tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55506352011-09-28T15:11:54.487-07:00Health care law, with digressions into constitutional law, poetry, and other things that mattertommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comBlogger7401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-50937185547209280752010-12-31T14:03:00.001-08:002011-03-21T07:17:48.352-07:00

It's obviously been a while since I posted to this blog. Between directing an ethics center and maintaining a pretty heavy teaching and consulting load, the blog simply took a back seat to more pressing concerns. Since September 2009, a lot has happened on the health law front (boy, is that an understatement!), and during the same time period I started experimenting with Facebook and Twitter as

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-60610836599904069942009-09-27T19:12:00.000-07:002009-09-27T19:17:17.089-07:00

Hooray to the Dallas Morning News for its week-long series on health care and the systemic issues that have contributed to the crisis we are now in. Free registration may be required to view all of these articles. . . .Sun., 9/27: High prices, red tape fuel popular Dallas doctor's move to Temple Sun., 9/27: Focus on cost efficiency, quality pays off for Temple-based Scott & White Healthcare Sun.,

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-90971651284532390492009-03-29T10:21:00.001-07:002009-03-29T10:52:47.062-07:00

Good article in today's NY Times comparing the Obama health reform plan to the Massachusetts experience, including a nifty graphic that summarizes the similarities and differences nicely.I think Obama's initial emphasis on cost-control is smart - it's by no means clear that the U.S. can afford universal coverage at this point, and even if we tried, the effort would be doomed if unsustainable cost

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-52153510894480197332008-12-18T13:56:00.001-08:002008-12-18T14:34:01.503-08:00

This is quite a remarkable series of articles on end-of-life care and in particular palliative care at Baylor University Medical Center. Short of watching the amazing 6-hour documentary by Frederick Wiseman ("Near Death"), this is as close as most of us will get to the true in-hospital experience until it happens to one of us or someone we love. All of the articles are collected in one place,

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-32922363011362407372008-12-17T09:54:00.002-08:002008-12-17T11:58:32.659-08:00

I know it will not come as a surprise that the house organ for American capitalism thinks a market for buying and selling human organs would produce a better system than the one we have now (100,000 patients on waiting lists, four times as many as were on lists when the current system was enacted into law in 1984), but maybe -- this time, at least -- they're right. Today's opinion piece, "

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-7736505614494488892008-12-17T09:54:00.001-08:002008-12-17T09:54:38.230-08:00

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-53283274064628399292008-12-12T14:55:00.000-08:002008-12-12T15:29:40.366-08:00

First, it was Donum Vitae (The Gift of Life) in 1987, followed by Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) in 1995. Now the Vatican has given us its third major pronouncement on bioethics in over 2 decades with Dignitas Personae (The Dignity of the Person), released today. The instruction was issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly headed by Pope Benedict XVI) and (as the

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-38814492241494519612008-12-12T07:32:00.000-08:002008-12-12T07:49:36.845-08:00

Interesting multi-media report in today's on-line WSJ ("Pursuing Charitable Mission Leaves a Hospital Struggling" (may require subscription)) about the financial pressures on nonprofit Mt. Sinai. Here's the video:

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-27300733139624008672008-12-03T08:21:00.000-08:002008-12-03T08:36:49.434-08:00

Today's Times has an interesting piece on the Cleveland Clinic's new policy ofpublicly reporting the business relationships that any of its 1,800 staff doctors and scientists have with drug and device makers. The clinic, one of the nation’s most prominent medical research centers, is making a complete disclosure of doctors’ and researchers’ financial ties available on its Web site, http://

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-56281260564322639342008-11-26T08:22:00.000-08:002008-11-26T08:45:31.039-08:00

The story of Hannah Jones is provoking some strong reactions -- both positive and negative -- in the U.K. The 13-year-old girl has refused a heart transplant without which her doctors say she has only months to live. Hannah's reasoning: potentially lousy quality of life and the possibility that the anti-rejection medicine will trigger a relapse of the leukemia she's been treated for since she was

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-81315078170790079782008-11-23T14:03:00.000-08:002008-11-23T14:31:11.334-08:00

The great just got better.No public-health law library would be complete without Larry Gostin's Public Health Law -- Power, Duty, Restraint. Originally published eight years ago, PHL was always more than simply a good place to start your research: Gostin's opus had depth to match its breadth.Well, now the second edition of PHL has been published by the University of California Press (it also

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-5240185802328017872008-11-20T05:33:00.000-08:002008-11-20T05:44:07.765-08:00

You read that right. According to an article in today's New York Times, the two big health-insurance industry associations have agreed to enroll all applicants, regardless of pre-existing condition. The catch? They will only do so if Congress requires all citizens to have health insurance.The industry's concern is pretty easy to understand: moral hazard. Without a requirement of universal

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-31392983008035202872008-11-09T10:59:00.000-08:002008-11-09T11:53:56.559-08:00

