Torie Bosch

Pennsylvania

First Opinion editor, First Opinion Podcast host @STATNews Senior ed @TheOpenNotebook Formerly @FutureTenseNow, @StateMindSlate, @Slate, @ASU, @NewAmerica

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Articles

The biggest questions facing regenerative medicine

1 week ago | statnews.com | Torie Bosch

Paul Knoepfler of the UC Davis School of Medicine has a bit of a hobby: keeping track of stem cell clinics operating in the U.S. He estimates that there are 1,000-2,000 in the U.S. alone, offering unproven treatments using adult stem cells. “That’s a reality that I think a lot of us in the stem cell field, the regenerative medicine field, didn’t really fully grasp until maybe about 10 years ago. And the FDA was kind of slow to pick up on this as well.
How photography helped heal a couple in the aftermath of cancer

2 weeks ago | statnews.com | Torie Bosch

Anna and Jordan Rathkopf met in Prague at an ’80s nightclub. While music brought them together, another creative outlet soon became central to their relationship: Anna began teaching Jordan about photography, which later became his career. Years later, they were living in Brooklyn with their young son when Anna was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Why health insurance should be more like homeowners’ insurance

3 weeks ago | statnews.com | Torie Bosch

Pretty much everyone in the U.S. agrees that the American health care system is not working for patients. The disagreement comes over what to do about it. For many, the solution is to expand insurance access and implement price controls. But on this episode of the “First Opinion Podcast,” Charles M. Silver, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, argued that we need a much bigger change. “The system is really set up to move money.
What it’s like to have measles, mumps, whooping cough, and other vaccine-preventable illnesses

4 weeks ago | statnews.com | Torie Bosch

When I was recently at the vet’s office, I started eavesdropping a little on the conversation between two older women. When they started talking about the measles outbreak in Texas, I couldn’t help it. I joined in. One of the women, who wore thick glasses, shared that she had lost much of her sight to a bout with measles as a child. She just couldn’t understand why so many parents today are reluctant to vaccinate.
The doctor is in. So is their AI

1 month ago | statnews.com | Torie Bosch

No one goes to medical school because they want to type quickly while listening to patients talk. But that’s what practicing medicine means for many today: fingers flying over the keyboard to log data. Later, they will use that information to create a note for the patient’s file. Technology now offers a solution to this problem in the form of the AI ambient scribe, which records the encounter between physician and patient and then generates the summarizing note for the patient’s file.
Medical schools are moving away from using cadavers

1 month ago | statnews.com | Torie Bosch

In the 19th century, medical schools were desperate for corpses from which their students could learn. Grave robbers would sell bodies; sometimes, janitors, students, or even instructors would themselves dig up corpses. Today’s medical students don’t have to go into cemeteries themselves, but schools still struggle to find cadavers that are both ethically sourced and affordable. So many are deciding to forgo the use of cadavers to teach students about human anatomy.
STAT readers on the animal wellness industry, drug price floors, and more

1 month ago | statnews.com | Torie Bosch

First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to the Editor received in response to them. You can submit a Letter to the Editor here, or find the submission form at the end of any First Opinion essay.
Improv skills can help people with dementia and their caretakers

1 month ago | statnews.com | Torie Bosch

When a person with dementia gets something fundamental wrong — the year it is, your relationship to them — it can be difficult to know what to do. Do you correct them and risk upsetting them? Is it a lie or unethical to go along with it? Ted Johnson, who chairs the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the Emory School of Medicine, says that playing along is not only OK; it’s often the best thing for both the patient and the caretaker.
What can we do about H5N1 bird flu in cats?

1 month ago | statnews.com | Torie Bosch

In 2024, as zoos were hit hard by H5N1 bird flu, big cats were particularly affected: tigers, lions, a cheetah, and a panther all died after being infected with the same virus that has caused egg prices to skyrocket. House cats are vulnerable to H5N1, too, as Meghan F. Davis, a veterinarian and epidemiologist with Johns Hopkins University, and co-authors recently wrote in a First Opinion essay.
The increasing threats to local public health efforts

2 months ago | statnews.com | Torie Bosch

While the upheaval at the Department of Health and Human Services is getting more headlines, local public health organizations are also facing a moment of reckoning. Major cuts are leaving public health departments with fewer resources and employees. And that will have immediate ramifications, said Raynard Washington, director of Mecklenburg County Public Health in North Carolina, and Michelle Taylor, health officer and director of the Shelby County Health Department in Tennessee.