How an ‘Impossible’ Idea Led to a Pancreatic Cancer Breakthrough
Pancreatic cancer has long been one of the most devastating diagnoses in medicine, with too few treatment options and too little time. This piece follows the long, winding path toward a new kind of drug that targets KRAS, a cancer-driving protein scientists once thought was impossible to reach. After decades of research, wrong assumptions, and much persistence, something quite promising has emerged. The drug is not a cure, and the data are still early, but for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, even the possibility of meaningful time is big news. A fascinating and hopeful read. (from nytimes.com)
A ‘Barbaric’ Problem in American Hospitals Is Only Getting Bigger
A wrenching piece about emergency department boarding, told through the kind of experience we all fear. Elisabeth Rosenthal writes about her husband’s repeated stretches in hospital limbo while dying of metastatic cancer. He was admitted, technically, but left for hours and days in the emergency department waiting for a real bed in a quiet room, a nurse call button, semblance of privacy and dignity. ED boarding has become routine in hospitals across the country, shaped by staffing and bed shortages, reimbursement pressures, and a system that keeps asking emergency departments to absorb what the rest of the hospital cannot. (from theatlantic.com)
What addiction medicine can teach us about depending on AI
Jonathan Avery, an addiction psychiatrist, looks at AI dependence through the interesting lens of relief. The blank page, hard decision, awkward conversation, or the mental friction we all want to skip. AI can help, but Avery asks what happens when we begin using it less as a tool and more as a way to avoid the discomfort that builds judgment, creativity, and confidence. A sharp, useful read for anyone trying to figure out how to exist with this technology without letting it do too much of the living for us. (from statnews.com)
Related:
- State of the Union: The Stealth Innovations of Modern Surgical Care
- Dr AI: Can ChatGPT Step Up To the Medical Challenge?
- Using AI for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer? Five Questions with Dr. John Chabot