DOCTOR FILES: When the Unknown Is Not So Bad
“DOCTOR FILES: When the Unknown Is Not So Bad” – Los Angeles Times
“DOCTOR FILES: When the Unknown Is Not So Bad” – Los Angeles Times
In a recent Huffington Post article, I was described as a Duke University economist. I’m sure the economic community would like to make very clear that I am not one of its members. The same goes for most communities, as far as I can tell. Nevertheless, despite that glaring error, much of the content of…
We all know what “a complainer” is: it’s a person who finds the dark side of everything, who turns a casual conversation starter—“How are you doing?”—into a somber soliloquy about all the (usually minor) problems making their life unbearable. Too often, people with chronic pain are viewed as complainers by friends, family, and even their…
My father is 92 years old, and I am beginning to wonder whether the best thing for his health would be to stay away from doctors. That’s because well intentioned physicians often expose their elderly patients to harmful and unnecessary services out of habit. That’s certainly the message I absorbed after reading a recent issue…
Mammograms for breast cancer; the PSA blood test for prostate cancer; CT scans for lung cancer; and things like stool blood tests and colonoscopies for colon cancer. Each of these screening tests is designed to find cancers, or precancers, before they become symptomatic, the goal of early detection being to enable clinicians to eradicate growths…
Photo Credit: LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images Growing up Republican, I have long believed in personal responsibility. In junior high school, when I observed close relatives who struggled with obesity, I vowed to never let myself get out of shape. (“Junior high” is what we called middle school back in the day.) When hip surgery gone wrong…
Here is a very interesting essay in the Arkansas Business Journal, which ties our research on physician patient conversations into a broader message about the importance of good communication in business. Glad to see our work is having an impact. Considering all of the technical advances and new complexities in marketing today (such as social,…