I think it’s fair to say that everyone expected 2024 to be a little wild, given the U.S. presidential election. But what ended up transpiring this year — particularly when it comes to health, medicine, and the life sciences — became more dramatic than I, at least, had expected: a resurgence of the conversation about vaccines, the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the ensuing backlash to the insurance industry, upheaval around weight loss drugs, and so much more.
The top First Opinion essays of 2024 show these stories as well as others, including a few hits (human cloning, “Cali sober,” and autism) hanging on from 2023 and one from 2020. The No. 1 story surprised me a bit, but it’s something that, I suspect, a lot of people about to undergo colonoscopies wonder about.
What I most love about this list is that these stories represent the wide range of authors who contribute to First Opinion: physicians, advocates, journalists, researchers, and more, all of whom are writing from their own experience.
In 2025, I hope First Opinion will continue to publish provocative, conversation-starting essays that make readers think, “Wow, I never thought about it that way.” We will also be launching a new debate series. You can find our submission guidelines here, and be sure to sign up for the First Opinion newsletter.
Free
“The evidence is clear: A liquid-only diet before a colonoscopy is unnecessary,” by Benjamin Lebwohl
“I used to do health insurance company PR. Here’s what I think the backlash is missing,” by Wendell Potter
“Medicare Advantage is bad for patients and bad for investors,” by Wendell Potter and Philip Verhoef
“Human reproductive cloning: The curious incident of the dog in the night-time,” by Henry T. Greely
“I’m an anesthesiologist. Kenneth Smith’s execution by nitrogen gas was far from ‘textbook,’” by Joel B. Zivot
“There is no epidemic of autism. It’s an epidemic of need,” by John Elder Robison and Dena Gassner
“I’ve reported on the health of every president since Reagan. Here’s what I think about Trump and Biden,” by Lawrence K. Altman
“Medical students lose in the research arms race for residency slots,” by Anmol Shrestha
“In defense of being ‘Cali sober,’” by Peter Grinspoon
“Compounded semaglutide is an ill-defined public health crisis,” by Vishal Khetpal
STAT+
“It’s time for a new medical specialty in asynchronous care,” by Muthu Alagappan, Rishi Khakhkhar, and Ben Kornitzer
“NIH needs reform and restructuring, key Republican committee chairs say,” by Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Robert B. Aderholt
“Q&A: Mark Cuban explains his beef with traditional PBMs — and why he thinks disruption is inevitable,” by STAT staff
“The necessary roughness of 2023 has set up a very promising 2024 for biotech jobs,” by Christopher Palatucci
“A California court is setting a dangerous precedent over drug development (or lack thereof) liability,” by Dan Troy
“Beware hospital consolidation,” by Laura and John Arnold
“The Philips CPAP nightmare exposes shortcomings in medical device regulation,” by Kushal T. Kadakia, Joseph S. Ross, and Vinay K. Rathi
“A year in, the U.S. is still not taking advantage of lower-cost biosimilars for Humira,” by Juliana M. Reed
“I’m a geriatric physician. Here’s what I think is going on with Trump’s executive function,” by Joanne Lynn
