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Genetic information can be life-saving in a medical emergency, yet it’s still rarely collected from adults — even when doctors are struggling to make a diagnosis. New research shows Americans need both greater access to genetic testing and stronger legal protections against genetic discrimination. (F.D. Flam, 8/22)

By now, you’ve probably heard about the weight-loss benefits of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide), but scientists are still discovering that they have all kinds of other benefits too: They help prevent strokes and heart attacks, fight kidney disease and Parkinson’s, curb addiction, and lower risks for several particularly nasty cancers. (Gary Winslett, 8/21)

How did a pandemic that was largely ended by vaccines lead to this policy regime? How did the president who presided over Operation Warp Speed — Donald Trump’s great success — become the president who appointed R.F.K. Jr. to lead our most important health institution? How is it possible that, five years after the Covid pandemic, experts now say that we are less prepared for the next pandemic than we were for the last one? (Ezra Klein, 8/22)

During a sweaty night in Houston 33 years ago, on Aug. 19, 1992, I spoke to the Republican National Convention and, via television, to millions of others. My speech, “A Whisper of AIDS,” took 13 minutes of the four or five years I was told I had left. I had AIDS. Everyone said it would kill me. However, I did not die. Thanks to incredible medical research, AIDS was converted from certain death to possible life for those with access to new drugs. ... If we’re willing to learn, our experience with AIDS offers some lessons. For example: Science, if persistently supported, can generate miracles. Science has kept me alive all these years. Science has virtually eradicated vertical (mother-to-child) HIV transmission for a few pennies per person. The miracles are within reach. But if scientific funding is stopped, so are the miracles. (Mary Fisher, 8/19)

From day one, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made “radical transparency” a top priority, while promising to dramatically reform public health with the help of artificial intelligence. Today, the only thing seemingly transparent is that he’s failing to live up to his promise. (Raymond March, 8/22)

A woman came into triage with her 6-week-old baby, terrified. She had little support at home and was worried about caring for her new baby alone. Exhausted, she feared she might harm herself, and so she did what she had been told to do: She called her doctor. (Anneli M. Merivaara, 8/22)