STAT stories you might have missed in 2023

There’s an old story in journalism, and it goes like this: A reporter is asked, “What’s the best story you’ve ever written?” The reply? “The one I’m doing for tomorrow.”

There’s a lot of that at STAT, and that’s why we’ve assembled an in-case-you-missed-it list of great stories from this year. They’re all classic STAT stories, blending science, business, policy, and humanity.

In a year with stories covering every sense (touch, sight, hearing, taste, smell), in a year with rats with imagination, hungry hamsters, chimps with menopause, octopus tentacles, hibernating bears, CRISPR’d chickens and what we can learn from the dogs of Chernobyl, here’s a collection of stories — big and small — worth noting.

New weight loss drugs

There’s been endless news on Wegovy, Ozempic, Mounjaro and Zepbound this year, and behind all of those promising obesity medications is the work of a researcher who fears her contributions will be lost to history. Here’s our profile of GLP-1 researcher Svetlana Mojsov.

Abortion access

This has been a closely watched topic in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned. From access to abortion pills to doctors fearing prosecution over delivering medical care, this was an issue that deeply touched patients and providers. For perspective, we turned to a gun-toting abortion doctor working in the conservative South.

Opioid crisis

In a year when it seemed like every month saw a new streaming series or film about the opioid crisis, STAT traveled to the Bad River Reservation in Wisconsin to see how tribal leaders were turning to harm reduction strategies to stop overdose deaths.

The business of health care

The American health care system is a complex mix of business and compassion, and the balance between high profits and patient care can sometimes be hard to find. We profiled one such case — the HCA takeover of Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C. — as an example of what hospitals are grappling with nationwide.

Rural health care

Your ZIP code can often dictate your health care options. And there’s a slow-motion crisis brewing in rural health care. Watch this three-part STAT documentary on the state of health care in rural America.

The rest of the story

A widely used questionnaire designed to spot depression didn’t come from a doctor. It was created by a marketing man who had Pfizer, the maker of Zoloft, as a client. Howard Kroplick tells his story for the first time.

A war over Tigre Toño

There’s a food fight brewing in Mexico — and Tigre Toño and Sam el Tucán are at the center of it. Kellogg’s is suing over a policy targeting unhealthy foods that could mean the iconic Fruit Loops and Frosted Flakes mascots will disappear from cereal boxes. Could the same thing happen in the U.S.?

Exodus from academia

To do research, you need researchers, and the number of young scientists leaving academia for lucrative industry jobs is climbing steadily. Here’s a look at how this alarming exodus is shaking up academia.

The patience of patients

In the end, every new drug or treatment comes down to a patient in search of a better life. Here’s a profile of a brave 7-year-old undergoing a grueling treatment for beta thalassemia in Philadelphia. Meet a 9-year-old in an intensive weight loss program in Los Angeles. And here’s the story of a 5-year-old candidate for a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He would be ineligible for treatment when he turned 6, and his birthday was just three weeks away.

Didn’t see this one coming

What do you get when you combine rap royalty, lobbyists, billionaires, congressional staffers, and health care execs? A new playbook on how to lower high hospital bills.

Accountability

• The National Institutes of Health spent $1 billion on long Covid, and had little to show for it.
• UnitedHealth pushed employees to follow an algorithm to cut off Medicare patients’ rehab care. Our investigation got the attention of lawmakers and regulators.
• A paradox of health policy mandates that most preventive care be free, and yet private insurers can and do charge large amounts for colonoscopies based on a one-word difference in classification.
• Data integrity is a cornerstone of scientific research and development. There were lessons for the entire biotech industry from an incident at Massachusetts biotech Laronde.

A new look at food cravings

As new weight loss drugs were being developed, researchers turned to a tantalizing question: If hormone hacking can erase food cravings, what other kinds of destructive desires could also be addressed? STAT looks at the science of cravings.

And finally

There were important advances in Parkinson’s disease this year. Michael J. Fox was at the heart of it.

More 2023 in review

• STAT names the best biotech CEOs, and the worst biotech CEOs, of the year.
• Here’s a look at the biggest health care deals of 2023.
• STAT photos of the year.