Many who know me might be shocked by this: I shot my first pistol when I was 8 or 9, taught by my father, a physician, aiming at targets in our basement. At summer camp, I loved riflery the way some kids loved art. Staring through the sight, down the barrel, I proved an excellent shot, gathering ever more advanced medals from the National Rifle Association. As a reward, for …
I was a teenage rifle owner, then an ER doctor
As stores, restaurants, airlines and offices try to lure clients back, this is what they need to do to earn my business: Make me feel safe — no, make me be as safe as possible. As I’ve begun to explore old haunts, some are doing a fabulous job. Others are not.
So my dollars will flow to the former, and I’ll effectively boycott the latter. Think of it as ethical shopping, …
I’ll reward businesses that are seriously implementing recommended COVID-19 precautionary guidelines
It has been nearly three months since the first cases of a new coronavirus pneumonia appeared in Wuhan, China, and it is now a global outbreak. And yet, despite nearly 90,000 infections worldwide (most of them in China), the world still doesn’t have a clear picture of some basic information about this outbreak.
In recent weeks, a smattering of scientific papers and government statements have begun to sketch the …
How many people have coronavirus? We don’t really know.
As voters fume about the high cost of health care, politicians have been targeting two well-deserved villains: pharmaceutical companies, whose prices have risen more than inflation, and insurers, who pay their executives millions in salaries while raising premiums and deductibles.
Although the Democratic presidential candidates have devoted copious airtime to debating health care, many of the country’s leading health policy experts have wondered why they have given a total pass …
How hospitals drive up health costs
Earlier this year, California’s new governor, Gavin Newsom, promised to pursue a smörgåsbord of changes to his state’s health care system: state negotiation of drug prices, a requirement that every Californian have health insurance, more assistance to help middle-class Californians afford it and health care for undocumented immigrants up to age 26.
The proposals fell short of the sweeping government-run single-payer plan Newsom had supported during his …
Can the states fix our national health care disaster?
As President Donald Trump was fighting with Congress over the shutdown and funding for a border wall, his administration implemented a new rule that could be a game changer for health care.
Now, hospitals must publicly reveal the contents of their master price lists — called “chargemasters” — online. These are the prices that most patients never notice because their insurers negotiate them down or they appear buried as line …
A new rule that could be a game changer for health care
Eli Lilly and Co. recently announced with some fanfare that it was manufacturing a generic version of its own best-selling insulin brand, Humalog, which it would sell for half off — $137.35 versus about $275.
David Ricks, the chief executive of Lilly, said the company was making this seemingly beneficent gesture because “many patients are struggling to afford their insulin.”
But they’re struggling, in large part, …
Why you shouldn’t be happy with $137 insulin
Amazon has opened a new health care frontier: Now Alexa can be used to transmit patient data. Using this new feature — which Amazon labeled as a “skill” — a company named Livongo will allow diabetes patients — which it calls “members” — to use the device to “query their last blood sugar reading, blood sugar measurement trends, and receive insights and Health Nudges that are personalized to …
Would you trust Alexa with your patient data?
As calls for radical health reform grow louder, many on the right, in the center and in the health care industry are arguing that proposals like “Medicare for all” would cause economic ruin, decimating a sector that represents nearly 20% of our economy.
While exploring a presidential run, former Starbucks chief Howard Schultz called Medicare for all “not American,” adding, “What industry are we going to abolish next — …
Medicare for all will kill jobs. But it may be necessary.
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