Insurance providers use big sticks. They call them co-payments and high deductibles, used to try and lower their costs. Yet, when they try the carrot of rewards -- using actual dollars -- we have little interest.
Policy & Ethics
Some science positions are so well-supported by data that every literate adult should embrace them. For those who reject facts, an appeal to emotion with funny pictures and clever text can sometimes work to persuade. So, let's celebrate some of our favorite pro-vaccine memes.
In the science wars, some positions are so well-supported by mountains of data ("vaccines are safe and effective"), that every literate adult should embrace them. Alas, they do not. For people who reject facts, an appeal to emotion might work. Hence, the meme. It's simply a matter of reality that memes with funny pictures and clever text go viral, while the latest research paper from the Journal of the American Medical Association does not. So, let's celebrate pro-vaccine memes.
We've issued patents for enzymes, seeds, and mice -- which are all forms of life. But can nature have rights? And further, what do Cliven Bundy, a Nevada cattle rancher who engaged in a tense standoff with the federal government, and a group of Chippewa have in common?
This type of rough math reveals some problems, or at least several concerns that we as a nation should be aware of. So before relying on sound bites and quick news hits, we all need to have a better understanding of the concept of Medicare for All, and its varying proposals.
Overlapping surgery increases a surgeon's efficiency. But it comes at too high an expense: the denigration of our the surgeon's role, as well as an unwarranted emphasis on technique over care.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, who fancies herself a visionary, challenged her critics to come up with an alternative to the Green New Deal. It wasn't very hard to do. Not only that, when the Fox Business Channel read Dr. Alex Berezow's plan, they invited him to discuss it on television last night. So he did. And here's his proposal.
From hospital inpatient “wealth screenings” for potential donors, to digital "geofencing" cell phones in emergency rooms, the erosion of patient privacy is real. Guess who's the latest to have access to your intimate data (e.g. pregnancy status, ovulation cycle, blood pressure) without your consent?
Rent doesn't just refer to apartments and land. Also, rent is not profit, it requires no activity in adding value and it entails little risk. The rising cost of healthcare includes the rising cost of healthcare's rents.
Like Pig-Pen from Peanuts, a cloud of filth follows Andrew Wakefield wherever he goes. Vaccine exemptions have soared 1900% in Texas since he moved there. Now, he's trying to get anti-vaccine politicians elected.
Eating at Panda Express recently in Seattle, it was hard not to notice that after just a few bites some diners found their forks to be completely bent out of shape. A quick look at the handle revealed why: It was marked "compostable."
The new behavioralists are trying to figure out how to best reward physicians for good outcomes. We may call it "pay for performance," but it seems an awful lot like all those studies of rats pressing levers to get a reward or avoid being shocked.
The editorial board of the New York Times came out in favor of revising FDA regulations of cosmetic products. This is a reasonable suggestion since such a review has not taken place since 1938. But sound science, especially toxicology, is essential for any change in regulations to be meaningful. Unfortunately, on the science itself, the newspaper's proposal misses the mark.