Stat, The Boston Globe’s much-touted life-sciences vertical, is starting to come into focus. Although the site doesn’t officially debut until fall, its first story — about two young paralysis victims undergoing experimental treatment who fall in love — has been published at BostonGlobe.com. The project also has a website, a Twitter feed and a Facebook page.
We also finally know why the site is being called Stat. According to an introduction by reporter Bob Tedeschi, it’s an old term meaning “Take this medication immediately.” He writes:
Its first common usage as a medical term appeared in 1875, in William Handsel Griffiths’ seminal (or not) text: “Lessons on Prescriptions and the Art of Prescribing.” Griffiths, a surgeon and professor in Dublin, tucked “stat” between “stet” and “somnus” on a list of jargon used by doctors who, he wrote, suffered from “hurry, laziness or ignorance.”
Stat: abbreviation of the Latin word “statim,” meaning “immediately.”
Here’s some background on Stat from Benjamin Mullin of Poynter.