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.
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 …