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Fresh data from the American Cancer Society show colon cancer is now the leading cause of cancer deaths in men under the age of 50. Among women under age 50, colon cancer is second only to breast cancer. Not so long ago, colon cancer ranked fourth in that age group. (Lisa Jarvis, 1/30)

In recent years, a handful of countries have authorized medically assisted dying in the form of lethal injections or other interventions administered actively by physicians. In the United States, assisted dying still takes only the comparatively passive form of “physician-assisted suicide,” in which doctors prescribe a lethal dose of medications for self-administration. The practice is lawful in 10 states and in D.C. We have supported limited assisted dying programs of this kind. (1/27)

At Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, every day we see patients whose health conditions are exacerbated by poverty, even in families in which both parents are employed. Hungry kids don’t perform as well in school. Children born into poverty also tend to have lower birth weights, behavioral issues, increased risk of chronic illnesses, and higher rates of infant mortality. (Madeline Bell, 1/30)

As a chronic pain sufferer, I sometimes surprise people by telling them that my pain doesn’t have a physical cause. It’s a mind-body thing, I say, related to stress and emotions. To many, this sounds like admitting to being a little bit crazy. And when I up the ante by suggesting they’ve probably had this kind of pain too, some become outright angry, interpreting my words to mean their pain is “all in their head.” (Nathaniel Frank, 1/29)

For all of the rending of our social fabric over the past eight years in the United States, nothing has been more bitterly polarizing than our public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (John Wood Jr., 1/30)

In the U.S., access to health care has long depended on insurance and a person’s ability to pay, with patients of color making up a disproportionate number of the under- or uninsured, as I have seen firsthand. This trend dates back to the mid-20th century, a period when medical technology improved substantially, and visits to hospitals increased. (Uche Blackstock, 1/30)

On Thursday evening, the state of Alabama executed Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen gas. Now, there are dueling narratives about what happened. Alabama claims it went perfectly, proving that nitrogen is a humane, effective alternative to lethal injection (which it previously tried, unsuccessfully, to use on Smith). It says that based on this experience, other states should follow its example. But witness accounts suggest that Smith’s death was cruel and tortuous. (Joel B. Zivot, 1/29)