Every time I turn on the television, there’s another commercial for a new drug treating a condition I’ve never even heard of. It’s constant. And honestly, it’s exhausting. I can’t help but wonder: What happened to real car…
Category: Policy
C. Everett Koop takes the lead, seeking specialty recognition
An excerpt from Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General. “I was the salesman for pediatric surgery. I have the knack of talking to an audience and convincing [them] about what I’m saying is true.” – CEK The early 1950s w…
Human trafficking isn’t what you think: Why education is key to stopping it
The recent focus on the Canada-U.S. border has led to frequent confusion between human smuggling and human trafficking. Smuggling involves people moving across international borders. In most cases, irregular migrants who are smuggled into the country c…
How trade wars could destroy the U.S. health care system
The term “core competency” was coined by management experts C.K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel in their influential 1990 article titled “The core competence of the corporation,” published in the Harvard Business Review. Prahalad and H…
Academic medical centers under threat: the impact of funding cuts
A familiar ding echoes from blue scrub pants. My conditioned frontal cortex reflexively shoots my hand to the back pocket. Fingers encircle a black smartphone. A ricochet of notification vibration still tickles my right buttock. Several semi-autonomous…
Academic medical centers under threat: the impact of funding cuts
A familiar ding echoes from blue scrub pants. My conditioned frontal cortex reflexively shoots my hand to the back pocket. Fingers encircle a black smartphone. A ricochet of notification vibration still tickles my right buttock. Several semi-autonomous…
C. Everett Koop’s fearless fight against the tobacco industry
An excerpt from Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General. “I have learned that, when an idea’s time has come—and it is on your watch—you must seize the moment.”– CEK, Glasgow speech It would take C. Everett Koop, M.D., Sc…
Adapting to survive: lessons from Blockbuster for primary care
Blockbuster was once a dominant force in the video entertainment industry, with thousands of stores and near-total market control. However, when digital streaming services emerged, Blockbuster was slow to respond, dismissing Netflix as a passing trend….
How corporate greed and politics are destroying health care
In past decades, physicians practiced medicine. The majority were dedicated to patient well-being. They were paternalistic and decided what was in their patients’ best interests, and patients generally trusted their judgments. In the 1970s, ethic…
The hidden cost of health care: How rising debt threatens your access to care
Before a discussion of entitlements and welfare programs is started, a primer on the fiscal situation of the country seems appropriate. Service on the national debt is now second only to Social Security as a government expenditure. The debt is now abou…
