‘Is This Like a ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy?’: What We Heard This Week

Business — Quotable quotes heard by MedPage Today‘s reporters

by
MedPage Today Staff



April 21, 2024

“What is this, like a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy?” — Ivan Oransky, MD, medical news publications expert, on the New England Journal of Medicine cutting off certain publications from advanced access to its embargoed journal articles.

“You might as well throw a dart at a dartboard.” — James Simon, MD, of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., discussing the pitfalls of testing testosterone levels in women.

“Surgery should not be ruled out just because they are in their 90s.” — Preeti Subhedar, MD, a breast surgeon in New York, commenting on primary breast cancer surgery for nonagenarians.

“Why are we working under two separate rules, depending only on where we went to medical school?” — Tom Takubo, DO, a West Virginia state senator (R), on his state having two separate agencies to license osteopathic and allopathic physicians.

“Our schedule would be full of children with diarrhea and fever.” — Genon Wicina, MD, of Cleveland Clinic Martin Health in Florida, discussing rotavirus before there was a vaccine.

“We don’t need more reasons to know that we should use these drugs.” — Dan Azagury, MD, of Stanford Health in Palo Alto, California, on tirzepatide (Zepbound) and sleep apnea improvements.

“You did not leave the data out on the sidewalk for someone to drift by and pick it up like it was an abandoned wallet.” — Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-Texas), commenting on the Change Healthcare cyberattack.

“The issue is in part due to sheer lack of providers.” — Nora Siegler, a medical student at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, on pediatric eye care deserts.

“All she has to do is pass the retake and she’ll be okay.” — Bryan Carmody, MD, who runs a medical education blog, commenting on a Nepali medical graduate who joined a class action lawsuit against the National Board of Medical Examiners.