An exercise in irony by Daniel S. Greenberg, visiting scholar in the history of science, medicine and technology at John Hopkins University. Class will come to order. Today we will discuss reporting news of medical progress.
People are afraid of being sick and want good news.
But what I had in mind was that scientists and doctors like good news too. It shows they're helping people. That's why they let us know whenever they make progress. But new cures are actually very rare. Sometimes doctors and scientists go for years without finding a new cure for disease.