https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1914257 Great perspective from Michael L. Barnett, M.D., in NEJM. Sadly, it’s paywalled, but I share a useful table from the article below. Barnett describes the current state of opioid prescribing as an over-correction, in which the terrible opioid overdose epidemic has led public health officials and providers to move too far in the opposite…
Within the past few weeks, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world, commenters in news media have propagated a meme that’s now firmly embedded in the public consciousness. It’s best summed up in an article in Vox that’s typical of the trend, “Did the coronavirus get more deadly? The death rate, explained.”1 The Vox…
Art Caplan on regulations recently issued by President Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that permit physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare workers to refuse to provide services to their patients if they have religious or personal reasons for a conscientious objection. Caplan’s take on this worrisome development is welcome and worthwhile, as…
The medieval music ensemble Sequentia created what I think are the most enjoyable renditions of the music of Hildegard von Bingen. I’m currently listening to Canticles of Ecstasy, one of nine albums of von Bingen’s music recorded by Sequentia. I reviewed her book Scivias in a previous blog post. From Sequentia’s Hildegard von Bingen Project,…