The Truth about Massachusetts Health Reform

If your view of Massachusetts health reform came from the Republican presidential debates you'd think the program is a catastrophe. That...

The ethics of writing about children with mental illness

I was recently asked about the ethics of writing about children and adolescents with mental illness. I've edited the actual question to ...

Kristin Barker, a sociologist at Oregon State University, has a fascinating, fun to read article in a recent issue of Social Science & M...

Bereavement is Sad, but it's not a Depressive Illness

The status of bereavement in the next edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Diso...

Health Care as a Source of Ill Health

Zeke Emanuel, who is becoming the national educator-in-chief about health care in his new role at the University of Pennsylvania, preaches a...

Should 14 Year Olds be Sentenced to Life in Prison?

Rachel Aviv , who wrote a superb New Yorker article  about a woman in New Hampshire who - guided by psychotic delusions - starved to death, ...

Medical Ethics and Blaming the Victim

A article on female genital pain got me thinking about one of my pet peeves in medicine – blaming the victim. The condition – vulvodynia - ...

Raising the Age for Medicare Eligibility - First Prize Dumb Idea

This week the Congressional Budget Office released a report  on proposals to raise the age of eligibility for Medicare and Social Security. ...

The Role of Will Power in Medical Care

I've made a belated New Year's resolution - to read " Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength " - a book abou...

A New Blog About Medicare

I started a second blog on New Year's day - " Seniors for Medicare Reform ." I'd been dithering about doing it for many mo...

What Business Schools Can Learn from Medical Education

The January-February issue of the Harvard Business Review has a column - " What Business Schools Can Learn from the Medical Profession ...