The State of Washington became the second state in the U.S. to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Initiative 1000 passed 58-42, according to the Seattle Post-Intellgencer. The measure looks virtually identical to the Oregon Death With Dignity Act, which was enacted in 1997. The law becomes effective in 120 days after the Nov. 4 election: March 4.It's a matter of time before PAS is legal in a

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-84188833871024677942008-11-03T13:17:00.000-08:002008-11-03T13:20:31.563-08:00

Interesting report from The Commonwealth Fund:More than two-thirds of respondents to the latest Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey believe the way we pay for health care in the United States must be fundamentally reformed. Fee-for-service payment--the most prevalent system throughout the country--is not effective in encouraging high-quality, efficient care,

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-29688807711354078202008-10-20T08:00:00.000-07:002008-10-20T08:19:21.820-07:00

Excellent discusion by John Colombo over at Nonprofit Law Prof Blog, ostensibly about the recent GAO report, Nonprofit Hospitals: Variation in Standards and Guidance Limits Comparison of How Hospitals Meet Community Benefit Requirements (GAO 08-880), but also about current thinking as to whether nonprofit hospitals should be tax-exempt in the first place. His conclusion:Though I've mellowed on

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-10363192972579990052008-10-15T13:24:00.000-07:002008-10-15T14:04:01.839-07:00

Preparing for a Pharmaceutical Response to Pandemic Influenza:A Seton Hall Law Review SymposiumOctober 23-24, 2008Seton Hall University School of LawNewark, NJCo-Sponsored byThe Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law and theGibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technologyat Seton Hall University School of LawNewark, New JerseySeton Hall Law School’s Center for Health and Pharmaceutical Law, the

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-11860856770863112552008-09-27T14:41:00.001-07:002008-09-27T15:50:54.105-07:00

Cary Grant is supposed to have said it's cheaper in the long run to buy the best shoes possible -- they will hold up better, last longer, look better over time than the supposedly less expensive alternative. It turns out that health care may work the same way. Here are the opening paragraphs of a Bloomberg News story posted yesterday (and brought to my attention by a student in my health law

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-13415239077123539362008-08-18T10:29:00.000-07:002008-08-18T10:53:03.570-07:00

The Kaiser Network has picked up on a report from Reuters that Amerigroup has settled a qui tam whistleblower suit in which it was accused of denying coverage to Medicaid beneficiaries who were pregnant or had health problems. (Under the law, Amerigroup was obligated to provide coverage for a Medicaid enrollees.)Amerigroup claims its enrollment practices were intended to meet the objections of

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-19800955914689277682008-08-14T09:02:00.000-07:002008-08-14T09:43:29.751-07:00

Today The Washington Post has an article -- Infant Transplant Procedure Ignites Debate -- that builds on yesterday's AP article about three cases in which infant hearts were harvested under a "donation after cardiac death" ("DCD") protocol, which all transplant centers are required by UNOS and HHS. The details of each center's protocol may vary.On the crucial issue of how long to wait before

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-47890584461155462982008-08-13T15:04:00.000-07:002008-08-13T15:06:47.269-07:00

How to pick a life partner, 2008-style: "Let's see. . . . Good personality? Check. Kind to small animals and young children? Check. Reasonably communicative and okay with intimacy? Check. Excellent health care insurance? DOUBLE CHECK!!" That's the message in yesterday's New York Times article, Health Benefits Inspire Rush to Marry, or Divorce.It's a sign of the times. As HLS Prof. Elizabeth

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-50959623793533350192008-08-07T08:13:00.000-07:002008-08-07T08:23:24.949-07:00

The latest from The Commonwealth Fund is a report based upon a Harris Interactive survey that sought the opinions of a sample of 1,004 adults about our health care system. Here's a summary of the results:Overall, the telephone survey of a representative sample of 1,004 adults age 18 and older reveals that the health care delivery system does not serve the public well — eight of 10 respondents say

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-50722236129927746872008-08-06T15:54:00.000-07:002008-08-06T15:55:49.925-07:00

Scientific American has an on-line interview with Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, who recently published, "Sex, Science and Stem Cells: Inside the Right Wing Assault on Reason" (Congresswoman Slams Religious Right's Assault on Science's "Edgier" Side). Here's their intro:Six-term Democratic Congresswoman Diana DeGette owns a dubious distinction: She is one of the two co-authors of the bill that

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-50245645215657408392008-08-06T15:41:00.000-07:002008-08-06T15:43:58.824-07:00

New Study Looks at Uninsurance Among Immigrants[from today's Kaisernetwork.org's Daily Health Policy Report]Although U.S.-born residents still make up the majority of uninsured U.S. residents, the percentage of uninsured documented and undocumented immigrants is growing, according to a study released on Tuesday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, the Kansas City Star reports. EBRI

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-8715516849597709412008-08-06T14:44:00.000-07:002008-08-06T14:52:53.476-07:00

Electronic Health Records: DOD and VA Have Increased Their Sharing of Health Information, but More Work Remains. GAO-08-954, July 28, 2008 (43 pages).http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-08-954Emergency Preparedness: States Are Planning for Medical Surge, but Could Benefit from Shared Guidance for Allocating Scarce Medical Resources. GAO-08-668, June 13, 2008 (53 pages).http://

