health policy

When it comes to alcohol, the United States is incredibly puritanical. Our society has promoted the view that even a single drop of alcohol is harmful to developing babies. However, the totality of evidence does not support that belief at all.
Most Americans are rightly squeamish about forcing anyone to do anything against their will. But allowing homeless people to do whatever they want is no longer a viable solution. When a community fails to practice proper hygiene and sanitation, it becomes a ticking time bomb for infectious disease.
Several years after Obamacare was approved, healthcare costs continue to rise in America. The question of why – and, perhaps more importantly, how much of these costs should be covered by the government – continue to spark intense political debate. New research may shed some light on this issue.
New titles like “clinician,” “advanced practitioner” or “provider” are masking a stark reality. People will be able to practice medicine without ever attending medical school, performing rigorous residencies or be comprehensively and extensively trained as physicians. It's a frightening – and very real – trend.
Soda taxes aren't racist, yet precisely that case was made by a reporter for the newspaper. His position: Blacks and Hispanics consume more sugary beverages than whites and Asians, while whites and Asians drink more diet beverages than blacks and Hispanics. Because the tax does not apply to diet beverages, it is racist. Let's break this down.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan recently announced their intention to "cure, prevent or manage all disease within our children's lifetime." But if that's their goal, then perhaps their initial funding ought to be aimed at fighting the underlying cause of so much of the world's suffering – poverty.
Obamacare was always about health coverage, not health care. Here's why this matters.
18% attrition is a waste of our teaching resources and creates unwarranted stress for our physicians in training. I was drawn to the article because I was in fact part of that attrition ... I spent a great year in Vermont, growing up 
We're excited to report that a new study in Health Affairs provides us with another metric that we have previously known and repeatedly been shown in the literature (and in medical practice): Life expectancy and well-being are positively linked.  
With more data identifying poorer outcomes of in-hospital cardiac arrest on nights and weekends, as opposed to weekday daytimes, here are further causes and ways to advocate for yourself or a loved one.
Critics of amending existing contact lens legislation, to protect patient safety, are deceptively misleading the public. In no way does a 2004 bill impede a patient’s ability to order contact lenses from an online vendor. Alas, the free market is safe.
Enjoy the first installment of a new series entitled The Shackling of the Physician, about inane and laborious diagnostic coding excesses. Bitten by orca? Opera house as place of occurrence of external cause? Pecked by chicken? You have to be kidding ... Can anyone say #physicianburnout?