by Dr. Sobia Hamid

Artificial Intelligence is increasingly being applied in healthcare and medicine, with the greatest impact being achieved thus far in medical imaging. These are technologies that are capable of performing a task that usually requires human perception and judgement, which can make them controversial in a healthcare setting. In this article we will explore some of the opportunities and risks in using AI in healthcare, as well as policy recommendations for improving their use and acceptance.

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by Steven Witte

Technology for sequencing DNA has advanced very rapidly over the last 15 years, and is poised to become a routine part of clinical evaluation of individuals. The health regulatory agencies in most countries have maintained a conservative position in regards to adopting genetic testing. This is due to several fears, which will be discussed. Recently, social scientists have conducted studies and surveys to find out what the public’s opinion of genetic testing is, including the public’s ability to understand results, as well as their desire to find out if they are at risk for serious diseases later in life. However, this area of research is very recent and has not yet been featured by the media.

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by Alexandra Gürel

In his upcoming book, Strange Pill: Evidence, Values, and Medical Nihilism, philosopher of Jacob Stegenga charts a history of the term “magic bullet”: a drug that is both specific and effective, curing the patient without side effects. Stegenga argues that the early 20th century was a “golden age” for magic bullets, with the discovery of drugs like penicillin and insulin, and that late 20th/early 21st century medicine has not been able to deliver drugs that are nearly as effective. I propose, by interviewing Stegenga, to outline why recently discovered drugs tend to have tiny effect sizes and bad side effects (and therefore a poor cost/benefit ratio.) I will then outline proposals for how the modern medical research agenda can be restructured so that its products more closely resemble “magic bullets,” an outcome that would save the NHS money and improve the patient experience.

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by Kai Ruggeri

What are the policy implications of patients who travel abroad to receive required medical care? Is there the possibility for a coordinated international response? These questions and many more are discussed by Kai, who highlights the clear lack of evidence on what is referred to as Global Health Access Policy (GHAP) to address the multitude of political, medical, and ethical issues surrounding this phenomenon. Kai suggests that dealing with the situation requires an understanding of its consequences for human welfare and outlines how his research group at Cambridge is engaging with the debate through evidence.

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by Arnoud Groen

As Healthcare costs continue to rise unsustainably in relation to the wider economy, how can we tackle this problem without simply spending more public funds? Arnoud argues that many of the solutions needed to improve healthcare are inexpensive, and rely more on collaboration between academia, industry and entrepreneurs, as opposed to simply more government spending. This piece outlines some opportunities to deal with this problem, including stratified medicine, the development of new uses for existing interventions and re-thinking the logistics of patient care.

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