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-3137009702347618592008-08-06T09:14:00.000-07:002008-08-06T09:35:44.460-07:00

For those interested in charity care and community benefits in Texas, the Texas Attorney General is hosting a "summit" on Tuesday, September 16, in Austin. The schedule looks pretty good, if a little basic, but it's the Attorney General's office, for crying out loud, and they do have enforcement authority for Health and Safety Code chapter 311 (though it would be nice to know whether the speakers

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-74462923012586105562008-08-05T10:16:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:31.016-08:00

The New York Times has an article (Millions With Chronic Disease Get Little to No Treatment) today about the most recent Annals of Internal Medicine survey (abstract) of just exactly what health care services the uninsured with chronic conditions aren't getting. Here's a brief excerpt:The study, the first detailed look at the health of the uninsured, estimates that about one of every three

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-85800551415789800262008-07-27T09:08:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:31.150-08:00

Tim Walters filed this op-ed piece Saturday in the Cleveland Plain Dealer: All hospitals have to pull their weight on uncompensated care. Seems MetroHealth, the nationally recognized public hospital in town, is in perilous financial condition. It is the largest provider of uncompensated health care in the state of Ohio, and if it goes under, Walters wonders what will happen to indigent patients

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-74426589415258386762008-07-23T19:42:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:31.523-08:00

Total win for Presbyterian/THR/medical-staff docs. HCQIA immunity for money damages held to apply to emergency suspension decisions during the fact-investigation phase of the peer-review process. Judge Higginbotham's opinion for a unanimous panel is here. It looks bullet-proof to me . . . . Pretty amazing saga, which I am sure won't be over until there's a petition for reconsideration/rehearing

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-55374793921270499832008-07-21T13:07:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:31.762-08:00

Trying to Save by Increasing Doctors’ FeesThat's the headline in this morning's New York Times' story about health plans (including Medicare) that are going to try to gin up some extra compensation for primary and preventive care in the hope that it will reduce more costly acute care down the road. Could it be? The dawning of the Age of Common Sense? Stay tuned . . .

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-17882439436960446462008-07-17T16:38:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:32.030-08:00

The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog has an entry today on a criminal case brought against a physician at the Harvard School of Public Health. The case is described a little more fully in the Boston Globe. According to the Globe story, the physician -- Dr. Rapin Osathanondh -- was performing an abortion on a 22-year-old woman who died during the procedure. Dr. Osathanondh was subsequently charged

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-63522820997574966552008-06-15T14:13:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:33.129-08:00

From Mary Holland at NYU comes notice of this lecture:THE VACCINE-AUTISM DEBATE:WHY WON'T IT GO AWAY?David Kirby, AuthorEvidence of Harm - Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical ControversyThursday, June 26, 20086:30 - 9:00 PMNYU School of Law 40 Washington Square South,Vanderbilt Hall, Room 204RSVP REQUIRED: kirbylecture@gmail.comFREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLICDavid Kirby,

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-21866009090677356302008-05-31T16:51:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:33.269-08:00

Marc Rodwin, one of the most innovative and consistently interesting health law scholars around, has published (with others) in the May/June issue of Health Affairs a very useful study of med mal premiums in Massachusetts (described as "a high-risk state") over the 30-year period of 1975-2005. Here's the abstract:Massachusetts has the fourth-highest median malpractice settlement payments for all

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-70035208703370486182008-05-31T13:19:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:33.388-08:00

The ACP's new report, E-Health and Its Impact on Medical Practice, is presented on their news page. The challenge of moving physicians to electronic health records is daunting. This is from the press release:Health care may be the fastest growing industry, but it has been slow to adopt the use of technology. While orders at fast food chains are now entirely automated, most physician offices and

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-27922142459896793032008-05-31T12:30:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:33.537-08:00

The New York Times had an interesting article Friday (In New York City, Two Versions of End-of-Life Care) on variations in end-of-life care -- not the usual comparison of EOL expenditures between geographically disparate locations, but this time between well-off private hospitals and public facilities a couple of miles apart within the same city. The data come from the Dartmouth Atlas of Health

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-72956830125421683732008-04-29T14:51:00.000-07:002008-04-29T14:52:27.444-07:00

The Wall Street Journal ran a chilling Page One story yesterday: Cash Before Chemo: Hospitals Get Tough (link may require paid subscription). Here's a little video teaser:Once again, it's all too easy in the U.S. system to find yourself underinsured for a serious illness, and when you're underinsured, you might as well be uninsured.

