When Medicine Transcends the Sterile Clinical Encounter

ONE IN FIVE DEATHS OF YOUNG ADULTS ages 20 to 49 is secondary to excessive alcohol use in the United States. For individuals ages 20 to 64, drinking-related deaths account for one in eight. These are the statistics offered by a new population-based study.

Yesterday marked the 36th year that the world observed World No Tobacco Day. This relatively obscure milestone masks a stalled effort to curb consumption of combustible cigarettes and other nicotine-related products. It’s unlikely most people paid any attention. But the impact of smoking is all around us, even if we don’t see it. Statistics rarely tell a provocative story to compel people to action.

We have many options with computer programming, especially with artificial intelligence, but we have to be careful about what it produces, and there are serious concerns here.