Opinion | ‘Not a Good Choice’: What We Heard This Week

“Not a good choice.” — Wendell Primus, PhD, visiting fellow at the Brookings Schaeffer Initiative on Health Policy in Washington, D.C., on president-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

“This is absurd, a real misuse of numbers and safety data.” — Lon Schneider, MD, of the Keck School of Medicine of USC in Los Angeles, discussing a preprint that did not give a reliable picture about deaths associated with anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s drugs.

“We haven’t seen his records in the last 4 years, so we don’t really know if anything has changed.” — S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, of the University of Illinois Chicago, on the health of president-elect Donald Trump.

“Are they looking out for physicians, or are they looking out for patients?” — Robert Oshel, PhD, consultant to Public Citizen, on state medical boards’ disciplinary measures for potentially dangerous doctors.

“Right now, that cost model has become too lopsided.” — Matthew Bates, MPH, managing director at Kaufman Hall, discussing the practice of hospitals “subsidizing” their physician workforce.

“You can imagine from the early pandemic that there was a lot of angel/hero praise … that might have been temporarily protective.” — Judy Davidson, DNP, RN, of the University of California San Diego, discussing why female nurses’ suicide risk didn’t worsen through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It may erode trust between the healthcare establishment and many of the patients in the state of Texas.” — Brian Williams, MD, a trauma surgeon in Dallas, on the new rule that requires Texas hospitals to ask patients about immigration status.

“You may teach certain phrases and yet you need to modify them so they fit your personality.” — Robert Arnold, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh, on the best words and phrases to use during difficult patient conversations.