Editors at the journal Nature Medicine recently asked researchers and public health experts from around the world to identify clinical trials that will shape medicine in 2023. They came up with a varied list of candidates, from cervical and prostate cancer screening protocols to gene therapy for muscular dystrophy and new drugs for Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. The selections are arbitrary and idiosyncratic, but they are interesting, nevertheless.

Here are the eleven from Nature Medicine, plus two bonus picks from me.

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The expression, "there are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics," is attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, the U.K.'s Prime Minster from 1874 to 1880. A century and a half later, improper manipulation of statistics is pervasive. It can do great damage when it corrupts the so-called "scientific literature" – the body of knowledge published in articles by researchers based on their experiments or studies, which is the foundation of science. When those flawed, published articles contain potentially important findings, they are widely reported in news outlets and social media.

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The Department of Veterans Affairs is the federal government's second-largest department. As of 2021, it operated approximately 1,600 health-care facilities, 144 medical centers, and 1,232 outpatient sites, of varying complexity. The VA has long been plagued by a wide spectrum of problems, including long delays in scheduling appointments, substandard care, and years of trying to get a $10 billion electronic system to work effectively.

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This is the second piece in our series about modern idolatry, also known as secular religion. It discusses the elevation of equity – the principle of outcomes forced to conform to racial and ethnic demographics – to a moral imperative that has penetrated the highest levels of academia, business, and government. It hides behind high-minded platitudes but is at its core a tool for corruptly accruing and wielding economic and political power.

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Three important findings have emerged from recent research on COVID-19. First, long COVID -- the persistence of symptoms after the acute infection -- is common and can cause significant suffering and disability. Second, the ability of the bivalent booster to broaden recipients' immune response and reduce the frequency of hospitalizations and deaths has exceeded expectations. Third, the data argue for an intensive effort to convince more Americans to get the bivalent booster and to wear masks in moderate- and high-risk situations.

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