September 29th, 2009 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
Tags: Abortion, Guidelines, Homosexuality, Masterbation, Mental Health, Pediatrics, Pregnancy, Psychiatry, Psychology, Sex Ed, Sexual Education, UN, UNESCO
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The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) proposed sex education guidelines are stirring up quite the controversy – before they are even published! I will give you one guess who is attacking them – oh come on, guess!
That is correct – conservative and religious groups are attacking the guidelines because of their portrayal of issues like sex education, abortion and homosexuality. Specifically, the guidelines describe sexual abstinence as only one of a range of choices available to young people to prevent disease and avoid pregnancy. The guidelines also dare to suggest that families discuss masturbation with their children, starting as young as five, but definitely with preteens.
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This post, UN’s Sex Education Guide Generates Opposition, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
September 28th, 2009 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Costs, Defensive Medicine, Finance, Hospitalist, Medical Malpractice, Physicians, Risk
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I have blogged extensively about why standard of care is an irresponsible measure of the threshold for determining negligence in medical care. Most recently, I blogged about it
here and
here. Imagine for a moment what capitalism would be like if your investment adviser was sued every time your investment value went down. Imagine what life would be like if they risked civil liability every time a bad outcome occurred. What if no laws were broken? What if an after the fact determination of negligence was based on a bad outcome?
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*This blog post was originally published at A Happy Hospitalist*
September 28th, 2009 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Costs, Defensive Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Fear, Featured, Finance, Healthcare reform, Law Suit, Medical Malpractice, Medmal, MI
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A thoughtful and (dare I say it) balanced look at medical malpractice in today’s NYT:
Malpractice System Breeds More Waste in Medicine – NYTimes.com
The debate over medical malpractice can often seem theological. On one side are those conservatives and doctors who have no doubt that frivolous lawsuits and Democratic politicians beholden to trial lawyers are the reasons American health care is so expensive. On the other side are those liberals who see malpractice reform as another Republican conspiracy to shift attention from the real problem. […]
The direct costs of malpractice lawsuits — jury awards, settlements and the like — are such a minuscule part of health spending that they barely merit discussion, economists say. But that doesn’t mean the malpractice system is working.
The fear of lawsuits among doctors does seem to lead to a noticeable amount of wasteful treatment. Amitabh Chandra — a Harvard economist whose research is cited by both the American Medical Association and the trial lawyers’ association — says $60 billion a year, or about 3 percent of overall medical spending, is a reasonable upper-end estimate. If a new policy could eliminate close to that much waste without causing other problems, it would be a no-brainer.
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*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
September 28th, 2009 by DrRich in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Civil Rights, Democrats, healthcare, Healthcare Is A Right, Natural Rights, Obama, Republicans
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Is healthcare a right?
DrRich has visited this question before, but it keeps being raised by readers of this blog, some of whom have decidedly settled views on the matter (either to the affirmative or to the negative), and who angrily accuse DrRich of having the wrong view (that is, either to the affirmative or to the negative). DrRich is sorry to have confused so many people regarding his stance on this important question.
So, is healthcare a right? Well, to paraphrase the last president who was widely held to be a paragon of nuanced speech (who, Lincolnesque, once noted that the truth of some assertion or other “depends on what the meaning of is is”), it depends on which meaning of “right” is right.
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*This blog post was originally published at The Covert Rationing Blog*
September 26th, 2009 by eDocAmerica in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Bart Barlogie, eDocAmerica, Multiple Myeloma, Oncology, Participatory Medicine, Thalidomide, UAMS
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By Charles Smith, MD
This post is adapted from one I wrote last week on e-Patients.net Blog.
Matthew Herper’s post about thalidomide treatment of Myeloma is a good example of how patients will contribute to medical knowledge in the future, and may form a cautionary tale for patients who get involved to this degree in formulating new treatment approaches.
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*This blog post was originally published at eDocAmerica*
