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MedPage Today published a weekly roundup of quotes from reporters’ interviews and coverage on October 18, 2026. The comments addressed health care AI, access to a new mRNA flu shot, medical research and clinical practice; the roundup itself does not report new study results or policy changes.
MedPage Today published a weekly roundup on October 18, 2026, collecting comments its reporters heard about health care technology, medical research and clinical practice. The excerpts include a warning from Mishal Khan that technology is not neutral, alongside remarks on an mRNA flu shot, pregnancy research, HIV care and other topics; the roundup is a collection of commentary, not a standalone report of new findings.
The roundup’s opening quotation came from Mishal Khan, PhD, of the UC Berkeley Labor Center, who was discussing artificial intelligence in health care: “Tech is not good or bad, but neither is it neutral.” The statement frames technology as something whose effects depend on how it is developed and used, rather than as inherently beneficial or harmful. MedPage Today did not provide further detail in the roundup about the specific AI research or policy discussion behind the remark.
Other excerpts focused on access and medical evidence. Amesh Adalja, MD, of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said people seeking the new mRNA flu shot, mFlusiva, would need to use a website or call around. Krista Huybrechts of Brigham and Women’s Hospital described findings on benzodiazepine use in early pregnancy as reassuring, while cautioning that the drugs are not risk-free. The roundup did not include the studies’ full methods, numerical results or recommendations.
The eight quotations also covered plastic surgery, heart transplantation, sickle cell disease, HIV and pediatric obesity. Speakers included clinicians and researchers affiliated with hospitals, universities and professional organizations. Their comments were presented as brief excerpts tied to particular topics; the item does not establish that the speakers represent a shared position or that each quotation reflects a new development published that day.
A Snapshot of Current Health Debates
The roundup offers readers a concise view of issues that reporters encountered across health care, from AI’s role in medicine to how patients access a vaccine and how clinicians interpret emerging evidence. Khan’s observation is a reminder that technologies can shape decisions and access even when they are not inherently good or bad. However, the quotation alone does not establish a particular effect of AI or identify a specific system under discussion.
The other comments show why context matters when interpreting health research. Huybrechts paired reassurance about a study with a warning about medication risks; Ahmed Zayed argued that pulmonary vascular resistance should not be read in isolation; and Vijay Sankaran said evidence linking sickle cell disease to cancer risk had not yet met its burden of proof. These are attributed perspectives, not substitutes for the underlying studies. For readers, the roundup’s value is in pointing to questions worth following, while leaving the evidence and its limits to be examined in the original research.
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Eight Comments Across Medical Topics
MedPage Today describes the item as a collection of quotations heard by its reporters. It is dated October 18, 2026 and lists eight speakers, each connected to a different subject. The format is brief: a quotation, the speaker’s name and affiliation, and a short description of the issue being discussed.
Among the remaining excerpts, Kelly Killeen of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons criticized the approach depicted in the early-2000s television show “The Swan.” Fiona Cresswell of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit said advanced HIV disease is largely a problem of disengagement rather than late diagnosis, in a discussion of long-acting therapy research. Ligang Liu of Western University of Health Sciences noted that adolescents with similar body mass indexes can have different health profiles. Together with the comments on transplantation and sickle cell disease, these remarks span distinct issues rather than one connected study or announcement.
““Tech is not good or bad, but neither is it neutral.””
— Mishal Khan, PhD, UC Berkeley Labor Center
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What the Roundup Leaves Open
The collection does not provide the underlying studies, data, publication details or full interview context for most of the quotations. It is therefore not possible from this item alone to evaluate the strength of the evidence on pregnancy medication exposure, cancer risk in sickle cell disease, transplantation outcomes or long-acting HIV therapy. The roundup also does not specify the website Adalja mentioned, the availability or eligibility rules for mFlusiva, or the exact AI applications addressed by Khan.
Several remarks are judgments or interpretations rather than reported results. The short excerpts may omit qualifications made elsewhere in the interviews. No new clinical guidance, regulatory decision or policy change is announced in the source material.
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Follow the Studies Behind the Quotes
The next step for readers seeking more detail is to consult the full MedPage Today report and the studies or coverage each quotation references. Those sources would clarify research methods, findings and limitations, as well as the practical details behind the remarks on mFlusiva and health care AI. No follow-up action or publication date is specified in the roundup itself, so whether MedPage Today will revisit any of these topics remains unknown.
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Key Questions
What did MedPage Today publish?
It published a weekly collection of eight quotations heard by its reporters, dated October 18, 2026. The comments cover several health care and research topics.
Did the roundup announce new research findings?
Not by itself. It refers to studies and research discussions, but does not provide full results, methods or a new research announcement. Readers would need the underlying reports to assess the evidence.
What was the comment about AI in health care?
Mishal Khan of the UC Berkeley Labor Center said, “Tech is not good or bad, but neither is it neutral.” The roundup identifies the topic as AI in health care but gives no further details about the specific system or discussion.
What did the roundup say about the mRNA flu shot?
Amesh Adalja said people seeking mFlusiva would need to use a website or call around. The item does not identify the website or provide further details on availability or access requirements.
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