Dr. Marc Siegel: Miracles await -- 2019 will be a year of amazing strides in medical innovation

Back in October, the renowned Cleveland Clinic hosted a major conference on medical innovation and listed its own top health care breakthrough categories for 2019. With the new year upon us, I am excited to say that I completely agree with the Clinic's outlook and eagerly anticipate what is coming. First up on the list are new non-addictive alternatives to pain management. FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told me in a recent interview that exciting research is going on in this area and that new drugs will emerge where a patient's genetic makeup will help determine the best treatment. This past year scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine found such a new drug, known as AT-121, so far only tested in non-human primates, which suppresses the addictive effects of opioids while at the same time decreasing pain.