Course Description:  The recent federal government shutdown brought the cost of U.S. health care to the fore. But both parties squandered this opportunity for a national discussion about why we are spending in excess of $2 trillion per year on health care (more than our annual federal budget deficit) to achieve disastrously inferior and rapidly deteriorating health for Americans in comparison to the citizens of other wealthy nations. To what extent does the relentlessly growing commercial control of medical research play a role? Three examples recently in the news will be discussed: What does the scientific evidence (and lack thereof) really show about who should receive annual Covid boosters? Do people without heart disease benefit from super LDL-cholesterol lowering with a PCSK-9 inhibitor (Repatha)? And do weight-loss drugs like Mounjaro and Zepbound decrease the risk of people with prediabetes developing full-blown diabetes?

Location:  Pavilion

Dates/Times:  Wednesday, 2:00pm - 3:15pm , March 11 - March 18

Instructor:  Dr. John Abramson

After completing a Family Medicine residency, serving in the Public Health Service, and completing a 2-year Robert Wood Johnson Research Fellowship, John Abramson practiced family medicine for 20 years near Boston and chaired the department at Lahey Clinic for 7 years. In 2002 his focus shifted from clinical practice to researching the quality of the medical information doctors must rely on. Since 2005, he has served as an expert witness in pharmaceutical litigation and consulted for the FBI and Department of Justice, including on a case that led to the then largest criminal fine in U.S. history. Dr. Abramson was on the faculty of Harvard Medical School for 25 years, the last 15 of which he served as a Lecturer in the Dept. of Health Care Policy. He has published numerous academic articles and op-ed pieces, as well as two books that examine the commercial distortion of medical knowledge and patient care.