As Stanford physician Catherine Sonquist Forest, MD, went through her medical training, she hadn't considered the possibility that she would someday provide aid in dying to …
Category: Health policy
Health Policy Forum considers whether, and how, to share clinical trial data
Should data from clinical trials be available to all? Or just for certain investigations? Who decides? And how would that work? These, and a host …
Disasters disproportionately affect people with disabilities, Stanford researcher writes
Taking shelter from a storm is an ordeal for everyone, but for people with physical or mental disabilities, natural disasters add an additional layer of logistical …
Exploring the capitation reimbursement model for primary care
A leading question in primary care is whether practices can shift towards delivering better preventive and proactive health services. A key barrier to that shift …
Planting design seeds to fill diagnostic holes at low-income clinics
Health policy researcher Kathryn McDonald, PhD, recently asked a group of physicians who work with low-income patients in San Francisco what keeps them up at night. …
A look at health care reform — in China
The struggles with health insurance reform here in the United States piqued my curiosity about what we could learn from other countries. I reached out …
Countdown to Medicine X: Advancing social causes in the face of political adversity
Ai-jen Poo has reason to feel discouraged. Causes she has doggedly championed — basic labor protections for nannies, housekeepers and home health workers and, more …
Stem cell clinic involved in blinding cases censured by FDA
Helping share the news earlier this year about three women who had been blinded by a fraudulent stem cell procedure was sobering and somewhat surprising for …
Hunter-gatherers’ seasonal gut-microbe diversity loss echoes our permanent one, study shows
The Hadza, a small group of hunter-gatherers inhabiting Tanzania’s Rift Valley, number just over 1,000 people, fewer than 200 of whom still adhere to the traditional …
Misperceptions of smoking risk abound, Stanford research shows
Smoking is risky. But frankly, so is bicycling, driving in a car and eating sugary snacks. Our understanding of how risky, however, is hugely important, …
Keeping patients safe: A Stanford researcher weighs in on medical mistakes
In my work of writing and editing, mistakes often come in the form of misspelled names, incorrect links or confusing sentences. They make me (and …
Dispatch from Lebanon: Refugee children need education, as well as health care
I’m writing from Lebanon, which is now home to approximately 2 million Syrians, all of whom are not recognized as refugees. This includes hundreds of …
United States opioid crisis serves as a warning to the world
Writing recently in The Lancet, Stanford's Keith Humphreys, PhD, shines a spotlight on the expanding globalization of the opioid epidemic. He urges leaders in other nations …
Stanford students develop app to boost nutrition for low-income Californians
A team of Stanford Biodesign students is developing an app that aims to help low-income Californians improve their diet. The team, which coalesced during the "Biodesign …
Stanford doctor weighs in on marijuana marketing debate
Legal sales of recreational marijuana will start in January, following the passage of Proposition 64 last November. As businesses gear up to hit the market, …
Drawing a line for human gene editing: A Stanford researcher weighs in
As it has become easier to delete or alter defective genes in people with genetic diseases, researchers around the world are examining the ethical and …