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An increased culture of self-sanitization and assiduous cleaning that was ushered in somewhat abruptly in the first few months of 2020 has set a new norm that is here to stay. And given the intensity and impact of the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last few years, understandably so. (Jose Luis Rodriguez Gil, 2/21)

Over the past two decades, the fight against malaria has been among the biggest success stories in global health. Campaigns to prevent and treat infections, particularly in Africa, have saved an estimated 11 million lives since 2000, the vast majority of them young children. Yet that progress has recently stalled — and in some countries, new cases are surging again. (2/22)

The CHOP trial is one of five across the globe, all aimed at restoring hearing. Being the first such trial in the U.S., the news media and medical community heaped praise on the experiment, but this is only one side of the story. (Sara Novic, 2/21)

One of us, Jeffrey M., is on weekend call for our office-based internal medicine practice. It is midafternoon, and a patient leaves a message with our answering service — she is concerned about her mother’s respiratory symptoms. So, Jeffrey interrupts his late lunch and rings her back. As she explains that her 96-year-old mother has a harsh cough and nasal congestion, he hears both the facts and the worry in her voice. After a moment or two of symptom description, she says that her deepest concern is preventing a visit to the hospital that she knows will be disruptive, frightening, and risky. (Jeffrey Millstein and Jeffrey Tokazewski, 2/22)

In an already appropriately and highly regulated industry, Tennessee’s certificate of need (CON) law requires health care providers to obtain approval from the state before adding or expanding health care facilities, services, or equipment. The law empowers state bureaucrats, rather than patients’ needs, to determine what health care services are available and prevents providers from offering care they otherwise would. (Tori Venable and Thomas Kimbrell, 2/21)

In late January, I left my home in Virginia, where I work as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, and joined a group of physicians and nurses traveling to Egypt with the humanitarian aid group MedGlobal to volunteer in Gaza. I have worked in other war zones. But what I witnessed during the next 10 days in Gaza was not war - it was annihilation. (Irfan Galaria, 2/21)