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-8112653342571998052008-04-13T12:36:00.001-07:002008-04-13T12:52:38.925-07:00

This Tuesday, "Frontline" takes a look at the U.S. health care system by comparing what we have against other countries who manage to provide better access and produce better outcomes at a lower cost. Here are three preview clips:Here's the press release on the program:FRONTLINE presentsSICK AROUND THE WORLDTuesday, April 15, 2008, at 9 P.M. ET on PBSFRONTLINE TRAVELS TO FIVE COUNTRIES IN SEARCH

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-35131664482335381842008-04-11T15:59:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:33.769-08:00

Paul Krugman's excellent op-ed yesterday -- Health Care Horror Stories - New York Times -- ought to be required reading across the country. There is plenty to debate about how to fix our health care system, and he's made it clear in past columns that he favors Hillary's universal-coverage-now over Obama's phased-in plan. And there is still debate (here and here) about whether the opening story in

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-89003834578404567292008-04-07T16:01:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:33.957-08:00

It seems that UCLA Medical Center had a serial HIPAA violator on its payroll (until he or she was fired last year for checking out Britney Spears' medical record). See: More UCLA records abuses - Los Angeles Times. We knew this was wrong even before HIPAA, didn't we?

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-1777259890532560352008-03-18T08:22:00.001-07:002008-12-10T23:09:34.202-08:00

Seton Hall Law Review SymposiumPreparing for a Pharmaceutical Response to Pandemic InfluenzaCo-sponsored by the Health Law & Policy Program’s Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law and the Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & TechnologyOctober 23-24, 2008Seton Hall Law SchoolNewark, NJCall for PapersSeton Hall Law School’s Center for Health and Pharmaceutical Law and the Seton Hall Law Review will

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-80352052618752701772008-03-05T21:56:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:34.431-08:00

In my Law, Literature and Medicine class, the poem "Gaudeamus Igitur" by John Stone -- eminent cardiologist and medical educator and poet-essayist par excellence -- is always a hit (you can listen to an NPR story that includes a snippet of the poem). It was written as a graduation valedictory at the Emory University School of Medicine, and it provides a wonderful review of the medical school

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-74475313040795769532008-03-04T06:46:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:34.608-08:00

Today's New York Times has a piece about a recent article in the Archives of Internal Medicine in which the authors question the use of antibiotics to treat infections in nursing home patients with advanced dementia. The study concludes:This prospective cohort study demonstrates that antimicrobial exposure among nursing home residents with advanced dementia is extensive and steadily increases

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-81059033769641126132008-03-03T19:07:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:34.763-08:00

It's the punchline to an old joke, but this time it's deadly serious. According to a recent article in Pediatrics (summary; abstract here - full text here), "Black babies with very low birth weights are nearly twice as likely as their white counterparts to be born at New York City hospitals with high risk-adjusted neonatal death rates." The first and last paragraphs of the article's Discussion

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-29049428940090467362008-02-27T08:07:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:34.972-08:00

The papers are all over yesterday's story about the prosecution of a young surgeon in Los Angeles who is accused of hastening a patient's death (or, to be less circumspect but at least as accurate about it, of killing a patient) in order to procure organs for transplant. Here's how the New York Times' front-page story begins:On a winter night in 2006, a disabled and brain damaged man named Ruben

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-46625651945500009972008-02-24T10:25:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:35.352-08:00

Weekend Edition - Sunday had a very fine segment this morning on organ donation.Given what they were trying to do with this piece, there probably wasn't time to portray the personal impact of donating and receiving, convey some of the statistics about the various waiting lists, provide a brief overview of some of the evolving strategies for increasing organ yields, AND discuss some of the

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-76717388480645775392008-01-03T13:50:00.000-08:002008-01-03T13:54:49.451-08:00

From Jim DuBois, PhD, DSc, Mäder Endowed Professor, Department Chair and Center Director, Center for Health Care Ethics & Becky Volpe, Graduate Assistant, Center for Health Care Ethics:We are studying the personality and environmental factors that contribute to major ethical breaches in the areas of medical practice and research. An example of a major breach would be the Tuskegee syphilis trial.

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-86951099909807217432007-12-16T12:03:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:35.588-08:00

I don't know how I missed it, but here (better late than never) is a link to Prof. Thad Pope's estimable Medical Futility Blog, which does a nice job of tracking legal developments and the on-going political and scholarly debate over what to do (if anything) about claims for "futile" treatment.

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-47004271383926417472007-12-16T11:36:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:35.906-08:00

Robert Samuelson -- Newsweek columnist and Washington Post op-editorialist -- had a typically fine piece in last Thursday's Post. Here's the nub of his argument:We're told that the uninsured are our biggest health-care problem, but they aren't. Runaway health spending is. although politicians pay lip service to that, what they really enjoy is increasing spending. It's understandable because

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-56254087330552465792007-12-03T21:57:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:36.397-08:00

Intending to be a major player in the 2008 debate over health reform and universal coverage, the American College of Physicians has posted an advance copy of an article that will appear in its January 1, 2008, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine: "Achieving a High-Performance Health Care System with Universal Access: What the United States Can Learn from Other Countries." Full-text is available

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-62094879458877365202007-12-02T20:02:00.000-08:002007-12-02T20:10:43.813-08:00

The New York City Law Review announces a call for papers for its spring symposium, "Critical Condition: What's Ailing Health Care in America?" This event will be held Friday, March 28, 2008, at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York's Meeting Hall in Midtown Manhattan.The Symposium will look at two critical questions: (1) Can international human rights frameworks help the United

