From the monthly archives:

October 2004

October 31, 2004

Growing movement reduces wait to see doctor
The push for open access.

October 31, 2004

Medicine’s new menu
“Four-star hospitals? Thumbs up or down on medical clinics? MRIs listed from “$” to “$$$”?
One of the biggest challenges for the hot, new “consumer-driven” health plans might be delivering them without looking like a restaurant review.”

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October 31, 2004

Medicines Without Borders
“I have a confession to make. I am a drug company executive who believes we should legalize the reimportation of prescription drugs. I know that I have a different opinion from that of my employer on this matter, but to me, importation of drugs is about much more than money; it is about [...]

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October 30, 2004

Is Kaiser the Future of American Health Care?
“In Northern California alone, Kaiser spends $55 million a year on chronic-care management programs. “But what’s really expensive is if we don’t take care of these people and manage their chronic conditions,” said Dr. Robert Mithun, chief of internal medicine at Kaiser’s medical center in San Francisco.
Dr. Mithun’s [...]

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October 30, 2004

In American Health Care, Drug Shortages Are Chronic“Imagine being unable to find supplies of a medicine that limits damage from a spinal cord injury, a medicine that improves the health of a premature baby, or a medicine that fights systemic bacterial infectious.
Each of these drugs, and dozens of others, are in shortage in the United [...]

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October 30, 2004

Stop the Shakedown
“Voters in six states will decide, on Nov. 2, the fate of ballot measures on lawsuit reform. In the past lawyers have prevailed in nearly all such battles. Will things be different this year?” (via Overlawyered).

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Arafat watch

October 30, 2004

Here is the latest update on Yasser Arafat:

Yasser Arafat underwent medical tests on Saturday and a senior Palestinian official said doctors had ruled out for the time being that the PLO leader was suffering from leukemia . . .
Palestinian officials said the first of a battery of tests for cancers and other disorders showed no [...]

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October 29, 2004

Workers prefer better health coverage to a raise
“Given the choice between a raise and more generous health care coverage, most workers would opt for the coverage . . .”

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Pri-Med, brought to you by . . .

October 29, 2004

I’ll be attending Pri-Med in Boston tomorrow at the new Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (I’ll take a break for the Red Sox parade). I know that drug companies provide a lot of the funding, but this is going a bit too far.
First, my registration credentials folder was compliments of Boehringer Ingelheim and [...]

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October 29, 2004

FDA Holds Off Approval of New Merck Drug
As expected, the FDA is holding off on Merck’s new COX-2, Arcoxia. I’ve been bombarded with ads saying it’s “coming soon”. I guess not.

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October 29, 2004

Chlamydia Testing Disappointingly Low
“Only 26 percent of women enrolled in commercial health plans who were eligible for screening were tested in 2001 . . . Only 38 percent of eligible women in Medicaid plans were screened, the report said.”
Screening for Chlamydial infection is important since it can cause urethritis, cervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and [...]

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October 29, 2004

For Inventive Business (and Health) Officials, Flu-Shot Specials
“On the mad, mad quest for a flu shot? Take the flu-shot special, a high-speed ferry from Seattle to Victoria, B.C., that offers a scenic ride across the Strait of Juan de Fuca and a vaccine stop in Canada; 2,000 people already have reservations. Or hop on [...]

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October 28, 2004

U.S. Trails Others in Health Care Satisfaction
“The study shows that people in the U.S. face longer wait times to see doctors and have more trouble getting care on evenings or weekends than do people in other industrialized countries. At the same time, Americans were more likely to receive advice on disease prevention and self-care than [...]

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October 28, 2004

Stop-gap medicine
“With the suturing and unsuturing of Curt Schilling’s ankle, the dawn of “episodic medicine” has arrived. Episodic medicine is aggressive treatment for the now, and it inherently contradicts our “quality of life” policy . . .
But there are consequences. What about the cost? Who pays for these procedures? What are the limits? Already, [...]

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October 28, 2004

What has evidence based medicine done for us?
BMJ with a theme-issue on evidence-based medicine.

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October 28, 2004

Malpractice Prescriptions
PointofLaw is hosting a featured discussion on medical malpractice: “This month, we’re looking into medical malpractice once more. In lieu of a back-and-forth format, this month we’re inviting comments from some leading thinkers on medical malpractice reform to discuss a new paper by Daniel Kessler of Stanford Business School . . .”

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