You know, what with it being the end of the year and all that

As always happens, the calendar turns to December, and I find myself musing about how fast the days and months seem to go by. “It was just the beginning of the year,” I proclaim to anyone who will listen. But no one does. This is why I try and produce a year-in-review column with the usual caveats: sometimes the biggest stories or headlines make the list. Sometimes the most interesting ones do. Sometimes it’s both. Sometimes it’s neither. Here we go!

1. It was the year of Wegovy. And Ozempic. And Mounjaro. GLP1-RAs are everywhere. And they’re not just helping us lose weight (although they do an incredible job of that); they also seem to have some renal and cardioprotective benefit.

2. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 finally announced its list of the top ten negotiation-eligible drugs that will be eligible for Medicare negotiation. Yes, the negotiations have not actually begun. Yes, the impact on overall health spending is still a few years away. But this is still a huge event in 2023 for the country that spends the most on healthcare of any other jurisdiction on the planet.

3. ChatGPT and other AI platforms have arrived. They are not perfect. Far from it. But we are still salivating at the potential use cases in healthcare, including drug discovery and the ability to diagnose disease.

4. The first CRISPR medication was approved in 2023 for the treatment of sickle cell disease and beta thalassaemia. For a technology that has been in the news cycle for this long, this is a major milestone. We don’t know the cost. We don’t know the long-term outcomes. There are a lot of questions. But still, it makes the list.

5. Despite the overturning of Roe v Wade, abortion rates in America have not declined as widely expected. In fact they have held steady and, according to some research, have gone up. Given the predictions, this is remarkable. And a testament to a myriad of factors, including dedicated people across the healthcare spectrum, timely legislation and the power of the internet where abortion pills can be ordered online and shipped nationwide through the mail.

6. Long COVID is a real thing. And it’s affecting millions and millions of people worldwide. We need to move faster to find a treatment. And we have to stop calling it brain fog and look at it for what it is. According to Dr Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, who is the chair of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio: “It’s not just fog, it’s a brain injury, basically.”

7. Climate change is a driver of health outcomes. This summer we had wildfires in Canada that spewed smoke across the US Northeast. Skies darkened. Smoke could be distinctly smelled in the air. The Healthy Air Index in many cities reached dangerous levels. This is a drop in the bucket of how climate change has changed and is going to continue to change population health over the next few decades.

8. ‘Forever’ chemicals (known as PFAS) are everywhere and, apparently, in everything. What exactly they do to us remains somewhat of a mystery. Getting rid of them may be impossible as they are used in too-many-to-count consumer products. Research has shown a ‘probable link’ between these forever chemicals and high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer and pregnancy-induced hypertension. To name a few.

9. Henrietta Lacks (and her family) got justice. As an African American woman who was dying of cervical cancer in 1950s America, she entered the hospital for treatment. Doctors took samples of her cells without her knowledge. “Her cells were the first to reproduce in a laboratory, which no human cells had done before, allowing researchers to develop vaccines for polio and the coronavirus and treatments for disease including cancer, Parkinson’s and the flu,” according to a recent article. Her family settled with the company that had been using her cell line for profit for over five decades. David beats Goliath.

10. Not enough people. Not enough drugs. This is a dangerous combination. Research continues to show that we are experiencing drug shortage after drug shortage. Antibiotics. Chemotherapy drugs. Children’s Tylenol. Our global supply chain is vulnerable. When are we going to address it in a coordinated fashion? Oh, and then there are the people too. Projected nursing shortages in America equate to potentially more than 250,000 nurses in the next two years. According to the US government, close to 40,000 physicians are needed in primary care, mental health and dentistry to meet the current demand.

On that note, I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season. See you in 2024!