Recovering from surgery can be painful. That’s why lots of surgeons give patients narcotics post-operatively. But that is also the time when people can get hooked on narcs. Here is a picture of how many patients take narcotics for at least 3 months following a surgical procedure: Perhaps orthopedic surgeons should ask for help from…
One year does not a trend make, but it does look like prices for health insurance under Obamacare next year will decline, on average. Ezra Klein, over at Vox.com, produced a nice picture of these prices: Who knows: in the long run, maybe the name of this law – The Affordable Care Act – will…
Advertising is about persuasion. Companies spend billions of dollars per year trying to convince us to buy their products. But sometimes, rigorous philosophical training can help us avoid that influence. Consider the following ad: Only deep immersion in Immanuel Kant helped me recognize the flaws in this reasoning!
In the U.S., we do a lousy job of paying for long-term care. We don’t help people cover the costs of nursing homes or home-health aids when they have chronic, life-threatening illnesses. As a result, more Americans die in the hospital than they would if we covered long-term care more generously. At least that’s the…
During a break between classes, I offered some MBA students the chance to make a little extra money. Some would have a job of sitting in the classroom for five minutes doing nothing, absolutely nothing – no reading, no listening to music; just staring straight ahead. For this effortless job, they would receive $2.50. Others…
I’ve got some good news for all of you: there’s no racial disparity in pay among female physicians. African-American physicians in the United States make just as much money as Caucasian women. Unfortunately, this good news is largely a result of dismal news – neither group of women make as much as white male physicians….