Four years after Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans area, Stanford medical school alum Sheri Fink, MD, is publishing a disturbing investigation into whether patients …
Month: August 2009
A question to ask your doctor
Here's an idea for everybody: Call or email your doctor and ask him or her, "Are you going to get vaccinated for the H1N1 influenza …
Personal blogging on health care in the U.K. and the U.S.
A childhood friend of mine has started blogging about her experiences with health care in England and the United States. My friend (I'll call her …
H1N1 flu: Health tips for fall
The back-to-school rush and impending flu season have many parents worried about a possible resurgence of H1N1 flu, a.k.a. swine flu. In a new video, …
Mummyblogging, round two
Last week, I posted a few photos of a Stanford effort to image the mummy of a 2,500-year-old priest. For those of you who like …
Checking in early
Very few people look forward to the day when they'll have to check into a nursing home. So why would a perfectly healthy 38-year-old move …
Victor Fuchs is disappointed
Well-known health economist Victor Fuchs, PhD, always has interesting things to say about health care reform efforts (see here and here). Now he's shared more …
Photoblogging: mummy edition
Stanford radiologists are hard at work right now scanning a 2,600-year-old Egyptian mummy. We'll have a full set of videos, articles and photos on this …
Q and A with Irving Weissman
Stanford stem cell researcher Irving Weissman, MD, recently assumed the presidency of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. Writing for Nature Reports Stem Cells, …
Three small things for third-world women
The New York Times is previewing a fascinating story from its magazine called "The Women's Crusade," about the interaction between global poverty and the oppression …
Debunking a labor myth
Last spring, when Stanford researcher Douglas Owens, MD, mentioned to me an upcoming study on the risks of labor induction, I took an immediate (and …
Summer stress
Is anyone out there having a relaxing summer? Please, speak up if you are - it's hard to hear you over the health care reform …
Francis Collins speaks out
A few weeks ago I wrote about the debate swirling around Francis Collins' nomination as NIH director. Some people expressed concerns that Collins' status as …
Not such a bad mutation
The New York Times is reporting that UCSF scientists have identified a tie between a genetic mutation and the need for less sleep. The research …
A new prescription for drug labels
Let's say you have high blood pressure and that during your most recent clinic visit, your doctor prescribes the newest calcium-channel blocker. You've seen commercials …
Stephen Quake talks about decoding his genome
Yesterday I wrote about how bioengineering professor Stephen Quake sequenced his own genome for less than $50,000 and with a team of just two other …