Medicine

Why do we get sick? Why are factory farms exempt? Why does adoption seem more difficult than IVF? Are shoppers more angry?
Our culture likes lists. Websites and media entities recognize people click on them often. The problem is that they routinely skew reality, rather than reveal it.
You don’t have to look very far to find wellness facilities touting this or that intravenous infusion for “detoxification” and “revitalization.” And if that's not troubling enough, as fees increase our skepticism is following suit.
Despite having yet to save a mouse, last week a company created headlines when it said that it would cure all cancers -- in a year. Let's clarify what promise actually exists in the field, and what hurdles still need to be overcome.
Telling your doctor you were fully compliant, when you weren’t, is pretty standard fare. From tiny fibs to outright self-sabotage, how we cope with a bump in the health road determines how difficult we make the ride.
Epic patent gaming, and pay-for-delay agreements to slow-walk introduction of cheaper generics to market, helped bring us to this point. But will a growing behemoth of 750 hospitals actually lower drug prices?
The knowledge of a baby being big or small is just data, not meaningful information. Context is key.
From forensic science to bioethics and societal issues, this rather eclectic mix reveals what captivates us and captures our attention.
What a medical doctor sees in social media posts can tell an entirely different picture than the one intended to be told. As the saying goes "the devil is in the details."
When what's absent in a story carries equal or more weight than what is actually reported, the damage goes beyond ratings. It undermines public health.
Medicine is a skill, and it's impossible to practice medicine without patients. It would be like asking a carpenter to learn how to make a cabinet without wood. Why then are we surprised that students learn from patients?
Information is like any other medical therapy. When it's within a therapeutic range, it can be curative. But at toxic levels, it can be destructive. Its quantity will never trump its quality.