This week came with three wonderful things — and a terrible one.
First, we had the STAT Summit in Boston, where I had the pleasure of seeing past and future First Opinion contributors. It’s a rare joy to get to discuss potential op-eds with people in person. Thanks to everyone who took a moment to chat with me.
Second, a bit of a dream came true: First Opinion launched “Friendly Argument,” a new occasional feature in which two people who like each other but disagree debate an idea in health and medicine. We launched with a discussion between John E. McDonough, author of the new book “America’s Wrong Turn: U.S. Healthcare in the Neoliberal Era,” and Stuart Butler, a scholar in residence in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. They debated Milton Friedman, where U.S. health care went wrong, and how to get it back on track. Who do you want to take part in the next Friendly Argument about medicine and health policy? Share your ideas, or volunteer yourself and someone you’d like to debate, by emailing first.opinion@statnews.com.
Third, we launched the latest STAT+ First Opinion column: Chief Complaint, by Frances Mei Hardin, author of the wonderful memoir “Surgeon on the Edge.” Frances Mei, a former ENT surgeon, will write about the challenges facing physicians working in a health care system undergoing enormous change. In her first column, she examines the epidemic of learned helplessness among doctors.
Most importantly: I can’t let this newsletter end without remembering my wonderful colleague Helen Branswell, who died this week from complications related to cancer. When I first started at STAT, I was intimidated by Helen, the queen of Covid coverage. But I quickly got to know her astonishing generosity of spirit and intellect. When I asked her to review a First Opinion submission in her wheelhouse, she was always blunt — and always right. Be sure to read Helen’s STAT obituary, written by her close collaborator Andrew Joseph.
Recommendation of the week: I’m celebrating October and spooky season by re-reading “The Little Stranger,” by Sarah Waters, a Gothic novel set in postwar England about a crumbling grand house haunted by upper-class anxiety and maybe also ghosts.
