‘When You Mix Politics and Science, You Just Get Politics’: What We Heard This Week
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Quotable quotes heard by MedPage Today‘s reporters
by
MedPage Today Staff
May 4, 2025 • 2 min read
“When you mix politics and science, you just get politics.” — Former NIH director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, on lessons learned from his early experiences during the COVID pandemic.
“We’ve gone from being a fringe option to being recognized as a level of treatment on par with surgery and radiation.” — David Chen, MD, of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, discussing focused ultrasound ablation for operable prostate cancer.
“There’s actually a lot of variation in price, even within providers.” — Anupam Jena, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School in Boston, on navigating price discrepancies in healthcare.
“Three drugs for a quality-of-life condition? That’s crazy.” — Steven Kaplan, MD, of Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, discussing the medical management of lower urinary tract symptoms secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia.
“The fact that they could do that so quickly scared a lot of people.” — Rachel Linn Gish, communications director for the advocacy coalition Health Access California, on how the administration cut access to a critical Medicaid portal 8 days into President Trump’s second term.
“Most people want to be proactive in addressing their memory concerns, even if it might be Alzheimer’s.” — Elizabeth Edgerly, PhD, of the Alzheimer’s Association, on a survey that found nearly 80% of people would want to know whether they had Alzheimer’s disease before experiencing symptoms.
“It would be a real loss for infection prevention.” — Kristy Weinshel, MBA, of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, after several members of the CDC’s advisory committee received termination notices.
“This groundbreaking study has so much more to offer to advance women’s health and the health of all older adults.” — JoAnn Manson, MD, MPH, DrPH, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, after the Trump administration cut then reportedly restored funding to the Women’s Health Initiative.
