Second Opinion

Preventive Health in People with an Advanced Cancer

How aggressively should we look for new cancers in people who already have life threatening illnesses?

Why Do We Still Make Residents Work 80-Hour Weeks?

One sure way to improve the quality of care is to require junior doctors to work reasonable hours…

Paying for Drugs for Rare Diseases

As a society how do we develop new drugs to treat important diseases?

Teen Pregnancy

Does providing teens with birth control increase their chance of becoming sexually active?

Birth Control Pills and Sexual Activity

Does starting a young woman on birth control pills lead to earlier onset of sexual activity?

In Vitro Fertilization – a Remarkable Discovery!

While many infertile couples can now have children, there remain many ethical and legal dilemmas...

What Needs to Go in the Medical Record?

Does everything you tell the doctor need to be written in the record?

Memory Loss

Should doctors be testing for memory on a regular basis?

The Loss of Altruism

Is it the economy that has lead to us forgetting those less fortunate?

Reporting Child Abuse

Doctors have a difficult decision deciding when to report suspect child abuse...

Literacy and Health

An unrecognized barrier to good health turns out to be a poor ability to read..

A New Diagnosis of a Genetic Condition

US Ranked 9th in End of Life Care

We could do much better but we need to take some important steps.

Drug Companies' Priority: Make Profits, Not Protect Health

Why is it is that we are repeatedly not told the truth about the safety of prescription drugs?

Foreign Trained Health Doctors Working in the US

Is brain drain always a problem for poorer nations?

Rethinking Medical Education, Part II

How can we have healthcare reform with changing the way doctors are trained?

Summertime in Medicine

Refusal of Care

What happens when the patient and the doctor disagree about hospital discharge?

Sexting

Public Attitude toward Healthcare Technology

Colonoscopy: Does the Time of Day Matter?

Genetic Testing of College Students

I'm a little bit worried....

When Can a Parent Say Enough is Enough?

Are we any safer with new airport scanners?

What evidence that using scanners at airports make us any safer?

The Dangers of Four letter Words

Sometimes there's just no other way to express yourself...

An Obligation to Participate in Research

How do we advance medical science if people won t participate in research?

Swine Flu-One Year Later

Now, a year after we first heard about Swine Flu, how did we do?

It's All the Result of TV

The amount of television kids watch is having an impact on health...

Tomorrow's Doctors

Interest in primary care is still at historic lows leading to questions about the ability to deliver on healthcare reform...

Pay for Performance

Can we improve healthcare quality for providing incentives?

The More You Do the Better You Get

If you want the best outcome you'd best chose the doctor/hospital with the most experience...

Is the Use of Placebos Always Unethical?

While many medicines don't work for us, it is wrong to use a medicine we know won't work...

The Ugly Truth About Homeopathy

Why do we tolerate medicines that we know don t work?

Under-treatment of Sickle Cell Pain

Emergency Contraception for People 17 and Older -- but Not Males!

Why won't a pharmacy respect the law and sell emergency contraception to a male?

Incidental Findings

What do we do when the x-ray shows an unexpected shadow?

Have Family Doctors Given Up on Families?

The American Academy of Family Physicians signs sweetheart deal with Coca Cola...

The last breaths of life

How do we know what it's really like at the very end of life?

When People Don't Follow Advice

It's hard to understand why it is that people sometimes make decisions that are not in their best interest...

Learning about New Drugs

How is it that your doctor decides which drug to prescribe?

Effectiveness of Tamiflu

Have we been duped by the makers of Tamiflu?

Advanced Dementia Is a Terminal Illness

Hospice care needs to be available to those with illness other than terminal cancer...

Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!

Sometimes a tincture of time is the very best medicine...

The Politics of Science

The mammogram debate -- an example of where science and politics just don't belong together...

Controversy around Mammograms

We have really confused women this week

The Low-down on Picking Up Diseases Early!

Given the screening tests pick up diseases early, how can they be harmful?

Looking for Disease in All the Wrong Places

Are we being honest about the usefulness of screening tests?

Chaperones during the Exam

Having another person in the room for the physical exam can be a blessing or a curse...

Futile Care

Should you have the right to receive any medical care you want?