Xavier Becerra’s tenure as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) has positioned him as a pivotal figure in global health policy. Since taking office in March 2021, Becerra has navigated complex challenges, from pandemic recovery to healthcare equity, while reinforcing America’s role as a leader in international health initiatives. His approach…
Senator Bill Cassidy and the Theater of American Healthcare By C. L. Marlowe, International Affairs Desk, Dave’s Locker PARIS—From a café terrace overlooking the Seine, where the house red is cheaper than a Band-Aid in Cleveland, Senator William “Bill” Cassidy looks less like a healer and more like an understudy who keeps forgetting his lines….
The Unlikely Global Ripple of Sharon Hodgson: How a British MP’s Crusade Against Childhood Obesity Became a Mirror for the World’s Gluttony By Our Man in the Departures Lounge, Still Recovering from Airline Food LONDON—Across the river from the glass sarcophagus that houses Parliament, Sharon Hodgson is quietly waging war on chicken nuggets. To the…
The NHS League Tables 2025 have dropped, and the world is leaning in like it’s the final episode of a prestige drama where everyone dies of preventable disease. From Seoul to São Paulo, health ministers, policy wonks, and the sort of people who put “disruption” on their LinkedIn are watching the UK’s annual blood-letting with…
Martha’s Rule: When the World Learns to Listen—Sort Of By Dave’s Locker International Desk Geneva—Another week, another acronym. This time it’s “Martha’s Rule,” a protocol named after a 13-year-old London schoolgirl who died of sepsis in 2021 because nobody in the hospital bothered to ask the patient—or her parents—what they thought. In simpler terms, the…
Florida’s Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, has quietly become America’s most efficient exporter of confusion—an impressive feat in a country that already ships reality TV, deep-fried butter, and unsolicited military advice to every corner of the planet. While Washington haggles over debt ceilings and Beijing perfects the art of the passive-aggressive communiqué, Ladapo has cornered the…
