Dr. Leana Wen

09/04/2026

Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers, yet a growing number of American women have never been screened.

Nearly 1 in 3 women ages 21 to 29 in 2023 had never received cervical cancer screening. This proportion was up from about 1 in 8 in 2005, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open.

Screening can detect precancerous changes so they can be treated before cancer develops, but the proportion of women ages 30 to 65 who had never been screened has also increased.

I discuss why this is concerning and what women should know about cervical cancer prevention with Pamela Brown on CNN's Situation Room. More below:

https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/01/health/cervical-cancer-screening-women-wellness

06/10/2026

Ever wondered why you can’t stop eating chips and have cravings for sodas and cookies, even though you know they aren’t good for you? Turns out, it’s because these products were designed to be addictive.

In fact, much of it comes from the same people who made a living selling another highly addictive and harmful product: ci******es.

A new series of articles in the American Journal of Public Health explored the history and health impacts of ultra-processed foods and drew a direct line between their rise and Big To***co. During the 1980s, two of the biggest to***co companies, Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds diversified their business holdings at a time of declining cigarette sales by aggressively expanding into the food industry. The companies not only integrated their food and to***co distribution and sales operations but also directly applied lessons from to***co manufacturing to food products.

More: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/06/09/how-big-to***co-shaped-america-ultra-processed-food-diet/

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New research shows how cigarette companies brought their addiction playbook to the food industry.

06/05/2026

The recent Enhanced Games in Las Vegas, where elite athletes attempted to break world records by pumping their bodies full of performance-enhancing drugs that are banned in competition, has already received plenty of criticism for perverting the spirit of sports. It was also emblematic of a broader cultural shift in the concept of wellness — away from preventing illness through exercise and nutrition and toward using supplements and potentially dangerous peptide injections to become fitter, younger and supposedly “better” versions of ourselves.

More in this week’s Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/06/02/enhanced-games-was-wellness-culture-gone-wrong/

Athletes pumping their bodies with chemicals to maximize performance sets a terrible example for everyone else.

05/19/2026

For weeks, the media has been fixated on whether a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, which killed three people, could lead to the next pandemic. (The answer is almost certainly no.) Meanwhile, a far more dangerous public health situation has been festering with far less attention: Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The outbreak has already killed more than 130 people and is suspected to have infected over 500, including one confirmed case in an American doctor. Ebola is a rare but extraordinarily deadly viral disease, with an average fatality rate of 50%.

More in this Washington Post article and CNN interview:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/05/18/ebola-outbreak-congo-is-threat-world-cannot-ignore

05/11/2026

Public health officials have been clear that hantavirus is not the next coronavirus. They are right. This is not a novel disease. Human-to-human transmission is rare. This outbreak will almost certainly be limited to small clusters. But it does underscore the importance of global collaboration and of adequately funding disease surveillance and outbreak response.

More in this CNN Newsroom interview.

04/21/2026

It’s easy to dismiss Utah’s latest artificial intelligence experiment as dangerous and dystopian. The state has partnered with a company called Doctronic to empower an “AI doctor,” rather than a human clinician, to refill medication prescriptions.

But the idea deserves serious consideration. Deployed carefully, this innovation could improve access to care and reduce costs, even as it raises legitimate ethical and regulatory concerns.

My latest Washington Post column is about Utah’s pilot. It features interviews with Doctronic's cofounders as well as experts who take a more guarded approach.

For instance, Daniel Aaron, a physician and associate law professor at the University of Utah, noted that the US has long required medical devices to demonstrate safety and effectiveness before widespread use.

“To have this incredibly novel use of a medical device without FDA saying a word is quite stunning and suggests that maybe we are going to see more untested products reach the market,” he said.

More: https://wapo.st/4vEuI4M

Utah’s experiment with AI-generated prescriptions won’t be the last. It raises urgent regulatory questions that needs answers.

03/12/2026

We know ultra-processed foods are bad for health, but how, exactly, do we define them?

My Washington Post column this week explored how researchers from the University of Pennsylvania are proposing a new definition. Instead of trying to identify what qualifies as ultra-processed based on specific chemicals like dyes, preservatives and additives, define what does NOT qualify.

Take yogurt. The traditional method would involve comparing its ingredients against a long list of additives that could pose health risks. Under the alternative framework, researchers would specify what a non-ultra-processed yogurt would look like. In addition to milk and live cultures, permissible ingredients might include fruit, nuts and nutritive sweeteners such as honey. Anything besides that, such as modified food starch, dextrose or dyes, would automatically render the product ultra-processed.

The same framework could be applied across the food supply. Foods would be grouped into categories based on how they are produced and consumed, and experts would specify, for each type of food, what qualifies as non-ultra-processed. Those definitions, updated periodically as manufacturing practices evolve, could then be used to set procurement rules and school-meal standards.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/03/10/utra-processed-foods-definition-health-diet/

Identifying unhealthy food is not as easy as one might think.

02/11/2026

For decades, breast cancer screening has been synonymous with the mammogram. Women’s preventive care has centered on the annual test, and for good reason: 1 in 8 women in the US are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetimes, and early detection is key to making sure it doesn’t spread.

Recent research challenges this long-standing approach, however. A major study published in JAMA suggests the most effective screening strategy is based not on the yearly mammogram, but genetic testing combined with an assessment of individual risk factors.

More in this week's Washington Post column:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/10/breast-cancer-screening-mammograms/

This test may be crucial for breast cancer screening. It’s not a mammogram.

01/07/2026

As 2026 gets underway, health policy is entering a period of consequential change that will affect who can access medical care, what it costs and how the nation approaches public health.

This week’s Washington Post column is in on the 10 issues I will be watching closely in the year ahead.

https://wapo.st/49tk1rv

The year ahead promises new health care innovations alongside major changes to public health policy.

11/13/2025

The class of medicines known as GLP-1s have transformed clinical practice and shifted public perception to view obesity as a chronic disease that merits medical management.

Growing research is demonstrating that the potential of GLP-1s extends far beyond obesity care. Some benefits are already well-established and represent extraordinary medical advances that deserve greater attention, while others remain speculative and at risk of being overly hyped. Clinicians and patients alike should focus on what is firmly supported by evidence while maintaining healthy skepticism toward uses that have not yet been proven.

More in this week’s Washington Post column: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/11/11/glp-1-weight-loss-drugs-obesity

The medications aren’t just for diabetes and obesity, but they also aren’t for every ailment.