medicine

Selling Hope

by Wendy A. Woloson

After a cancer diagnosis, the author still couldn't escape a world of consumerism that relentlessly commodifies even the worst experiences.

How Black People Learned Not to Trust Public Health

Times Columnist Charles M. Blow looks to scholars including historian Jim Downs to examine mistrust among Black Americans of a potential COVID vaccine; medical authorities have abused the trust and violated the consent of Black patients too often in the past for those fears to be dismissed out of hand. 

The New England Journal of Medicine Avoided Politics for 208 Years. Now it’s Urging Voters to Oust Trump

The administration's incompetent response to the COVID-19 pandemic spurred the otherwise non-political medical journal to endorse a vote against Donald Trump.

The Troubling History of a Black Man's Heart

by Chip Jones

What Virginia doctors saw as a triumphant achievement was a devastating indictment of medical racism and institutional disregard for the dignity of a Black man and his family.

Miracle ‘Coronavirus Cures’ Haven’t Changed in 700 Years

by Jennifer Wright

The many bizarre "cures" for the coronavirus circulating online are nothing new. Rather, they have a lineage that stretches back to the bubonic plague.

This Is Not the Time to Let the Market Decide

by Jamie Martin

When it comes to crucial medical supplies, cooperation, not competition, will save lives. History shows that it works.

Doctors Have Been Whistleblowers Throughout History. They’ve Also Been Silenced

Dr Li Wenliang tried to sound the alarm about the coronavirus outbreak. For centuries, doctors have been doing the same – leading to backlash and even death.

Our Medical Professionals Are Lions. Too Many Political Leaders Are Donkeys.

by Max Boot

Today, the lions are the medical professionals risking their lives to fight the worst pandemic in a century. They are being betrayed by many of their political leaders.

The Tortuous History of Trying to Measure Pain

Early researchers used horse hairs and burning machines to try to quantify people’s physical suffering.

Why Don't We Consider Cannabis Part of the American Herbal Renaissance

by Nick Johnson

From pill bottles to produce sections, modern medicine and agriculture have effectively distanced our relationship to the plants that matter most to us. 

Measuring Biological Toll On Brain Function Of Holocaust Survivors

Survivors showed a significantly decreased volume of grey matter in the brain compared with controls of a similar age who had not been directly exposed via personal or family history to the Holocaust.

Anti-vaxxers are comparing themselves to Holocaust victims — who relied on vaccines to survive

by Helene Sinnreich

The comparison is offensive. It’s also historically wrong.

Victorian-Era Orgasms and the Crisis of Peer Review

A favorite anecdote about the origins of the vibrator is probably a myth.

Why Medicine Needs the Humanities (And No, It’s Not Just About Empathy)

by Sari Altschuler

It’s to train health professionals in narrative, attention, observation, historical perspective, ethics, judgment, performance, and creativity.

Medieval medical books could hold the recipe for new antibiotics

A team of medievalists and scientists look back to history – including a 1,000-year-old eyesalve recipe – for clues to new antibiotics.

Historians Question Medieval C-Section 'Breakthrough' Trumpeted by the New York Times

by Kristina Killgrove

The Times claimed a new study reflects the consensus view of medical historians. This is far from the case.

Story of the Week: The man who developed a vaccination for smallpox

by Andrew George

Was his smallpox experiment really unethical?

Worried About Big Insurance Company Mergers? You Should Be.

by Christy Ford Chapin

What history tells us is that the system is broken.

Medicine’s Hidden Roots in an Ancient Manuscript

A language scholar sets out to find the missing pages of an ancient, influential medical text by Galen of Pergamon.

The Puritans Were America's First Anti-Vaxxers

by Peter Manseau

The anti-vaccine movement today is not solely a religious in character, but much of its rhetoric is identical to theological arguments made against inoculation more than three hundred years ago.