Toxicity is a common side effect of cancer treatment. Such things as fatigue, nausea, and pain are a serious concern for oncologists, who know that they can impede treatment and diminish quality of life.
Now, in a two-part essay published in the journal Oncology, doctors at Duke University argue that the...
Toxicity is a common side effect of cancer treatment. Such things as fatigue, nausea, and pain are a serious concern for oncologists, who know that they can impede treatment and diminish quality of life.
Now, in a two-part essay published in the journal Oncology, doctors at Duke University argue that the financial side effects of cancer treatment can be just as important in impeding treatment and diminishing quality of life. Cancer treatment's costs are rising, the treatment is often being overused, and the rising costs are increasingly being passed on to patients, the doctors write.
I first caught wind of this essay, which appeared online Feb. 15 and April 15, this week when I ran across an April 25 story by Nick Mulcahy at Medscape, who was apparently one of the first to pick up on it--possibly the first. It's important story,...
"In most areas of the economy," writes James Surowiecki in the Oct. 29 issue of The New Yorker, "free market principles insure that products and services keep...
"In most areas of the economy," writes James Surowiecki in the Oct. 29 issue of The New Yorker, "free market principles insure that products and services keep improving, and that consumers get better and better deals." Yesterday's announcement by Apple of new and better products, some at the same prices as their now-obsolete predecessors, is an example.
But in this excellent, brief analysis of health care reform, he notes that the free market "falters when it comes to paying for bypass surgery or chemotherapy," and he points to what he says is a classic article published by Kenneth Arrow nearly 50 years ago. [That's my link, not his, and I think it's correct; he should have linked to the article himself.] Among other things,...
The headline was ominous.
"Survey: Employers Consider Ending Health Coverage,"...
The headline was ominous.
"Survey: Employers Consider Ending Health Coverage," said the AP. The story appeared around the web, in various newspapers and websites.
Not many others covered the story, which was based on an employer survey by the consulting group Towers Watson. But I did find a similarly frightening headline at International Business Times: "Employers Look Towards Ending Health Coverage, Survey."
Boise Weekly offered its own...
I've expressed the opinion here that science journalists bring a unique set of...
I've expressed the opinion here that science journalists bring a unique set of qualifications to their work, and that other journalists--and other authorities and experts--often cannot do the job as well as a science writer. A good example of the problem appeared in The New York Times over the weekend.
The Times piece was written by Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist; bioethicist; former White House adviser; the brother of Chicago mayor and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel; the brother of Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel--and an all-around smart guy. In September, he will join the University of Pennsylvania with "...
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