HealthCommentaryWhy in-person driver’s license renewal might be a good ideaMore than 40,000 Americans die each year in motor vehicle crashes. Many of the drivers involved in these crashes are senior citizens. Statistics show that motor vehicle fatality rates among senior drivers are on the rise, particularly for those drivers who are 85 or older. According […]
April 4, 1968 Tomorrow is the Indiana Democratic Primary. One of the dominant themes, discussed on and off over the past few months, has been the issue of race, and the fears and emotions that come with it. In my lifetime – in my 60 years – I have seen fear before, in many shapes […]
Another factor reinforcing the need to immunize In January, February, March and April of 2008, 64 cases of Measles have been documented in 10 states across the US, and Dr. Anne Schuchat, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC says, “We haven’t seen the end of this.” The reason why? […]
Why can’t the increases in health care quality keep up with the increases in cost? The quality of health care in the United States improved by an average of 2.3% per year between 1994 and 2005, reports the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, but in the same period health care expenditures rose by a […]
What we’re still learning from 9/11In a recent Health Commentary essay I addressed the need for positive leadership in our society, specifically in creating the potential for a unified approach to reforming our health care system. I’ve been interested in positive leadership for many years, have written about it extensively, and believe we are suffering […]
Only half of workers have health coverage through their employers. Is this model feasible into the future?A detailed new study from the Economics Policy Institute confirms what many of us suspect but haven’t had the data to easily nail down. This weightily-titled report by Jared Bernstein and Heidi Shierholz – A Decade of Decline: The […]
AMA conference helps medical experts learn to communicate vital health information In my most recent blog, “Trusting the Experts for Accurate Health Information,” April 1, 2008, I suggested that the media needs to be responsible for providing accurate, reliable health information to the public. From that blog: “Not only is it the responsibility of the […]
