History & ethics of research on humans. Access to investigational meds. Public health is political. Retweet not endorsement. NYU Grossman SOM Medical Ethics
Sep 17, 2021 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
The kid’s homework assignment was to draw what a scientist looks like. Why have 1 idea when you can have 6? Thus, what a scientist looks like, a thread. First up: chemist (1/6)
What a biologist looks like (2/6)
Remember in Ebola all the discussion about needing to engage anthropologists to understand why African villagers would shun medical advice? Now we’ve got a much larger epidemic in our own country, but I hear no call to study the culture & mindset of those disregarding health recs
I’m going to mute this thread since it has rendered my phone unusable. Thanks for the engagement! Final thoughts: 1) All societies have sociocultural drivers, not just “others.” 2) Policy that ignores these are hamstrung at best & doomed to fail at worst. 1
#PublicHealth (& life) requires nuanced thought. If the recommendation is, “stay home,” that doesn’t mean stay inside your house if it catches on fire. As situations change, recommendations may change 1
In this case, it is the messaging that has changed, not the actual recommendation. When experts said stay home, they always acknowledged that not everyone could do so; the recommendation was *really* to stay home as much as possible, avoiding unnecessary contact with others 2
Mar 15, 2020 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
Thread: As a medical ethicist, let me remind everyone that there is never a wrong time to make sure your family and/or friends know your wishes should you become unable to make medical decisions. And, it is even more important than normal now, with a pandemic 1/
It is often uncomfortable to grapple with questions of what sorts of medical treatments a person may or may not want in different situations, because we don’t like thinking about our own mortality and because it is difficult to predict what sorts of issues could arise 2/
Jan 14, 2020 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Exciting AM talk by @HollyLynchez
2 issues: paying people to be in research & people paying to be in research
Sep 11, 2019 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
My 2nd year of college, I arrived to start the year convinced I’d made a huge mistake. My best friends from first year were all living in a distant housing complex, while I had applied for a residential college where I knew nobody & would be rooming with a stranger 1
My parents drove me to college & helped me lug my possessions up multiple steep flights of steps. While we did so, my dread was increasing. I was filled with fear that I was going to spend a year miserable, living alongside 31 indifferent fellow students 2
Mar 30, 2019 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
Everything is currently a disaster, but I have a suggestion for a small way to make a difference. Thread: Several yrs ago, I was late dropping my kid at school, so had to take her to the main office for check-in (1)
There, a small child was crying as she had a whispered conversation with the office manager. She left, & the office manager turned to me. Just being friendly, I said, “Rough morning, eh?” (2)
Jan 30, 2019 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
I am angry. This company trying to develop a #cancer treatment is behaving so outrageously that I literally can't believe it. Have you seen/heard about this? abc11.com/health/israeli… (1)
This company has not begun #ClinicalTrials. As my institution's #cancer center head very accurately said, "History is littered with claims made on the basis of test tube-based or animal studies that had absolutely no transferability into human disease" (2)