Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Some interesting readings for your weekend… The Health Affairs blog gives a succinct explanation comparing the U.S. health care system to the typical European model. (“U.S. Pluralism vs. International ‘Systemness‘”) On Wednesday, the Health Business Blog reported that Toyota is starting its own medical clinic to provide primary and outpatient care for its employees at…
Having a safe and reliable water supply is a prerequisite for longevity. In China’s arid northern region, procuring water has always been a problem. In this week’s Economist, the magazine reports (“A modest proposal“) on some of China’s latest efforts to bring water to this region. The Chinese have already been hard at work diverting…
Nancy Johnson, a co-author of the Medicare prescription drug, has lost in her bid for re-election. According to Fox News (“GOP Rep. Johnson loses…“), the 12-term Republican representative has lost to Democrat Chris Murphy in the Connecticut house race. The Boston Herald (“Johnson loses…“) reports: “Murphy, 33, has slammed Johnson for her support of the…
Every year Transparency International puts out a Corruption Perceptions Index ranking each country’s corruption level. The index is constructed from a survey of various resident and non-resident country experts as well as business leaders (see methodology here). The 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index gives us one clear conclusion: there is a lot of corruption in the…
Health professionals are worried about the growing number of people with tuberculosis. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) website states that “in 1993 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared tuberculosis to be a global emergency.” The HPA reports the following TB statistics. TB cases (thousands) TB infection rate per 100,000 Africa 2573 356 The Americas 363…
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…