Blog Articles Will Resume in August
I am on a “writing sabbatical” this summer with limited access to the internet. I will resume posting articles in August. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!
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Your New Liver Is Only a Learjet Away: Part 3 of 3
As I have described in two earlier posts, here and here, the transplant system in the US suffers from terrible geographic disparities. People needing liver transplants in Northern California wait more than six years on average for an organ to become available, versus only three months in places like Memphis Tennessee. The solution to the…
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Your New Liver Is Only a Learjet Away: Part 2 of 3
Irena Bucci was receiving follow-up care after delivering her second baby when the obstetrician discovered a problem with her kidneys. “My creatinine was rising,” creatinine being a waste product normally cleared out of the bloodstream by healthy kidneys, “and my doctor didn’t know why. I didn’t have high blood pressure or diabetes,” two diseases that…
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SCOTUS Has Ruled on Obamacare. So What’s Next?
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court Thursday spared the Affordable Care Act from what would have been a death blow. The Court’s action upholds the right of the federal government to subsidize low-income Americans who purchase health insurance through healthcare.gov, the federal exchange. Infamous for its rocky start, healthcare.gov now presents millions of Americans…
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What Physicians Can Learn from Veterinarians
A while back, I linked to a story by Rebecca Plevin, out of California Public Radio, on the challenge of discussing health care costs. Well, she has tuned up that piece and placed it on Marketplace. Here is a print version: When a doctor prescribes a medication, most of us don’t ask how much it’ll…
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Your New Liver Is Only a Learjet Away: Part 1 of 3
The forty million dollar Gulfstream jet landed at Memphis International airport in the early morning hours, its schedule hastily arranged earlier that day from Northern California, where the flight originated. Waiting on the tarmac was Dr. James Eason, head of transplant surgery at Methodist University Hospital, who planned on whisking the passenger to the operating…
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Scheduled for Surgery? How about Some Unnecessary Tests!
Surgery can be risky. People with major cardiovascular or respiratory illnesses undergoing major surgeries, for example, are at risk for major surgical complications, even death. But healthy people receiving less intense interventions typically fly through with nary a concern. Nevertheless, perhaps worried about those few patients who suffer major complications, many physicians order a gaggle…
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Creative Undergraduate Education at Duke
I love teaching at Duke. I can’t believe, actually, that I’m able to do that for a living. One of the great things about teaching is interacting with smart, ambitious students. And today, Duke’s The Chronicle just wrote about one such student, Elle Wilson who took a class from me last fall, and now designed…
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An Eye for an Eye, a Cataract for…$4000?!
California is in the middle of an historic drought, with the government setting limits on how long people can sing in the shower. Farmers in the state may soon need to cut back on planting or production, as ground water dries up. But California is still fruitful ground for testing promising ways to improve how…
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The Outlier Problem of Healthcare Spending
We have an outlier problem when it comes to healthcare spending. Sure, there are some services we provide far too often for far too many people. And in the United States, at least, most of the healthcare services we provide for patients are far too expensive. But a closer look at healthcare spending data reveal…