Category: Policy

The burden of bullets: Leadership needs to treat gun violence as a public health issue

Regular mass shootings are a uniquely American phenomenon. The United States is the only developed country where mass shootings have happened every year for the past 20 years, according to Jason R. Silva, an assistant sociology and criminal justice pro…

The high “cost” of waste in U.S. health care, and what we can do about it

A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com. The U.S. spends the largest amount of money on health care in the world – around $4.3 trillion annually. However, an estimated 20% to 30% of this is wasted, with no …

It’s Time To End the PBM Shakedown

By shining a light on PBMs’ questionable business practices, and potentially cracking down on some of their anticompetitive behavior, lawmakers can help patients fill their prescriptions without breaking the bank.

As suicide and gun violence rise, we need gun purchase waiting periods now

In 2018, physicians began #ThisIsOurLane, a movement arguing that gun violence is a public health epidemic that medical professionals have a vital role in dismantling. Gun suicide rates are increasing across America – particularly in states with the fe…

The government should establish a Youth Behavioral Health Advisory Council

Even as the declared public health emergency for COVID-19 ended on May 11, two other public health emergencies continued. The first such emergency, the opioid crisis, was initially declared in October 2017, more than two years before COVID-19. A second…

FDA’s Latest “Power Grab” Attempt On Cigars “Needlessly And Dangerously” Undermines Its Own Authority

People’s trust of public health officials is alarmingly low, because from time to time they’ve relied on politics rather than on science when making decisions.

Medicaid Is In Trouble, But Not For The Reasons Democrats Say

By thwarting state efforts to remove ineligible people from their Medicaid rolls, Democrats are making things more difficult for the program’s intended beneficiaries.

Kaiser-Geisinger vs. Amazon, Walmart, CVS: Who will reign supreme?

For decades, research studies and news stories have concluded the American system is ineffective, too expensive and falling further behind its international peers in important measures of performance: life expectancy, chronic-disease management and inc…

How junk food marketers exploit children’s impact on family food choices

Would you let a clown influence what brand of car you buy? How about choosing your household appliances based on the advice of a cartoon bird or tiger? Probably not. But young people in your family will likely let cartoons and mascots influence where y…

The physician’s crucial role in combating climate change

Jet skis on the highway and sharks in the street: these are some of the images that may come to mind when you remember the record-breaking flash floods that occurred in Fort Lauderdale in April of 2023. Due to global warming, lethal weather such as thi…