Second Opinion

Unnecessary Pre-operative testing 09.04.2023 4:55 ↓

The thinking goes that testing before elective surgery can reduce risks and complications.  But, it turns out it may do the opposite.

Implied Consent 02.04.2023 4:23 ↓

Touch during a visit to the doctor has many benefits, but it can also negatively impact the provider-patient relationship.

Video recordings of surgical procedures 26.03.2023 5:02 ↓

While video offers some advantages to patients and providers, it also has some significant downsides.

A rising demand for medical imaging tests 19.03.2023 4:48 ↓

There are several reasons for the increasing use of medical imaging tests buy they may not always benefit the patient

Unacceptable COVID vaccine profits 12.03.2023 4:59 ↓

When is it simply avarice to profit at the expense of public health?

The continued overuse of antibiotics 05.03.2023 4:50 ↓

Sick people play a large role in driving antibiotic overuse.

Medical issues following a disaster 26.02.2023 4:59 ↓

First comes the disaster. What follows is predictable, but equally worrisome.

Organ donations by prisoners 19.02.2023 4:48 ↓

Should prisoners be allowed to donate organs in exchange for a reduced sentence?

The Need for New Antibiotics 12.02.2023 4:48 ↓

Changes are needed to ready ourselves to treat new emerging infections

The problems with direct-to-consumer drug advertising 05.02.2023 4:54 ↓

For good reason, other than the US, only one other country in the world allows drugs to be advertised directly to the public.

Making three wishes at the end of life 29.01.2023 4:59 ↓

Small acts of kindness make a huge difference to patients and families

Pay for performance in healthcare 22.01.2023 4:40 ↓

Good quality turns out to be complicated and unrelated to reimbursement rates

Too many blood tests 15.01.2023 4:51 ↓

While properly ordered blood tests can help enormously with diagnosis, too often, blood tests are ordered without good reason.

The complexity of a second opinion 08.01.2023 4:31 ↓

Is there value in getting a second opinion?  What happens when the two opinions differ from each other?

2022 End of Year Recap 31.12.2022 4:59 ↓

A look at some of the topics we covered throughout the past year.

“We got it all” 25.12.2022 4:32 ↓

These four words may not mean the same thing to all people

Putting technology ahead of the evidence 18.12.2022 4:49 ↓

Too often the use of expensive and risky technologies catch on before we have good data suggesting benefit.

Injustice Disorder 11.12.2022 4:41 ↓

When a person is a victim of systemic injustice does that constitute a medical diagnosis?

Insulin production in California 04.12.2022 5:00 ↓

The state of California is about to take on pharmaceutical companies by producing safe, effective, FDA approved insulin.

Time for a new approach to Alzheimer’s Disease 27.11.2022 4:56 ↓

For over 100 years we’ve had a similar approach to understanding Alzheimer’s disease which hasn’t produced many benefits. Perhaps it’s time to cast the net more broadly?

The Limits of Specialty Care 20.11.2022 4:24 ↓

In medical care job specifications are often blurred and a focus on the person can get lost

Microplastics and human health 13.11.2022 4:48 ↓

Until we know more, it makes sense to avoid microplastics as much as possible

Monitoring poor air quality 06.11.2022 4:24 ↓

Using participatory science to examine local air quality.

The Care Cascade 30.10.2022 4:57 ↓

Unnecessary medical testing often leads to a “care cascade” that results in real harm and sky-high costs.

The problems with body mass index (BMI) 23.10.2022 4:52 ↓

Often medicine gets hooked on using simple tools of measurement only to discover, after they have become entrenched, that they don’t measure what they are supposed to measure.