When Banting and colleagues discovered insulin and saved countless lives they refused to profit from it. Their successors are making millions from Americans. The price used to be low, and it's still low elsewhere, but pharmaceutical companies have jacked up … Continue reading
British mathematician, humorist, and author Matt Parker (whose YouTube channel is "standupmaths") describes how rounding can have unexpected effects, even on how the Trump administration tried to get around a provision in the Affordable Care Act to please insurance industry … Continue reading
Alex Berenson's book Tell Your Children has provoked a lot of discussion concerning the potential dangers of marijuana. (See this favorable review from Stephanie Mencimer in The Washington Monthly here.) I haven't read it, but I gather a Berenson has … Continue reading
A February 23 article by Caroline Criado-Perez in The Guardian points out that across a vast range of things, from medical research to the design of tools, vehicles, and buildings, the implicit assumption has long been that the average person … Continue reading
About a fourth of all Medicare spending pays for medical interventions during the last year of life. A seemingly obvious conclusion is that we could save a lot of money if we cut back on medical interventions for the very … Continue reading
In centuries past there was considerable overlap between the professions of barber and surgeon, and recently there have been efforts to use barber shops, particularly in African-American communities, for medical outreach. Pediatrician and medical school professor Dr Aaron Carroll talks … Continue reading
Back before the Affordable Care Act took effect, a lot of the health insurance horror stories I heard had to do with short-term health insurance policies. They were typically purchased by people who thought they were getting a really good … Continue reading
As noted by, for example, a report last year from ProPublica and National Public Radio, the United States has by far the highest death rate in the developed world for women around the time of giving birth. It's not even … Continue reading
My cell phone connects with my car via Bluetooth so I can make and receive phone calls in my car without taking my hands off the steering wheel. I rarely do it, though, because of what I've read about credible … Continue reading
In this video published August 31, pediatrician and medical school professor Dr Aaron Carroll points out that according to independent estimates, the Medicare for All program proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders would reduce total U.S. healthcare spending, in part because … Continue reading