Weekend Longforms: Bone marrow transplant, fetal monitoring, generics at the Supreme Court and colon cancer in young people

May 2, 2026

Happy Saturday!

A few longform written and audio pieces for health care wonks. Animal photo, too!

A. WSJ reporter discusses her bone marrow transplant

Laura Landro of the Wall Street Journal had a bone marrow transplant in the early 1990s for leukemia. She tells her story as part of a series on technology innovation.

B.The worst test in medicine is driving America’s C-section rate

Reporter Sarah Kliff reported in the New York Times in November that fetal monitoring in the US is one of the causes of the large rate of delivery interventions. The US has the highest maternal mortality among developed countries; here are two past posts on this topic.

C. Supreme Court case could upend generics

The Supreme Court heard the “skinny label” case this week, and a ruling for the brand name manufacturer could make it more difficult to bring new generics to the market. Brand name manufacturers use “patent thickets” for multiple different indications, and “skinny labels” let a generic manufacturer come to market with only an indication for which patents have already expired. Otherwise, they would have to wait years more until all patents had expired. Dan Weissmann of the podcast “Arm and a Leg” explains. Some commentators think the Supreme Court will likely find for the generic manufacturer.

D. Should young people worry about colon cancer?

Wendy Zuckerman of the podcast Science Vs. takes up the increasing incidence of cancer in those under 40. The pod focuses on some gut bacteria that can lead to mutations that precede cancer. In some instances, the damage to colonic mucosa can begin in early childhood. See also this post from last year “Cancer is increasing in young people, but remains rare”

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Views expressed in Employer Coverage are purely my own.

Scroll down for animal photo

Animal Photo:

Flamingos (and some mallards) at the San Diego Zoo last month