Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
While I was reading the The New York Times Magazine, I came across a very interesting article regarding scientific integrity. The article (“An unwelcome discovery“) documents how a Eric Poehlman, a faculty member at the University of Vermont, had fabricated ten years worth of data. This is a serious problem . Sally Jean Rockey of the…
The University of California San Diego (UCSD) is where I currently attend graduate school. The UCSD Medical Center has been in some hot water lately. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services has alleged that UCSD has overcharged Medicare $48 million for pension costs. According to a UCSD Guardian…
The dealings of William McGuire, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, have been topic occasionally touched on by the Healthcare Economist (see May 19th and February 14th posts). Today, Yahoo! News reported that Mr. McGuire will step down as chairman and CEO after questions arose regarding Mr. McGuire’s possibly illicit stock option compensation. More from the Yahoo!…
Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank, won the Nobel Peace prize today (New York Times – “Microloan Pioneer“). I report on Mr. Yunus in an earlier blog post (“Father of Microcredit“). If you are interested in contributing to a microcredit organization, the following organizations are two good choices. Grameen Bank: Microcredit pioneer focusing mostly…
An October 6th Wall Street Journal article asks “If we must ration vaccines for a flu, who gets the shots?” Currently, the U.S. gives children, the elderly, and the sick priority in obtaining flu shots. Journalist Sharon Begley of the WSJ wonders if this is the best policy: “In May, scientists at the National Institutes of…
On Wednesday, Marketplace on NPR ran a story on how providing eye care to individuals in the developing world can not only improve their well-being, but increase economic productivity. Fortunately, low cost solutions are available. To view the story, click here. Some excerpts are below: “153 million people around the world live with poor vision…
This morning it was announced that Edmund Phelps was the 2006 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. Mr. Phelps is a macro-economist best known for his work explaining the trade-off between unemployment and inflation in the economy. A biography of Mr. Phelps can be found on the Columbia University website.
In Sunday’s L.A. Times I found two articles regarding population growth. The first (“America at 300 million“) notes that although the U.S. is nearing 300 million people, there is plenty of space available for these newcomers. Although the birth rate is still not at replacement, the recent increase in immigration has allowed the U.S. to…
Today the Princeton Review named my alma matter (University of Pennsylvania) as the university with the best business school (the Wharton School). While I don’t believe the rankings accurately reflect school quality, its always nice to be number one. ‘Hurrah, Hurrah, Pennsylvania…Hurrah for the red and the blue!’
What do you need to do to win a Nobel Prize these days? Simple, just figure out a way to shut down individual genes in the body. This is what Andrew Fire and Craig Mello–the 2006 Nobel Prize winners in Medicine–achieved in order to merit the award. Their technique holds the possibility of new therapies for…