Medical culture has often framed death as a binary decision: preserve a patient's life at all costs, or give up and accept what happens. That framing does a disservice to the fear, uncertainty and philosophical questions about life and death that patients and their families experience.
The big picture: American health care, from medical education all the way through to the payment system, generally does not encourage doctors to listen to dying patients' needs or priorities.
A chronic lack of gun violence research and data inaccuracies have hindered change to gun laws in the U.S., multiple scientific reports show.
Why it matters: Scientists and members of Congress have been working to boost gun control research amid persistent mass shootings. Increased funding for research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could help social scientists, law enforcement and policymakers understand the causes of shootings, according to nonprofit news organization The Trace.
