Viewpoints: Sanders Health Scare Is Another Reminder That The Age Issue Is Real; Lessons On The Problems With Overdiagnosis Of Cancer

The Wall Street Journal: The Sanders Health Scare
When the question of candidate age has bubbled up in the 2020 Democratic presidential race, it’s usually taken the form of murmurs about 76-year-old Joe Biden’s verbal stumbles and memory lapses. Unlike Mr. Biden, 78-year-old Bernie Sanders has seemed as focused and relentless as ever. But Wednesday’s news that Mr. Sanders is suspending campaign events after getting cardiac stents for an arterial blockage raises the age issue anew. (10/2)

Los Angeles Times: Bernie Still Represents A New Generation Of Voters, Age And Health Aside 
Rest easy, Bernie Sanders supporters (and, you know, any other human with a conscience): Everyone’s favorite bespectacled democratic socialist appears to be doing just fine after a heart-related health scare Tuesday night while campaigning in Las Vegas. The senator from Vermont had two stents inserted — a routine procedure not at all exclusive to 78-year-old men who live life traveling from stump to stump across the country — and his team canceled future events until further notice. But all early signs point to a speedy recovery and a full return to the race.That’s a good news for everyone. (Brian A. Boyle, 10/2)

Stat: Cancer Overdiagnosis Linked To 'Irrational Exuberance' For Screening
Here’s some good news for a change about cancer: Cancer mortality — the rate of death from cancer — has fallen substantially over the last four decades.There is also, however, some not-so-good news: Cancer incidence — the rate of cancer diagnoses — has been rising. This doesn’t reflect increasing dangers in our environment, but a danger in our medical system. In this week’s New England Journal of Medicine, two colleagues and I examined the last four decades of cancer statistics in the United States. The decline in cancer mortality is a good sign. Everyone, including the National Cancer Institute, agrees that a declining cancer death rate is the best measure of progress against cancer. (H. Gilbert Welch, 10/2)

Des Moines Register: Birth Control Should Not Require A Doctor's Visit Or Prescription
Kudos to obstetricians and gynecologists. Doctors and the clinics they work for make money from patient visits. Yet an organization representing obstetricians and gynecologists is recommending women should not have to visit a doctor or obtain a prescription to get common forms of birth control. That shows a dedication to smart health care over finances. (10/2)

The Wall Street Journal: The Red Meat Rethink
Where’s the Pepto Bismol? The medical-academic complex is experiencing a bad case of indigestion over new research this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine that rescinds the longtime recommendation to eat less red meat. Climate politics is now infecting even nutritional science. (10/2)

The Hill: Don't Overlook Penicillin To Combat Antimicrobial Resistance
The growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, combined with the dwindling pipeline of novel antibiotic research, requires policies that prevent inappropriate use of antibiotics, and penicillin allergy testing should be considered an essential component of existing efforts to address this ominous threat to public health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services must do more to educate the public and health care providers regarding the importance of penicillin allergy testing and protect patient access to the medical advancements made possible by Alexander Fleming’s revolutionary discovery almost a century ago. (David M. Lang, 10/2)

Stat: Data Standards May Be Wonky, But They Will Transform Health Care
A story with enormous implications for the health of all Americans is likely flying below their radar and that of their physicians. In a nutshell, it’s this: A proposed rule that sets data standards will make electronic health information more accessible to patients and doctors through smartphone-style apps and will transform health care. Most Americans are familiar with this scenario: During the “conversation” parts of a medical appointment, the doctor faces a computer screen and types information into an electronic medical record system. Such systems store data on hundreds of millions of Americans. (Kenneth D. Mandl and Isaac S. Kohane, 10/3)

The Washington Post: The Unique Way A Virginia Group Is Helping People With Eating Disorders
Of the 13 people who will sit together on this night and share a meal, five have an eating disorder. For them, this is not just dinner. It’s also therapy. For the rest of us, it is a chance to see the hold that eating disorders can have on otherwise successful, smart people and to gain a better understanding of a psychological disorder that remains largely misunderstood, even as more people seek help for it. (Theresa Vargas, 10/2)