Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
What issues are facing primary care physicians in the near future? A nice article by Eugene Rich and Anna Maio discusses just this topic in their paper “Late to the Feast: Primary Care and US Health Policy.” Some issues discussed are: How FFS payment systems compare to prepaid-group practice with regards to the type of…
The Times of London reports (“…no surgery until you quit“) that smokers who needed surgery “…would not be added to waiting lists until they had given up smoking.” While there is vast medical evidence that shows the hazards of smoking as well as the fact that smoking reduces recovery time from surgery, should we really…
Today is Memorial Day. A day to remember all individuals around the world who gave their life during a time of war. I have never served in the military, so today I will defer to the Pen and Sworld blog written by retired U.S. Navy Commander Jeff Huber. In his post “My Memorial Day,” Mr.…
What is life like for prisoners in Guantánamo Bay? What (if any) due process do they receive? The docu-drama movie titled Road to Guantánamo, answers these questions by examining the incarceration of the Tipton Three. The film follows the three British Muslim youths from Pakistan to Afghanistan to Cuba. The three spent over two years…
Accoding to a Canadian study, infants can tell the difference between two languages without hearing the spoken words. To read more on the study, see today’s Washington Post (“Babies Can Discern Languages…“). Según una investigación canadiense, los infantes se pueden distinguir entre dos idiomas sin oÃr las palabras en voz alta.  Para más información acerca…
What exactly is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposing in his health care initiative unveiled early this year? Below I briefly summarize his press release, as to what the reforms will entail and then follow with some of my comments. Individual Mandate All individuals must have a minimum level of insurance. Children Children of families whose income…
The VA has often been held up as an example as to why a centralized health care system works well. An interesting post from The Sentinel Effect looks at a North Carolina’s The News & Observer column (“VA Overselling its medical care“) stating that the VA system results are not as good as they claim.
According to a paper by Singleton et al. (Am J Infect Control 2005) a significant number of people receive their influenza vaccination at non-traditional sites. While 62% of the elderly receive and influenza vaccination at a traditional doctor’s office or an HMO, individuals in younger age groups are utilizing other centers of care. For individuals…
There is an interesting article in the NYT Magazine (“Self-Nonmedication“) about the anti-depressant drugs pharmaceuticals. The author stops taking Effexor and experiences anti-depressant withdrawl discontinuation syndrome.
âCan you imagine if a Wal-Mart store operated like Americaâs health care system? You would walk into the store and there would be a huge array of merchandise. But you would not be able to tell the products apart. You would not know how much they cost. And in the end, you would not know…