Can a physician's past professional deeds be forgotten? And if so, who gets to decide? If you ask the European Union, the answer is Google.
Policy & Ethics
Gwyneth Paltrow has a great career. Not many actors can match her cinematic résumé. So why she feels the need to become America's second-biggest health scam artist -- after Dr. Oz, of course -- is absolutely mind-boggling. Netflix will launch a series of health shows featuring Ms. Paltrow and her bogus claims this autumn. Doesn't she have enough money already?
Vaccine resistance is one of the top 10 threats to global health. New York City is currently experiencing its worst outbreak of measles in decades, sickening scores of children in ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. Prominent health organizations and advocacy groups have called on state legislatures to eliminate religious and philosophical exemptions.
Did you know when you're in the hospital, the fundraising staff has access to part of your health record unless you opt-out? Our love affair with Big Data is transforming patient privacy into a relic.
An ordinary (or worse) study sets out to rehash the same nonsense about how deadly prescription opioids are. In addition, it ends up botching the conclusion to appear that it's contradicting itself. This is seriously strange.
Is it possible that patient advocates have hidden conflicts of interest? That they accept funding from Big Pharma, the du jour villains of healthcare? Further, was the ever-cynical Television Doc right in his assessment of patients' ability to tell the truth?
The New York Times has done something that it very rarely does: It wrote an editorial in support of biotechnology. Unfortunately, the newspaper has a long history of spreading misinformation about GMOs and chemicals, which seriously undermines the important message in its pro-vaccine editorial.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is now on this healthcare bandwagon, and as is often the case with politicians this is more distraction than substance. Unfortunately, both ends of the political spectrum are more concerned with burnishing their image than solving the problem.
The pharmaceutical industry does not make a move without knowing what is coming down the pike, or without global projections years into the future. This latest maneuver is standard fare.
Bundled care, paying and calculating costs for an episode of care rather than fee-for-service, was thought in theory to be able to bring substantial cost savings. But as Yogi Berra said, "In theory, there is no difference in theory and practice. In practice there is."
How can we move scientific research in directions that are felt to be "socially optimal"? While there is no stick to get science redirected, government funding can supply the carrot. How big a carrot is needed? That depends. Let's take a look.
The Oregon Democrat recently wrote a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, claiming that his Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, formed in 2016, was corrupted by big pharma money. The task force was charged with reforming the CDC's disastrous 2016 opioid guidelines. Sen. Wyden claims that two respected physicians in the group had conflicts of interest. Instead, perhaps it's time for the lawmaker to look in the mirror.