The New York Times has an interesting article today on new NIH director Francis Collins, MD, PhD. In it, reporter Gardiner Harris discusses with the …
Category: Health policy
Smart drugs grow in popularity
A researcher at the University of Sydney is sounding the alarm on the increasingly common use of so-called "smart drugs" among college students. Cognitive-enhancing drugs …
Murky waters: A look at Memorial Medical Center after Hurricane Katrina
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Hope for Lyme disease legislation
I'm going to Maryland to visit my parents next week, so I'm sure to be spending many pleasant hours in their backyard, which is a …
Science vs. religion at the NIH?
As a church-going scientist-turned-writer, I was on the fence about the recent nomination of geneticist Francis Collins to lead the National Institutes of Health. There's …
Genetics testing: The wild wild west?
I'm fascinated by genetics testing. At one point I considered coughing up the money to get a roadmap of my own genetic makeup, but in …
Stem cell guidelines under fire
Stanford's Irving Weissman, MD, questions who's really in charge of our national embryonic stem cell research policy.
Sober up
Has Douglas Elmemdorf, CBO director, put a nail into the coffin on the notion that the Congress could possibly have a legislative reform package ready …
From academic to advisor
Keith Humphreys, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral science, is embarking on a new role this week - that of Senior Policy Advisor at the …
Gloomy forecast for health-care reform
When I asked Stanford health-care economist Victor Fuchs back in 2005 what it would take to significantly reform the U.S. health-care system, he said nothing …
Victor Fuchs on federal health insurance
Victor Fuchs, PhD, one of the nation's foremost health economists, says a government-run plan will not solve the huge financial issues that plague health-care in …
Beyond compare
The concept behind comparative effectiveness research seems simple enough. Researchers would compare two or more strategies for treating a specific illness and then determine which …