Plus: Three (!) great op-eds on AI's role in medicine | September 14, 2025 Check out STAT+ | | --- | | | | --- | | Sponsored By   | | --- | | By Torie Bosch First Opinion editor | | --- | | I’ve previously ranted here about how I hate it when writers say “individuals” instead of “people.” Now I have another pet peeve: “lived experience.” I get the idea of the phrase: to emphasize that people who have a medical condition (or whatever we’re talking about) have a type of expertise that is often dismissed. Advocates and others use “lived experience” to give credit to their specific expertise in something often marginalized: substance use disorder, mental illness, not having a home. But what a, well, lifeless phrase. Ultimately, “lived experience” is passive: the experience that has been lived. The way it’s often used tends to make it even worse, referring to “Lisa’s lived experience with addiction.” Why not just tell us briefly what Lisa has experienced? Or how Lisa has lived? By boiling that experience down to two yawn-inducing words, the phrase flattens what should be dynamic. Verdict: banned! Recommendation of the week: A feature in The Cut asks and answers a fascinating question: “When did people become so afraid of mold?” P.S. STAT is 10! We're celebrating by offering STAT+ subscriptions for $10 per month for 10 months. Come on, treat yourself to great reporting. | | --- | --- | | | --- | --- | Adobe STAT+ \| Beyond Dr. Google: How patients are using chatbots to shape their health stories Patients have been symptom-searching online for 20 years. But now chatbots offer them something very different. By Harvey Lieberman I created my own AI medical team. It changed the way doctors treat my cancer After being diagnosed with an aggressive form of blood cancer, I created my own virtual medical team. It showed what my doctors had missed. By Steve Brown Bringing AI to medicine requires philosophers, cognitive scientists, and ethicists The author of “Dr. Bot: Why Doctors Fail Us and How AI Could Save Lives” says AI in medicine must be more than “bolting automation onto old workflows.” By Charlotte Blease ALEXIS HUGUET/AFP via Getty Images Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a warning A decade ago, the U.S. would have been instrumental in containing an Ebola outbreak in the DRC. So much has changed. By Krutika Kuppalli The MAHA kids’ health report missed an important opportunity on children and non-sugar sweeteners Aspartame, sucralose, and stevia pervade children’s diets, yet their health effects are poorly understood and rarely discussed, experts write. By Allison Sylvetsky and Priya Fielding-Singh The diagnosis that saved me — and may have misled my mother to her death The misdiagnosis that saved my life may influenced my mother’s decision to delay radiation and chemotherapy. By Michelle Patroni Adobe STAT+ \| RFK Jr. ally’s ‘smoking gun’ study on vaccines and chronic illness is fundamentally flawed The Henry Ford Health system analysis on vaccines and chronic conditions collapses under routine epidemiologic scrutiny. By Jake Scott What states will be next to end school vaccine requirements? Now that Florida says it will eliminate school vaccination requirements, we wonder: What states will follow? By Phil Huang and Mysheika Roberts Reforming NIH: A blueprint for 21st-century medical research The NIH’s bureaucratic dysfunction fails the patients whose lives depend on research breakthroughs. By Stuart Buck Adobe 9 answers to burning questions about pharmaceutical ads Why does the U.S. allow prescription drug ads? Can they be banned? And other big questions on direct-to-consumer pharma ads, answered. By Aaron S. Kesselheim and Katelyn K. Jetelina ‘The Pitt’ accurately shows emergency care, but misses one critical detail: hospital bills As an emergency physician, I love "The Pitt." But it shouldn't ignore medical debt. By Indrani Guzmán Das If RFK Jr. doesn’t resign, physicians should join a limited strike If Kennedy does not resign for the good of public health, major medical societies should declare a limited strike. By Richard L. Kravitz | | --- | | More around STAT | | --- | | | | --- | | | | --- | | | | --- | | Check out more exclusive coverage with a STAT+ subscription Read premium in-depth biotech, pharma, policy, and life science coverage and analysis with all of our STAT+ articles. | | --- | --- | Enjoying First Opinion? Tell us about your experience Continue reading the latest health & science news with the STAT app Download on the App Store or get it on Google Play | | --- | | | | --- | |              STAT, 1 Exchange Place, Boston, MA ©2025, All Rights Reserved. I no longer wish to receive STAT emails | | --- | | Update Newsletter Preferences     •    Contact Us     •    Advertise with Us     •    View in Browser | | --- |