March 11th, 2010 by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
Tags: addiction, Addiction Medicine, Cigarettes, FDA, nicotine, Nicotine-Free, Quitting, Regulation, smoking, smoking cessation
No Comments »
In the previous posting I discussed the possibility of FDA requiring that no tobacco products be allowed to emit Carbon Monoxide. While appealing in its simplicity, such a strategy may have problems in that it could be interpreted as a ban on a whole class (or classes) of tobacco products, which the legislation does not allow.
Another strategy might be to reduce the harm from tobacco by lowering the nicotine content/delivery of cigarettes down to the level at which they are no longer addictive. A form of this strategy was proposed in the 1990’s by leading tobacco researchers Professor Neal Benowitz, and Professor Jack Henningfield. The FDA legislation singles out nicotine as the only chemical that cannot be reduced to zero, but this allows FDA the right to reduce the nicotine delivery of tobacco products down to a level just above zero at which they would no longer be addictive. Read more »
This post, Will Nicotine-Free Cigarettes Be Mandated By The FDA?, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D..
March 10th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Carter, Charts, Costs, Healthcare spending, Nixon, Politics, Price Controls, Savings, Single Payer
No Comments »
Today the Commonwealth Fund came out with a chart that it says is a “grim reminder” of what happens when health care doesn’t get reformed.
If only we had listened to Richard Nixon or Jimmy Carter. We would have saved tens of trillions of dollars in health care spending.
Click to enlarge Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
March 9th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Cardiology, CDC, Diet and Exercise, Health Insurance, Heart Disease, Interactive Map, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Preventive Health, Primary Care, States, Stroke
1 Comment »
The CDC has put out an interactive map of heart disease and stroke so you can compare your state or even county with the rest of the country. It offers data on mortality, hospitalizations and even penetration of generalist and subspecialist availability.
What I found interesting was the lack of definitive association between access to generalists or subspecialists and mortality. While rural areas with a low penetration of physicians generally had a higher mortality than urban centers, many urban centers with a high penetration of generalists and subspecialist also had a high mortality as well. One could presume that rural America has many factors separate and independent of health care that affects their mortality rate. The same could be said for urban America. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
March 9th, 2010 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Career Choice, Distinguishing Factors, Emergency Medicine
2 Comments »
‘Woof, I used to do some emergency medicine, too!’
Years and years in emergency medicine have given me a very enlightening look at the various specialties that make up the ‘house of medicine.’ I am constantly amazed by the other professionals I meet. It astounds me that pediatricians can manage the tiniest of humans, barely larger than my palm. I am fascinated by the way an orthopedic surgeon can look at a fracture and reconstruct it in her mind; a kind of spatial organization totally foreign to my cerebral hemispheres.
General surgeons can navigate the complex plumbing of the human body and leave it running smooth as silk after injury or cancer. And neurologists are at home with the awe-inspiring, labyrinthine pathways of the human brain. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
March 6th, 2010 by Debra Gordon in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
Tags: AAP, Common Sense, Hot Dogs, kids, Parenting, Pediatrics
1 Comment »
So the American Academy of Pediatrics just came out with a statement that–gasp!–hot dogs (and hard candy, peanuts/nuts, seeds, whole grapes, raw carrots, apples, popcorn, chunks of peanut butter,
marshmallows, chewing gum, and sausages) pose a choking hazard to young children.
Maybe about a dozen children a year die from choking on hot dogs. So the AAP would like hot dog manufacturers to put warning labels on their products and consider changing the wiener’s shape so they pose less of a risk to young children.
I honestly do not know where to start. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at A Medical Writer's Musings on Medicine and Health Care*