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-18816183249914251782007-12-02T19:40:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:36.710-08:00

Some interesting stuff in the Health Lawyers Weekly this time around:Top StoriesOIG Takes Back Power To Investigate Employee Criminal Conduct From FDA -- The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) will no longer share responsibility with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for investigating potential criminal misconduct by FDA employees, Inspector General

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-38705705025872965072007-12-02T14:13:00.001-08:002008-12-10T23:09:36.915-08:00

Interesting paper . . .The Constitutional Right to Make Medical Treatment Decisions: A Tale of Two DoctrinesJESSIE HILL Case Western Reserve University - School of LawTexas Law Review, Vol. 86, No. 2, December 2007Case Legal Studies Research Paper No. 07-28Abstract: The Supreme Court has taken very different approaches to the question whether individuals have a right to make autonomous medical

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-22711645020155234552007-12-02T12:28:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:37.179-08:00

There's no denying either the urgency of the FDA's mess or the bipartisan political appeal of the issue of food and drug safety. Consider this lead from the New York Times' Nov. 29 article on the latest report describing the agency's woes:The nation’s food supply is at risk, its drugs are potentially dangerous and its citizens’ lives are at stake because the Food and Drug Administration is

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-6464931740383366842007-11-30T14:37:00.000-08:002007-11-30T14:42:10.786-08:00

Yesterday's WSJ ran a story that highlights the plight of the insured middle-class in this country: It's possible to max out a health policy with a $1.5 million cap in the metaphorical blink of an eye. The story is here (though it may require a paid subscription to read it).

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-37031516196013522112007-11-27T05:57:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:37.303-08:00

Some years ago, the Medicare program proposed to recoup hospice payments if a patient didn't die within 6 months, which was the probable life-expectancy that a physician had to certify for a patient to receive the Medicare hospice benefit. As I recall, that proposal was met with howls of protest and dropped.What Medicare couldn't do directly, however, it is now doing indirectly, as described in

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-62538276374882374042007-11-09T16:43:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:37.470-08:00

Okay, I know he's a liberal (Exh. 1: "The Conscience of a Liberal"), and so am I, so there are times when I suppose Paul Krugman's arguments seem irresistible when they're not. But today's column strikes me as just plain common-sensical.Krugman offers up four common excuses often used to argue against health reform and then refutes them. It is worth a read. Here are the excuses:Excuse No. 1: No

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-43114687825457191392007-11-09T13:14:00.000-08:002008-12-10T23:09:37.784-08:00

From today's Modern Healthcare:Calif. insurance chief probes report of cancellationsCalifornia’s insurance commissioner is investigating a report that Health Net rewarded an analyst more than $20,000 in bonuses tied to canceling individual health insurance policies, thereby saving the company millions in medical expenses. “We certainly view this as a serious breach,” said Byron Tucker, spokesman

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-33197663189511785682007-10-25T13:26:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:38.059-08:00

Deputies seize baby to test blood against parents' will - Associated Press -- Here's a nicely framed conflict between public health laws designed to protect newborns vs. parental religious beliefs, in state (Neb.) that doesn't provide a religious exemption for newborn testing. Absent a First Amendment claim (which would fail), the only constitutional argument would be a claimed infringement of

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-51489822808709592262007-10-21T12:26:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:38.195-08:00

John Iglehart, the founding editor of Health Affairs and national corespondent for the New England Journal of Medicine, posted his instant analysis [may require paid subscription] of the House's failure on Thursday to override the President's veto of the SCHIP reauthorization bill, HR 976. Iglehart's provides an excellent overview of the controversy and connects this contretemps to "the larger

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-12175831479055610062007-10-20T14:58:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:38.625-08:00

There's a good analysis of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP) by Reed Abelson in The New York Times today. Various presidential candidates are talking about the FEHBP in their stump speeches, suggesting that this country's 47 million uninsured could be covered by the same plan that covers their elected representatives. Bottom line: There's really nothing about the FEHBP that

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-984272694409356952007-10-04T13:20:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:38.779-08:00

Here are links to the major-party presidential candidates' health-policy web pages, which I offer in alpha order and without editorial comment:Joe Biden: http://www.joebiden.com/issues/?id=0003Sam Brownback: http://www.brownback.com/s/Issues/tabid/60/Default.aspx#HealthcareHillary Clinton: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/healthcareplan/ Chris Dodd: http://action.chrisdodd.com/t/41/

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-62029243064506353872007-10-02T15:16:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:38.978-08:00

Here's a news post courtesy of FDLI's SmartBrief:White House to face state SCHIP lawsuits -- New Jersey was the first of several states expected to file lawsuits against the Bush administration over rules set in August that limit state coverage of children's health insurance to exclude children in middle-income families. Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York and

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-17132523316883594032007-09-28T14:06:00.001-07:002008-12-10T23:09:39.242-08:00

