Welcome to the rabbit hole.
You know how sometimes you read a news story and you still have a question, then suddenly it’s 2 a.m. and you’re thirty tabs deep, searching your fourth government database?
That’s me. Every day.
This newsletter is mostly a favor to my friends, who often gently suggest I get a hobby that isn’t texting them 800 times in the middle of the night about covid toes. (Like a lot of people, my personality flaws have gotten exponentially worse since February.)
Before we get started, a disclaimer: I’ve been writing about science and healthcare for seven years, so I’ve gotten pretty good at reading the methods section of a paper, but I’m not an expert in any subject. Nothing I have to say here should ever be used as medical, legal, or life advice, aside from these two universal truths:
1) If you don’t understand it, don’t sign it;
2) If it doesn’t clear up in a week, call your doctor.