Policy & Ethics

A well-publicized paper on suicide rates by occupation might have produced faulty data. A re-analysis is underway, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention taking action.
Two FDA expert panels rejected a new extended-release oxycodone pill. Some of their findings are reasonable, even if you don't agree with them. But one reason is very far beyond stupid. Especially since they refused to learn from history. 
A recent Pennsylvania Supreme court ruling, recognizing what it means to be a doctor, is not a solution but a problem. Authors in The New England Journal of Medicine beg to differ.  
The University of California, San Francisco is hosting documents acquired by anti-chemical, anti-pharmaceutical, and anti-biotech activists. This is not "transparency" but propaganda. Taxpayer-funded propaganda.
Groups like the EPA have used "secret science" to legislate without being accountable to the public the way Congress and the President are. It's time for that to end.
When first hearing about Abilify MyCite, the controversial new digital drug, one might likely recall the famous movie scene from "The Matix" when Neo ingests a red pill that also delivers computer code. It also might make one wonder about the kinds of people being remade through this new biotechnology.
The negative impact of (1) "at-all-costs" breastfeeding campaigns, (2) the political zeal of "lactivism" and (3) societal pressures have done a proven disservice to women and families. So much so that formal health policy had to be changed.
Accountable Care Organizations want to share in the profits, but not the risk of providing health care. In the end, will being forced to take on risk result in this "innovative payment" program?
People want compassion. And unlike doctors – who are often in a hurry, seeing you in sterile and unwelcoming exam rooms – alternative medicine practitioners are masters at delivering compassion. And they genuinely seem to care about your well-being.
It's no surprise that controlling your future, by stopping the development of medical conditions, draws a captive audience. But is that what genetic testing actually does?
As if our policies for treatment of pain patients aren't horrific enough? If you happen to be black or Hispanic and suffer from Sickle Cell Disease, life is far worse. Do patients with a known, easily-diagnosed disease get a break with pain relief? No, it's quite the opposite. Disgraceful. 
When lawyers and marketing firms can directly target patients via their mobile phones – while, yes, even in the ER – the time is yesterday to preserve the once-presumed protected health information.