Here are the top posts from the past month, based on the number of times they were viewed.
1. How did Michael Jackson die, and the medicine behind sudden cardiac death
2. Did Demerol cause Michael Jackson’s cardiac arrest and death?
3. A surgeon dumps post-op patients to hospitalists
4. The worst medical malpractice cases you can possibly imagine
5. My reaction to President Obama’s speech to the AMA
6.
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A version of this op-ed was published on June 18th, 2009 in The New York Times' Room for Debate blog.
In his recent address to the American Medical Association, President Obama noted that our health care system "rewards the quantity of care rather than the quality of care." This perverse incentive leads to unnecessary and potentially harmful medicine, while also being a major contributor to spiraling health care costs.
Doctors ...
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Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, the United States has already tried its hand at a pseudo-single-payer system. The VA is one example. Another, albeit less highly publicized, is the Indian Health Service. (via WhiteCoat)
Based on an agreement in 1787, the government is responsible to provide free health care to Native Indians on reservations. And, as you can see from this scathing ...
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The repercussions after Obama's speech to the AMA's delegates continue to be felt.
Not least of which are the murmurings of the other professional physician groups, who say that the AMA does not represent a majority of physicians. In this piece from pediatrician Rahul Parikh, he notes that about 30 percent of physicians are AMA members. Remaining doctors belong to groups with more liberal political leanings, including the ...
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I wrote back in February that one of the biggest threats to health reform was not from conservatives and the right, but from within President Obama's own party. Today, some four months later, the Washington Post reports that that's pretty much what's happening. In its report, the Post writes:
In the high-stakes battle over health care, a growing cadre of liberal activists is aiming its sharpest firepower against Democratic senators ...
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The following is part of a series of original guest columns by the American College of Physicians.
by Steven Weinberger, MD, FACP
In his column in the June 1 issue of The New Yorker, Dr. Atul Gawande used the example of McAllen, Texas, to illustrate the widely disparate spending on health care around the country. This oft cited article captured the attention of President Obama, who reportedly has made it required ...
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Family physician Doug Farrago, of Placebo Journal fame, gives his take on President Obama's speech to the AMA. width="425" height="344">
Health policy experts have never been shy about their antagonism towards doctors.
The focus now appears to be on physician pay, with the Washington Post's Steven Pearlstein, for one, continuing his anti-physician columns. Derek Thompson, over at The Atlantic (via @AllergyNotes), continues the assault, with a recent blog entry wondering if doctors deserve to be paid less.
I touched upon this topic last year, in a USA Today op-ed, ...
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The following is part of a series of original guest columns by the American Medical Association.
by J. James Rohack, M.D.
We have a historic opportunity for health reform this year and the AMA was delighted to welcome President Obama to our Annual Meeting in Chicago earlier this week. Like the President, we are committed to health-care reform that will provide all Americans with affordable, high-quality health coverage.
I was personally honored ...
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With entries dating back to 2004, here are 10 classic blog posts on President Obama:
1. How the primary care doctor shortage threatens Obama’s health reform plan
2. The Obama health care summit, and did the President offer any clues to the upcoming health reform effort?
3. Is Physicians for a National Health Program the biggest threat to Obama’s health reform plan?
4. Did Obama provide any health care clues ...
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"A comprehensive and extremely useful roadmap for doctors."
-Eric Topol, MD, author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine
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Past 6 Months
Dear lawmakers: This is what it’s like to be a doctor today
Matthew Moeller, MD | PhysicianA gun owner responds to Sandy Hook
Edwin Leap, MD | PhysicianIs Chris Christie too obese to run for president?
Jeffrey Parks, MD | PhysicianIf I’m wrong about guns, can you please explain why?
Claire McCarthy, MD | PhysicianPrimary care doctors may no longer be needed
Doug Olson, MD | PhysicianWalgreens moves into primary care, and it’s our own damn fault
Kevin Pho, MD | Kevin's Take