That's the bottom line of a report from the Inspector General of DHHS, according to an article in the New York Times. The IG's report (pdf), and a news release (pdf) about its conclusions, were released today. In his typically media-friendly way, Art Caplan colorfully summarized the report's conclusions this way: "In many ways, rats and mice get greater protection as research subjects in the

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-63434440805136441612007-09-16T10:43:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:39.415-08:00

Crowell & Moring partner Art Lerner and counsel Michael Paddock have an analysis of the FTC's recent Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corp. decision in this week's Health Lawyers Weekly from the AHLA. The decision, in which the Commission held that Evanston's acquisition of Highland Park Hospital violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act but declined to order divestiture, was a rare if not

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-30212806686025778302007-09-16T10:29:00.001-07:002008-12-10T23:09:39.719-08:00

"The administration of food and water even by artificial means is, in principle, an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life. It is therefore obligatory to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper finality, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient. In this way suffering and death by starvation and dehydration are prevented." And ANH is

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-62694085381560140292007-09-16T10:08:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:39.902-08:00

Today's New York Times has an article on the new round of health-care reform proposals that are being advanced by various presidential candidates. On the dim prospects for any of the proposals to extend coverage to the uninsured and improve coverage for the underinsured, the article makes the following point:In short, altruism has its limits, as does the public’s appetite for trade-offs in their

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-14392661615677130512007-08-30T07:11:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:40.086-08:00

Faculty opening at Drake:DRAKE LAW SCHOOL seeks applications for a tenure-track position in the area of health law, insurance law and related fields commencing in the 2008-09 academic year. We are interested in both entry-level and experienced candidates with a J.D. degree and strong academic credentials who exhibit the ability to produce excellent scholarship and become outstanding teachers.

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-84542923514317428622007-08-27T11:45:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:40.239-08:00

From the Wall Street Journal (via AHLA's Health Law Daily [link should be good for about a week]):CMS says Medicare is spending more on prevention efforts. The Wall Street Journal (8/26, McQueen) reported, "Medicare, the federal health-insurance program for older Americans, increasingly is paying for screening tests and immunizations that previously were not covered. But the vast majority of

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-25012206305743534132007-08-13T00:06:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:40.441-08:00

This is a bit tardy but well worth noting here and reading the underlying documents as time permits. In July the IRS issued an interim report on community benefit in the hospital industry (news release), based upon responses to its 2006 questionnaire to 500 hospitals. The Service's main finding: "The report contains preliminary findings on how hospitals, one of the largest components of the

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-11432482124022402222007-08-12T10:02:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:40.569-08:00

The AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly features two articles by lawyers from Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.S.C., on the IRS' publication in the July 26 Federal Register of its final rule for 403(b) plans (a/k/a tax-deferred annuity plans) and DOL's simultaneous publication of Field Assistance Bulletin 2007-02 containing guidance on how 403(b) plans can avoid compliance with ERISA.This week's

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-34933326100190020242007-08-12T09:44:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:40.666-08:00

The Times' editorial looks at the Commonwealth Fund's recent international report card that compared the U.S. with Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the U.K. In the words of the Commonwealth Fund:the U.S. health care system ranks last or next-to-last on five dimensions of a high performance health system: quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives. The U.S. is the only

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-53805865387432209992007-08-07T15:50:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:40.794-08:00

The much-anticipated en banc decision of the D.C. Circuit came down today. The court ruled, 8-2, that dying patients do not have a fundamental right of access to drugs that have either just completed Phase I testing or are in Phase II. The big surprise to me was that no-one on the court joined the two judges -- Chief Judge Ginsburg and Judge Rogers -- who comprised the majority in the original

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-16374158312838525142007-08-03T14:43:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:40.955-08:00

Scary words: "Hospital = Target"In this week's Health Lawyers Weekly, Mark Rogers analyzes hospital-security issues in a post-9/11 world. The risk is anything but speculative, as this list demonstrates:Several incidents since the attacks of 9/11 have highlighted this risk. Considerthe following:November 2002: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued an alert to hospitals in San Francisco

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-2766218732689271142007-07-31T08:32:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:41.174-08:00

From AHLA's Health and Life Sciences Law Daily:Washington pharmacists sue state over requirement of morning-after pill. The AP (7/28) reported, "Pharmacists have sued Washington state over a new regulation that requires them to sell emergency contraception, also known as the 'morning-after pill.' In a lawsuit filed in federal court Wednesday, a pharmacy owner and two pharmacists say the rule that

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-29494468550216895132007-07-31T07:23:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:41.403-08:00

In what is reported to be the first ever such prosecution, a California transplant surgeon has been charged with prescribing excessive doses of morphine and Ativan to hasten the death of a disabled patient in order to harvest organs for transplant. The story is here (AP/Washington Post). I suppose the fact that this sort of case has never been brought before won't stop it from being hyped in the

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-88549595306922394012007-07-30T08:09:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:41.634-08:00

Today's Dallas Morning News has an article about the great medical care available south of the border for a fraction of the cost of comparable care here in Texas and without the delays and hassles. This is just the latest wrinkle in the unfolding story of medical tourism, which has already established India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand as "go to" destinations for patients seeking

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-17270839552907600462007-06-27T08:00:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:41.909-08:00

There's a good article in the current Modern Healthcare (may require paid subscription) about the recent state-by-state analyses of cost, quality, and access from the Commonwealth Fund and (looking at quality alone) AHRQ. The Commonwealth Fund web site has a fabulous interactive map and lots of features as well as downloadable report, executive summary, PowerPoint chartpack, and data tables.

