Monthly Archive for September, 2011

Health care’s elusive big idea: Less is more

By Eric Larson, MD, MPH

Americans are drowning in data while starving for transformational ideas. So writes Neal Gabler in his August 13 New York Times piece, “The Elusive Big Idea.”

Think Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, Marshall McLuhan’s “medium is the message,” and Betty Friedan’s “feminine mystique.” Concepts like these let us “get our minds around our existence and attempt to answer the big daunting questions of our lives,” wrote Gabler, of the University of Southern California. Such visionary ideas could once “ignite fires of debate, incite revolutions, and fundamentally change the way we look at and think about the world.”  Continue reading ‘Health care’s elusive big idea: Less is more’

Published on September 9, 2011 in Access to care, Health Care Reform and Research. 0 Comments

IOM report confirms immunizations are safe

By John B. Dunn, MD, MPH, Co-chairman, Immunization Population Management Team, Pediatrics and Preventive Care, Group Health Cooperative, Affiliate Investigator, Group Health Research Institute

Parents’ concern about the safety of the immunizations given to their children has been rising steadily for the past decade-and-more. Although immunization against selected infectious diseases has long been an important element of health care for children – and has, in fact, truly changed the face of illness-in-childhood in sweeping ways – there is a growing concern among some parents that the risks associated with immunization may exceed their substantial benefits. Continue reading ‘IOM report confirms immunizations are safe’

Published on September 6, 2011 in Health Safety, Preventive Care and Research. 1 Comment Tags: .

11th Circuit Court of Appeals rules on individual mandate

By Karen Merrikin, JD

The legal battle over the constitutionality of the health care reform law continues at various levels in the federal court system. This past week, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down its opinion, deeming the individual mandate requirement of the Accountable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional. This is in contrast to the 6th Circuit, which upheld the law in its entirety. A ruling from the 4th Circuit is expected shortly. There, two lower court cases came to opposing conclusions; one upheld the individual mandate and one struck it down. Oral arguments in another ACA challenge will be heard in the D.C. Circuit Court in September, and many other cases are pending in the district courts.  Continue reading ’11th Circuit Court of Appeals rules on individual mandate’

Published on September 1, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments