Opinion | ‘The Pain of Dying Is Hard to Know’: What We Heard This Week

“The pain of dying is hard to know, and you don’t want to under-dose people.” — Joel Zivot, MD, of Emory University, discussing the not-guilty verdict for William Husel, DO, who was charged with murdering 14 patients with excessive doses of fentanyl.

“It was a bad decision, sloppily done.” — Georges Benjamin, MD, of the American Public Health Association, talking about a judge’s ruling that struck down the federal COVID-19 mask mandate on airlines and public transit.

“We do not yet know what is behind this phenomenon.” — Tomas Kalincik, MD, PhD, of the University of Melbourne in Australia, regarding research showing that more severe multiple sclerosis occurred at higher geographic latitudes in temperate zones.

“Boiron knows its products are worthless junk, so they do everything they can to obscure the truth in order to offload their snake oil upon the unwitting, the ill-informed, and the vulnerable.” — Nick Little, JD, of the Center for Inquiry, on the lawsuit against a Pennsylvania-based manufacturer that sells homeopathic treatments.

“They go into a hospital, and it’s like a war zone.” — Brian Hudson, of Avant Healthcare Professionals, on how pandemic disruptions affected nurses’ training, leaving many unprepared.

“We’re getting down to a quarter of physicians.” — Kelly Kenney, JD, CEO of the Physicians Advocacy Institute, on how doctors are fleeing private practice to join larger health systems and hospitals.