I Might Have Been Wrong About Obesity…

I frequently make a big deal about obesity – how it’s probably one of the primary reasons Americans have comparatively low life expectancies, and how it contributes largely (no-pun intended) to our skyrocketing health care costs.  My generalizations are imprecise at best…just plain wrong at worst. 
Check out this Q and A with health economist Eric [...]

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The Number One Culprit in Modern Medicine: Guesswork

The Crossover Health blog has fantastic commentary on Shannon Brownlee’s book “Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine is Making us Sicker and Poorer.”  I haven’t read the book, but I understand it’s about waste in American Health Care.  The blog focuses on one particular chapter entitled “The Desperate Cure,” which chronicles the failure of Bone Marrow [...]

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It’s Not All or Nothing…

When we make snap judgments based on race, creed, religion, or gender, we are bigots.  When a Wall Street trader makes a snap judgment, he can either make or lose a lot of money.  The latter probably more closely resembles the original reason for the adaptation.  Long ago in our development, making judgments that [...]

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U.S. vs. Canada: Physician Wait Times

In my recent post “Let’s Pick on Canada Now,” I discussed the physician shortage in Canada and how it has affected wait times for specialist treatment — which edged up over 18 weeks last year.
Unfortunately (or fortunately for this blog), I was able to compare a personal experience in the U.S. with the statistics cited [...]

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Exploiting a Teenage Cancer Casualty AND Her Insurance Company, A How-To Guide. by Senator John Edwards

The Wall Street Journal chronicles John Edward’s attempt to tug at New Hampshire’s heart strings by telling a misleading version of the story of the death of a 17-year old leukemia patient and Cigna Corp., the insurance company that delayed coverage on her liver transplant.
Edwards, a former trial attorney, is the most extreme of capitalists, [...]

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Health Care Like the DMV

My fellow blogger, WCShort, recently wrote a colorful piece on his experience attempting to renew his driver’s license and paying his personal property tax.
I had a similar experience with the Jackson County Department of Revenue, the municipality responsible for collecting my State of Missouri personal property tax.  Because of confusion between internal departments, I was [...]

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Primary Care Physicians: An Endangered Species

A recent Health Care Blog Post explains the looming crisis in primary care. Some background: great health care systems are anchored by primary care physicians (PCPs), the generalist doctor whom your family depends upon for standard medical care. The PCP must have a workable basic knowledge of nearly all medical specialties and be able to [...]

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Concierge Physician for Gen-Xer’s and Gen-Yer’s

Being a simple-minded person, the best metaphor I can think of for what I’m about to describe is this: “concept car.” This is where a car manufacturer showcases radical thinking and new technology by developing a machine full of ideas, many of which will make it to market in a real car. Take for example [...]

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