STAT readers on long Covid, biomedical innovation, and mental health

First Opinion is STAT’s platform for fascinating, illuminating, and provocative articles in regards to the life sciences writ giant, written by biotech insiders, well being care employees, researchers, and others.

To encourage sturdy, good-faith dialogue about points raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes chosen Letters to the Editor obtained in response to them. You may submit a Letter to the Editor right here, or discover the submission kind on the finish of any First Opinion essay.

The story

“‘Do no hurt’ is hurting 400 million lengthy Covid sufferers worldwide,” by Julia Moore Vogel and Charlie McCone

The response

Thanks for publishing this, and please contemplate publishing extra articles like this that decision out the medical group for turning their shoulder to those sufferers. There may be sufficient literature on the market to help remedy to enhance high quality of life even when we don’t have a “treatment.” Neglecting to take the time to deal with what signs we do perceive to be able to ease somebody’s complaints seems like one is certainly breaking the Hippocratic Oath, and different well being care professionals who want their medical counterparts to carry themselves to this commonplace are getting fed up with not having that help.

—  Francesca DeSimone-Farrow

The story

“The progressive marketing campaign towards biomedical innovation,” by Vrushab Gowda and Brian J. Miller

The response

I notice that is an opinion piece, however it might be a very good deal extra persuasive if it didn’t learn as a relentlessly detrimental rant. I might have anticipated the medical researchers who lent their names to it to have constructed a considerate argument that didn’t depend on so many anti-regulatory cliches, and acknowledged the extreme affordability issues the rules are meant to deal with. I don’t know if these rules in the end harm or assist (or each), and after studying this opinion piece I’m no wiser on that time.— Jeannie Graham

The story

“New psychological well being parity legal guidelines are already below menace,” by David Lloyd

The response

Insurers are unsuitable about their parity limitations (paying much less for psychiatric remedy than for different remedy), however for the unsuitable causes. They’re afraid that psychiatric remedy is an overpriced black gap, however they appear unaware that all the things within the American medical business is an overpriced black gap. They thought psychiatric remedy was worse a number of or extra a long time in the past, when it concerned what they feared was infinite and aimless psychotherapy (they had been typically not unsuitable), however all the things within the American medical business is extreme and typically invented diagnosing and treating, and for inflated prices. It ought to by no means be forgotten that medical intervention within the U.S. prices way over it does in another nation, our outcomes are worse than many, and the most typical trigger of non-public chapter is an incapacity to pay medical payments. Hippocrates might be rolling in his grave.

—  Alfred Jonas