U.S. death rates show how politics are affecting public health

John Goodson practiced medicine for almost 50 years at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. As a primary care physician, he saw thousands of patients and ailments, so when he struggled to raise the front of his foot in 2021, he felt a knowing dread.

“As a physician, I had made the diagnosis of a patient with ALS and developed a close relationship and followed this patient right through to his death at home,” said Goodson. “So I was very aware of ALS and its time course, its manifestations, its impact.”

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Three years later, Goodson’s amyotrophic lateral sclerosis symptoms are quite advanced. He has lost much of his leg and arm mobility, barely speaks above a whisper, and struggles to eat without an aide. “There are times when I have to be fed — I don’t like that. That is not who I am,” he said.

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