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What We Heard This Week
— Quotable quotes heard by MedPage Today‘s reporters
by
February 1, 2026 • 2 min read
“As practicing clinicians, we should always be ready to be surprised by how bizarre biology can be.” — Meghana Tanwar, DO, DNB, of Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India, on the case of a 16-year-old boy who had an ectopic tooth extracted from the superior orbit of his left eye.
“[It] can also derail a lot of visits.” — Henry Bair, MD, MBA, of Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, discussing the double-edged sword of patients using chatbots to gather medical information before appointments.
“In South Florida, there are 20 times more DME [durable medical equipment] providers than McDonald’s.” — CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, MBA, highlighting the agency’s intensified focus on eliminating healthcare fraud.
“They have physicians essentially over a barrel.” — Jennifer Kendall, DO, of Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, on restrictive physician noncompete agreements.
“We simply have to trust authors to be honest.” — Roy Perlis, MD, editor of JAMA+ AI, after reporting that few researchers disclosed using artificial intelligence when submitting manuscripts.
“It is not clear to me who are the ideal patients to treat.” — Michael Hill, MD, MSc, of the University of Calgary in Alberta, pointing out ambiguities in the updated American stroke guidelines.
“Gun violence doesn’t just ruin bodies, but it reverberates through families.” — Lisa Fortuna, MD, MPH, of the University of California Riverside School of Medicine, commenting on a study linking parental gun injuries with increased rates of psychiatric disorder diagnoses and mental health visits in children.
“It’s not as if you can eat a diet full of fast food and highly processed foods and then eat a cup of yogurt and it’s going to have these miracle effects.” — Marian Glick-Bauer, MS, RD, of Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York City, addressing hype surrounding fermented foods following endorsements from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
