical Trials” “Publication of NIH funded trials registered in ClinicalTrials.gov: cross sectional analysis” Harlan Krumholz: “What have we learnt from Vioxx?” A Transformative Gift “$1 Billion Donation Will Provide Free Tuition at a Bronx Medical School” IVF in Alabama The Alabama Supreme Court’s Ruling “Florida Suspends Bill to Protect ‘Unborn Child’ After I.V.F. Ruling” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: The Alabama Supreme Court’s Ruling on Frozen Embryos Faculty for Yale Faculty for Yale “The Need For Institutional Neutrality At Universities” “Yale faculty sign letter addressed to Yale’s future president, affirms commitment to social justice” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Lucila Ohno-Machado, the Yale School of Medicine’s deputy dean for biomedical informatics. She explains how expanding use of data science, informatics, AI, and technology could enable doctors to spend more time with patients. Harlan celebrates mentorship while marking the death of Irwin Birnbaum, a mentor to many in his time as COO of the Yale Medical School and long after retiring. Howie discusses the mixed evidence from a study on vaping as a tool for helping cigarette smokers quit. Links: “Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, MBA, Will Lead Biomedical Informatics and Data Science” “Lucila Ohno-Machado: Yale Medicine Profile” “Halıcıoğlu Data Science Center” “2024 AI in Medicine Symposium at Yale School of Medicine” “Doctors Vs. ChatGPT: Which Is More Empathetic?” “Irwin M. Birnbaum Obituary” “What is a mentor?” “A Randomized Trial of E-Cigarettes versus Nicotine-Replacement Therapy” “Episode 78, Health and Veritas: Elizabeth Arleo: Advice for Working Mothers from a Women’s Health Specialist”

Howie and Harlan are joined by Farzad Mostashari, co-founder and CEO of Aledade, an "accountable care organization" that seeks to align patient-provider incentives so doctors can make a profit by prioritizing preventive care. Harlan discusses a study suggesting that physical exercise may be protective from severe COVID. Howie highlights the introduction of Apple’s VR headset and the importance of further study to understand the technology’s capacity to “rewire” our brains. Links: "Aledade: Home Page" “Farzad Mostashari: Man On A Digital Mission” “Health Reform and Physician-Led Accountable Care:The Paradox of Primary Care Physician Leadership” “Staggering Rise in Catheter Bills Suggests Medicare Scam” “Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs): General Information” “Novid: Definition” “Prepandemic Physical Activity and Risk of COVID-19 Diagnosis and Hospitalization in Older Adults” “VR risks for kids and teens” “2024 Outlook: Despite hurdles, stakeholders bullish on VR in behavioral health” “AI therapy and ICU training: A first look at health apps for Apple Vision Pro” “Effects of an Immersive Virtual Reality Intervention on Pain and Anxiety Among Pediatric Patients Undergoing Venipuncture” “Virtual Reality for Management of Pain in Hospitalized Patients: Results of a Controlled Trial” “Virtual Reality Reduces Pain in Laboring Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial” “Apple Vision Pro”  Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Learn more about the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Christopher O’Connor, CEO of Yale New Haven Health, to discuss his career path and his experience leading hospitals through Hurricane Katrina and COVID-19. Harlan reports on promising AI tools for taking clinical notes; Howie looks at the financial headwinds facing the companies offering Medicare Advantage plans.  Links: AI Notetaking “OpenAI-backed healthcare AI startup raises $70 million Series B” “Burnout Related to Electronic Health Record Use in Primary Care” “Ambient Artificial Intelligence Scribes to Alleviate the Burden of Clinical Documentation” “Medical AI scribe startup Nabla rolling out tool to the Permanente Medical Group docs in Northern California” “Ambience Healthcare reels in $70M for generative AI tools to battle clinician burnout” Hospital Leadership "After 20 Years and $16,000, A Hospital Debt Is Canceled" Harlan Krumholz: “Out‐of‐Pocket Annual Health Expenditures and Financial Toxicity From Healthcare Costs in Patients With Heart Failure in the United States” "Connecticut hospitals face record financial losses" "Update on Effect of Hurricane Katrina on Ochsner Clinic Foundation, LA" "YNHH and Hospital of Saint Raphael become one" Medicare Advantage “Humana slashes profit predictions amid soaring Medicare Advantage costs” HHS: “Biden-Harris Administration is Strengthening Medicare; Protecting and Serving America’s Seniors” "Cano Health’s downfall offers a warning for Medicare Advantage" CMS: Risk Adjustment Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Manisha Juthani, a Yale infectious disease specialist and commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health. They discuss her research, including a study casting doubt on the use of cranberries to prevent urinary tract infection, and her priorities for Connecticut. Harlan reports on a wave of study retractions from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Howie reflects on the progress made toward eradicating Guinea worm and malaria.  Links: Retractions from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute “Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Researchers Accused of Manipulating Data” “Top Cancer Center Seeks to Retract or Correct Dozens of Studies” Pubpeer: The Online Journal Club “‘A lot of it is sloppiness’: the biologist who finds flaws in scientific papers” Manisha Juthani “An Outbreak of Domestically Acquired Typhoid Fever in Queens, NY” Manisha Juthani: “Effect of Cranberry Capsules on Bacteriuria Plus Pyuria Among Older Women in Nursing Homes—A Randomized Clinical Trial” “Reduction of Bacteriuria and Pyuria After Ingestion of Cranberry Juice”  Yale School of Medicine Medical Grand Rounds: “Debunking a myth: cranberry products for UTI prevention” Connecticut Department of Public Health Connecticut Department of Public Health: About the Commissioner Connecticut Department of Public Health: Statistics and Research “Court: CT can keep law that ends religious exemptions for vaccines” “Congenital syphilis cases in the U.S. have skyrocketed, CDC says” Eradicating Parasites “Jimmy Carter took on the awful Guinea worm when no one else would—and he triumphed” “Cape Verde reaches malaria-free milestone” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale SOM alum Claudine Litman, a designer and the director of Yale‘s Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation, to talk about using the tools of design to build more effective healthcare spaces and processes. Harlan looks at seven charts illustrating the state of healthcare in 2023; Howie reports on the FDA reprimanding a drug company for misleading advertising. Links: Healthcare in 2023 "Seven Charts That Sum Up U.S. Healthcare In 2023" Designing Better Healthcare Yale School of Medicine:Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation Design for Care: Innovating Healthcare Experience This Is Service Design Doing: Applying Service Design Thinking in the Real World The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage Misleading Advertising "FDA scolds Novartis over a misleading TV ad for a breast cancer treatment" Public Law 87-781, 76 STAT 780 FDA: Letter to PharmD Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertisements:  Presentation of the Major Statement in a Clear, Conspicuous, and Neutral Manner in Advertisements in Television and Radio Format Final Rule Questions and Answers Guidance for Industry NIH: Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.