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On graduation, most medical students swear some version of the ancient Hippocratic oath — a promise to act morally in their role as physicians. Human nature being what it is, some will break their promise. But we still expect those who provide health care to behave more ethically than the average member of society. When it comes to how political figures deal with health care, however, we’ve come to expect the opposite, at least on one side of the aisle. It often seems as if Republican politicians have secretly sworn a Hypocrite’s oath — a promise to mislead voters to the best of their ability, to claim to support the very protections for the sick they’re actively working to undermine. (Paul Krugman, 9/27)

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump proclaimed what has become almost a clarion call to his supporters and detractors alike, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters." Although he hasn’t followed through on that experiment, the President has taken many positions that would seemingly prompt him to lose some of his support. Polls show his approval rating ranging consistently between 35 and 45 percent. And among the GOP his support is especially strong. The most recent polls show that 84 percent of Republicans approve of his job — almost the same level of support he had among Republicans during the first weeks of his presidency. ...But one key issue — health care — threatens to erode his support. (Arthur Garson and Ryan Holeywell, 9/27)

The polls over the last few weeks have been quite bad for Republicans. FiveThirtyEight now gives the Democrats roughly an 80 percent chance to take the House and a 30 percent chance to take the Senate. ... There are many reasons that the polls are looking even better for Democrats, starting with President Trump. But it’s important to remember that most voters are not following the day-to-day twists involving the Kavanaugh nomination, Rod Rosenstein or any number of other big news stories. And most congressional candidates are not running campaigns about those stories. (David Leonhardt, 9/27)

As policymakers grapple with next steps in responding to the opioid drug crisis, it’s common to hear concerns that “harm-reduction strategies,” such as needle exchange and safe-injection sites, only encourage continued drug use. These approaches, some argue, should be combated with good, old-fashioned law-and-order. The reality is that addiction to heroin means the drug user is well past the point of being “encouraged” in their drug use. Addiction, by definition, means users continue the behavior despite its harms. So safe-injection sites and needle exchange, far from encouraging additional use, only transition unsafe to safer use, providing users more time to make the choice for sober living. (Nicole Schramm-Sapyta, 9/27)

Tiger Woods suffered from severe lower back pain and sciatica, which famously hampered and derailed his golf game and led to four surgeries. Few thought he would ever make it back to the top rung of professional golfers and yet, on Sunday in Atlanta, he won his 80th PGA tour tournament — his first in five years. This inspiring accomplishment clearly took heart and courage and a restoration of self-image. But the foremost question everyone’s mind this week is how was Tiger possibly able to accomplish this? Lower back pain is very common, affecting over 90 percent of people at some point in their lives and few believed that Tiger would ever play golf again, including Tiger himself. He also had the associated problem of the addiction to painkillers and alcohol to overcome. (Marc Siegel, 9/27)

When my parents came to the United States 40 years ago, they were seeking higher education. Then, in 1979, the Iranian Revolution cut them off both financially and emotionally from their home country. Through perseverance and public support, they built their American life and became citizens. I am a beneficiary of those efforts: a U.S.-born child of immigrants and a university professor. Today, people who have immigrated here, like my parents, are facing another targeted, xenophobic attack. (Goleen Samari, 9/27)

By now, black lung disease was supposed to have mostly gone away. The coal industry was supposed to have improved air quality in the mines enough to prevent miners from inhaling the coal dust that inflames, stiffens and blackens their lungs. In fact, the incidence of this deadly and incurable disease is rising. Bear this in mind the next time President Donald Trump says coal is “clean” or “beautiful,” and moves to encourage use of the world’s dirtiest fuel. (9/25)

As part of the National Science Foundation’s effort to prevent gender violence in science, its director, France A. Córdova, recently announced new terms and conditions for reporting gender violence to the organization. It is the kind of clear and bold approach that the National Institutes of Health should be taking. Instead, the NIH is sticking with its weak “guidance” on anti-sexual harassment, shirking its responsibility and placing the burden for action on survivors, though it did launch a new website on the topic. (Kelsey Priest and Caroline King, 9/28)

For all its prominence in public health, there’s little real understanding of overeating, being overweight, and how these things connect to each other and to illness. Last week, a widely circulated piece in the Huffington Post stated the obvious — “Smoking is a behavior, being fat is not” — which apparently needed to be pointed out because these factors so often appear together as the primary reasons to blame people for the high cost of health care. (Faye Flam, 9/27)

Since America is currently incapable of agreeing to sensible gun control, let’s get behind the one thing everyone might be able to agree upon: a zero-tolerance approach to any crime involving a gun, including mandatory prison any time a firearm is used threateningly. For years, our city has logged near or more than 200 homicides annually. With just over 300,000 residents, St. Louis ranks near the top nationally for homicide rates. The overwhelming majority are shootings. ...This newspaper has long argued for tighter gun restrictions as part of the answer. The current political environment makes that a hard sell. But creating tougher penalties on all gun-related crimes should be an easier one. (9/27)

Last fall, our state came together to support health care for people like me who were struggling to afford it. ...Maine made history with the first ballot question to expand Medicaid. We made a clear statement that was heard across the country: We want more health care, not less. We want politicians to stop trying to dismantle access to quality, affordable health care. But one man refused to hear the voices of Maine voters, and has been purposefully undermining us ever since by refusing to roll out the health care law voters passed. (Kathy Stewart, 9/27)

On Sept. 5, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery, along with 19 other state AGs, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services .If successful, this suit will render the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, which would have dramatic effects on the health of millions of Tennesseans, whether they support the ACA or not. (Carol Paris, 9/27)

Government officials can face difficult decisions. Here’s one that isn’t: choosing to give unlimited paid sick leave to public workers made ill by their service after the Sept. 11 attacks. Yet thousands of state and local government employees in New York who were exposed to the toxic dust from the attacks are not getting that benefit, even after the state passed a law last year meant to guarantee it to many of them. (9/27)