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As a physician in the field of reproductive medicine, I treat patients with infertility—a condition that impacts approximately one in five couples in the U.S. These are couples who dream of having a child of their own, but have been unable to achieve a pregnancy or to carry a pregnancy to term for various reasons. While we have a variety of treatments we offer in our fertility practice, approximately 70 percent of couples receive in vitro fertilization (IVF), and for them, IVF is the only way they can achieve a successful pregnancy. (Katherine McKnight, 7/15)

When even well-informed parents can’t distinguish between excellent and inappropriate care, our system is broken. As the United States faces a post-pandemic mental health emergency, we need immediate reform. As with medications, behavioral health treatments for teenagers must be required to be proved safe and effective before they can be sold. (Maia Szalavitz, 7/15)

Long Covid — the name adopted for cases of prolonged symptoms after an acute bout of Covid-19 — is an umbrella diagnosis covering a broad range of clinical presentations and abnormal biological processes. Researchers haven’t yet identified a single or defining cause for some of the most debilitating symptoms associated with long Covid, which parallel those routinely seen in other post-acute infection syndromes. These include overwhelming fatigue, post-exertional malaise, cognitive deficits (often referred to as brain fog), and extreme dizziness. (David Tuller, Mady Hornig and David Putrino, 7/15)

Medicare’s new guidelines cover how it will conduct the drug price negotiations authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act. Unfortunately, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is interpreting the law in a way that will discourage companies from finding new uses — sometimes lifesaving new uses — for existing drugs. (Peter Rheinstein, 7/15)