Stanford doctors don't have to be the news to be in the news. Two non-Stanford stories that garnered media attention last week prompted the press to contact School of Medicine faculty for their expert views.

LA Times and KQED-FM. Both outlets asked Lawrence Mathers, MD, PhD, to weigh in on the UCLA cadaver controversy (see “5 Questions” ). Mathers, associate professor of pediatrics and of surgery, said Stanford has recently updated its procedures on the willed body program. He expressed concern that the program, which is built on trust, would be hurt if the image is tarnished. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-research11mar11,1,4571497.story?coll=la-home-local

CNN and CBC. David Magnus, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and of medicine, did back-to-back interviews with the Canadian Broadcast Corporation and CNN with Anderson Cooper about a Utah woman accused of murder because she allegedly avoided a Caesarean section that could have saved an unborn twin. Magnus reminded Cooper that a patient has the right to refuse medical treatment. He suggested that if a patient has a history of a mental illness, there should be resources available, such as a psychiatric consultation, to make sure the patient is competent to make such a decision.

New York Times. Alan Garber, the Henry J. Kaiser Jr. Professor, is quoted in a Times article about new research that questions whether high levels of “good” cholesterol are always a good thing. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/health/15HEAR.html (registration required)

On the docket for next week, Dateline NBC will be here to interview Jed Black, MD, about new meds and modes for mitigating insomnia.