On Health,
Bioethics, and
Behavioral Science
As a physician and behavioral scientist at Duke University, my research and writing explore the quirks in human nature that influence our lives — the mixture of rational and irrational forces that affect our health, our happiness, and the way our society functions.
Latest Publications
Are Students Ready to Run Student-Run Clinics?
With an outstanding student from Baylor College of Medicine, I co-authored an essay on some of the clinical, administrative,…
Talking About Suffering in the Intensive Care Unit
We were worried: that when ICU clinicians discuss patient “suffering” with patients’ family, they are using the emotionally powerful…
What Do Psychiatrists Think About Caring for Patients Who Have Extremely Treatment-Refractory Illness?
Questions about when to limit unhelpful treatments are often raised in general medicine but are less commonly considered in…
Shared Decision-Making Communication and Prognostic Misunderstanding in the ICU
Surrogates often make decisions on behalf of critically ill patients.1 Surrogate comprehension of patient survival prognosis can affect these…
Private Equity Acquisition of Physician Practices—Looking for Ethical Guidance From Professional Societies
In 2012, private equity firms purchased approximately 75 physician-owned practices; by 2021, that number had risen to almost 500…
Classification of Patients’ Judgments of Their Physicians in Web-Based Written Reviews Using Natural Language Processing
Patients increasingly rely on web-based physician reviews to choose a physician and share their experiences. However, the unstructured text…
Latest Blog Posts
Can A Positive Attitude Prevent Colds? Your Race Could Influence The Answer
People whose immune systems are temporarily or permanently weakened can be susceptible to colds. Consider chronic stress. Ask a…
Experts Split On Whether Breast, Lung, And Prostate Cancer Screening Saves Lives
Mammograms for breast cancer; the PSA blood test for prostate cancer; CT scans for lung cancer; and things like…
Impending Spending Disaster – A Warning From Japanese Nursing Homes
Populations across many wealthy countries are aging. That means a huge swath of people will soon find themselves needing…
This Is What Happens When Medicare Minions Micromanage Microorganisms
Sepsis is a brutal killer. It often starts after a microorganism gets loose in your bloodstream, spreading to organs…
Breast Cancer Chemotherapy – Here Is What Happened When Outrageous Prices Met The Free Market
Nine to twelve years. That’s about how long most drug companies have to make serious money on new products…
Two And A Half Decades Later, OxyContin Marketing Is Still Deadly
Purdue Pharma launched OxyContin in 1996, and soon began an aggressive marketing campaign for this powerful and addictive drug…
Books