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-41814961042985740672007-06-25T16:51:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:42.147-08:00

According to a story in today's Chicago Tribune, "several doctors groups" are urging the AMA to oppose the propagation of health clinics in retail outlets such as Wal-Mart and Walgreen. An AMA committee took testimony on Sunday and will be weighing its options for a recommendation to the full House of Delegates, which is in Chicago for its annual meeting, over the next two days. The groups are in

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-62795376242054261312007-06-24T08:19:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:42.369-08:00

From the folks at American Health Lawyers Association comes this week's issue of Health Lawyers News:Top Stories OIG Finds Sale Of Part Of Physician-Owned ASC To Hospital Could Trigger Sanctions. The sale of part of an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) to a nonprofit hospital could potentially generate prohibited remuneration under the Anti-Kickback Statute and could lead to the imposition of

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-68679550621128039122007-06-20T16:43:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:42.659-08:00

As promised, the President dropped S. 5 into the trash today.S. 5, the “Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007"President's veto messagePresident's comments about his vetoAs predicted, Bush made adult-stem-cell research the linchpin of his argument.Amazing. Or not.

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-16022401838732584902007-06-19T20:18:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:43.021-08:00

Disturbing news from CNN out of New Orleans:(CNN) -- Two nurses accused in the post-Katrina deaths of four patients at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center have been offered immunity to testify before a special grand jury, sources close to the investigation tell CNN.Sources also told CNN the grand jury has been told as many as nine patients may have died after being administered what Louisiana's

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-42168093116623917222007-06-17T09:23:00.001-07:002008-12-10T23:09:43.280-08:00

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-11051601945015661442007-06-17T08:19:00.001-07:002008-12-10T23:09:43.530-08:00

In this morning's NY Times Magazine:When Is a Pain Doctor a Drug Pusher?By TINA ROSENBERGPublished: June 17, 2007Those treating pain make subjective choices about dosage. When a doctor gets it wrong, is it a mistake or a felony?For a variety of reasons, and for a variety of patients (not only patients who have chronic and severe pain) and their doctors, the article includes some important facts,

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-45602834436761495962007-06-15T07:46:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:43.894-08:00

Ellen Goodman's column on the stem-cell breakthrough (a "breakthrough" if you're a mouse anyway) today in the Boston Globe hit just the right notes:Congress' bill to increase federal funding for stem-cell research (S. 5) is heading to the President, who -- if he keeps his promise, and who thinks he won't? -- veto the bill in order to protect the embryos that would otherwise be destroyed for their

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-18264523472920851822007-06-14T00:25:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:44.166-08:00

Just an excellent article in today's NY Times about a study that shows significant disparities between health care charges and health care quality. This is a must read for teachers of health care law survey courses. Here's a bit from the early paragraphs:Stark evidence that high medical payments do not necessarily buy high-quality patient care is presented in a hospital study set for release

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-43597587825216512222007-06-12T10:25:00.001-07:002008-12-10T23:09:44.277-08:00

The Supreme Court has held that home healthcare workers are not entitled to overtime pay (Long Island Care at Home, Ltd. v. Coke).Here's AHLA's excellent media review of the Court's decision:In a unanimous decision in Long Island Care at Home, Ltd. v. Coke (pdf), the Supreme Court found that home healthcare workers employed by a private company or employer are not covered by laws on overtime pay

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-79022011608955440532007-06-11T06:13:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:44.437-08:00

The number of uninsured (and underinsured) continues to rise. Where do these patients go for their health care? The most obvious answer is emergency departments, which are required by Medicare to screen for emergency conditions and to stabilize any they find, regardless of ability to pay. Even those without an emergency condition may get their sore throat and fever treated, or perhaps they will

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-45386890599078543462007-06-10T00:54:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:44.722-08:00

Just in time for Monday's 4th Bioethics class, here's a Dallas Morning News article on the dispute in Austin over the disposition of frozen embryos, involving a divorcing couple and their interrupted plans for an IVF pregnancy. (The article exemplifies one of my pet peeves about journalists' tangential (at best) understanding of legal process. In its last paragraph, the article states, "Arguments

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-60133103064950679412007-06-09T09:10:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:44.904-08:00

From the folks at American Health Lawyers Association comes this week's issue of Health Lawyers News:Top Stories More Questions Surface About FDA's Response To Avandia RisksThe House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing June 6 to probe the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA's) role in evaluating the safety of the diabetes drug Avandia. Full Story House Passes Stem Cell

