Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol.
Already have an account?
By submitting, you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and to receive information about MPR's or APMG entities' programs and offerings. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about MPR, APMG entities, and its sponsors. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
Dr. Jon Hallberg

Top health and medical stories of 2014

A woman reacts after her husband dies.
A woman (C) reacts after her husband is suspected of dying from the Ebola virus, in the Liberian capital Monrovia, on October 4, 2014.
Pascal Guyot / AFP / Getty Images

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Log inCreate a free Account

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

Health and health care were front and center in the news of 2014.

Today on The Daily Circuit, Tom Crann talks with Dr. Jon Hallberg, the regular medical analyst for MPR's All Things Considered and a physician in family medicine at the University of Minnesota, about the year's top medical stories.

Here's Hallberg's list, in alphabetical order:

Top health and medical stories of 2014

• Affordable Care Act (ACA)/MNsure
 "Never before have I talked to so many patients about their health insurance," Hallberg writes. "People are coming in who haven't been covered for years."

• Burnout
 Hallberg says technology, ironically, has made him feel burnout this year. Earlier this month, local physicians talked about Sandeep Jauhar's 'Doctored.'

• Cologuard
 Mayo Clinic's new card that detects colon cancer DNA in stool. Hallberg thinks colonoscopies will happen less.

• E-cigarettes
 What to do? How to regulate them? Good idea? Bad? Are they a gateway to tobacco? Are they actually better than real cigarettes?

• Ebola
 Fear plague mentality, holes in the system, Time's People of the Year

• Genome advances
 The future with 23andme, Illumina. This is helping doctors figure out cases of unusual diseases in children.

• Innovation/e-everything
 Treehouse and other centers and incubators of innovation: iPhone apps, Fitbit, self-monitoring/self-quantification

• Medical marijuana
 Its time has come. Now what? How will it work?

• Mumps
 Why now?

• "On Immunity: An Inoculation"
 The book by Eula Biss was one of Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 non-fiction books and one of The New York Times Top 5 non-fiction books

• Opiates and overdoses
 Vicodin/hydrocodone re-classification to schedule II; Philip Seymour Hoffman's accidental OD

• Robin Williams' suicide
His death really affected us more than most celebrity deaths.