Thomas Jefferson on Political Disagreements
“Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.” (Click here to view comments)
-
-
Why Do Patients Take Their Doctor's Advice?
Is it the white coat? That’s what I wondered in medical school when I would find patients asking me for advice on topics they simply had to know more about than me. Mothers would ask me how to get their newborn babies to sleep through the night, asking me even though the one time I babysat…
-
Thomas Jefferson on the Importance of Newspapers
As we watch the newspaper industry die around us, we should reflect on just how important newspapers have been for American democracy. Thomas Jefferson certainly understood this. “The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to…
-
Should Our Government Combat the Obesity Epidemic?
Here is video from a talk I recently gave at the University of Wisconsin, laying out a few of the reasons I think the government needs to play a role in combating the obesity epidemic. If you dig further into the conference website, you will see a video from my opponent in the debate, Jacob…
-
Cass Sunstein Takes on the Death Panel Myth
I wrote a while back about some research I conducted with Jason Reifler and Brendan Nyhan on how fact checking influences people’s belief in whether Obamacare created death panels, to decide which old or disabled peoples to kill. Yesterday, Cass Sunstein wrote about our study, and mused on several really interesting related issues. Check out…
-
A Tiny Fraction of People, a Huge Chunk of Medical Spending
Any effort to rein in health care costs needs to account for this graph, showing what percent of medical expenses attributed which group of patients. (Martin Gaynor posted this picture in a recent blog.) I use another version of this in my teaching: Either way, what we have here is an AMAZING concentration of spending….
-
Will the Sequester Cause Oncologists to Lose Money Prescribing Chemotherapy?
In a recent Washington Post article, Sarah Kliff reported that “Cancer clinics across the country have begun turning away thousands of Medicare patients” because of reductions in reimbursement caused by the sequester. Specifically, oncologists will no longer be able to markup the price of chemotherapy by 6% “to cover the cost of storing and administering” the drugs….
-
On Why Thomas Jefferson Never Committed Suicide
Upon the death of his wife, Thomas Jefferson went into a deep depression. In crushing words, he described his state of mind to his sister-in-law, in a sentence that could be placed in psychiatric manuals next to a definition of depression: “All my plans of comfort and happiness reversed by a single event and nothing…
-
Thomas Jefferson, On Being Afraid of Girls
In his youth, Jefferson didn’t lack for confidence except, it seems, when smitten by an attractive girl. One night at a dance, he worked up a bunch of things he could say to a girl named Rebecca who he was hoping to become acquainted with: “I was prepared to say a great deal: I had…
-
Too Many Opinions?
Based on today’s Duke Opinion Page, I’m beginning to wonder if I have too many opinions. Something my wife has been telling me for years! (Click here to view comments)