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-92189844338494097972007-06-07T14:26:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:45.169-08:00

On the day before the House passed the stem-cell funding bill (S. 5 passed in the Senate on April 11), which Pres. Bush has promised to veto, there was interesting, potentially revolutionary (but potentially not) news on the stem-cell science front: Skin cells from mice have been reprogrammed to act as stem cells. If that carries over to humans and the results are consistently reproducible, we're

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-76822008325489931312007-06-04T02:10:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:45.391-08:00

That's what last night's AP story on Drew Speaker reported. True enough, and this case illustrates that local authority is still pretty much hit-or-miss. Maryland officials claimed not to have the authority to detain or quarantine him, but as the AP reports, many state and local jurisdictions do. Speaker was being kept in quarantine pursuant to a federal order -- the first in 44 years -- but that

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-9839331679249174782007-06-04T00:44:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:45.539-08:00

Here are the top 10 SSRN downloads in public health law as of the end of May:Why Evolutionary Biology is (So Far) Irrelevant to LawU of Texas Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 89, U of Texas Law, Law & Econ Research Paper No. 81Brian Leiter and Michael Weisberg , University of Texas at Austin - School of Law & Department of Philosophy and University of Pennsylvania DatePosted: March 23, 2006Last

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-14739103795260272252007-06-03T10:52:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:45.642-08:00

There's an interesting blog post by Rob Cunningham over at Health Affairs, ostensibly about Jerome Groopman's new book, How Doctors Think. Here's a sample:[T]he subtlety of the cognitive biases associated with diagnostic error in Groopman’s work and other studies suggests a daunting re-education challenge. Greater reciprocity in doctor-patient relations is a part of the answer that is consistent

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-69365425388433223542007-06-03T01:58:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:45.816-08:00

I'm glad Art sees this guy the same way I do. Here are some nuggets:I believed Kevorkian was a very dangerous killer [in 1994], and I still believe it now. He helped dozens of depressed and disabled people die without trying very hard to convince them to live. Kevorkian believes in suicide on demand. He thinks that doctors have an obligation to help anyone who decides that their life is not worth

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-41636874165170306542007-06-03T01:36:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:45.984-08:00

End-of-month (or beginning-of-month) recap of the top 10 SSRN downloads in health law (look for public health law rankings tomorrow):Safe Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides, and CrimeYale Law School, Law & Economics Working Paper No. 237John R. Lott Jr. and John E. Whitley , State University of New York - Department of Economics and University of Adelaide - School of EconomicsDate

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-29760183795265944852007-06-02T11:06:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:46.224-08:00

"Drew" Speaker, and every public-health office and official he encountered in the past couple of weeks, are now at the center of a serious controversy. The best single story that summarizes what we know so far appeared in this morning's New York Times. In addition to a full account of Speaker's travels and discussions with public-health officers, John Schwartz asks all the right questions:"Why

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-7384121866164277212007-06-02T02:44:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:46.335-08:00

I can't let the moment pass without acknowledging the release -- after 8 years in the Michigan prison system -- of Jack Kevorkian, a former pathologist who performed active euthanasia (a/k/a "murder") on a patient, filmed it, and allowed "60 Minutes" to air the event (AP, courtesy of Forbes). ("60 Minutes" will broadcast an interview with Mike Wallace this Sunday.)He's a ding-bat, to be sure.

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-15857887473027703272007-06-02T00:40:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:47.679-08:00

Wouldn't you know: One of the stories that lured me out of semi-retirement and back to HealthLawBlog -- the one about the Dutch tv network that was about to air a show featuring a terminally-ill patient interviewing three candidates in kidney failure to decide which one would get her kidney -- turns out to be a hoax by the network, designed to pressure government officials to reform

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-24518667555436557572007-06-01T11:17:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:48.193-08:00

From the folks at American Health Lawyers Association comes this week's issue of Health Lawyers News:Top StoriesCMS Implements New Marketing, Education Requirements For PFFS PlansAbby L. Block Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) Center for Beneficiary Choices sent a memo May 29 to Medicare Advantage (MA) Private fee-for-service (PFFS) plans reminding them that CMS

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-48542546082769905662007-05-31T22:15:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:48.405-08:00

This is a little late in hitting the usually up-to-the-moment HealthLawBlog (!), but it's still worth noting. NIH has created the NIH World AIDS Day Awards to recognize truly brilliant, trail-blazing work by researchers and program managers whose contributions to AIDS research have probably saved the lives of millions. One of the recipients this past year was Bob Yarchoan (who, I am proud to say

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5550635.post-11661436168950129462007-05-30T01:19:00.000-07:002008-12-10T23:09:48.738-08:00

And I thought we took food and drug regulation pretty seriously over here! This is from the AP (courtesy of The Boston Globe), and thanks for the tip to Peter Leibold, the EVP at American Health Lawyers Association:China's former top drug regulator was sentenced to death Tuesday for taking bribes to approve untested medicines, as the country's main quality control agency announced its first

tommayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09554111799163466637noreply@blogger.com