President-Elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services is cause for celebration for anyone who cares about the pharmaceutical industry’s influence over regulatory agencies, and the deleterious effect it has had on the health of Americans. It is nearly impossible to express just how remarkable and potentially world-changing this is....
An age-appropriate strength training program can have significant benefits for children and adolescents. The Good Brigade/DigitalVision via Getty Images ~~~~~~ “Aren’t they a little young for that?” This is a question I used to hear regularly from parents when I’d recommend strength training for the kids I worked with, whose ages ranged from 6 to 18 years old, in youth sports. During my four...
Sociologist Elena Portacolone was taken aback. Many of the older adults in San Francisco she visited at home for a research project were confused when she came to the door. They’d forgotten the appointment or couldn’t remember speaking to her. It seemed clear they had some type of cognitive impairment. Yet they were living alone. Portacolone, an associate professor at the University of...
As I explored in two recent posts (“The Managerialist Revolution in Medicine” and “Why We Are Sick“), our medical institutions—from hospitals and licensing boards to medical schools and professional societies—are failing us. The complex of problems in many of these institutions makes reform or repair, in the short term at least, impractical and perhaps impossible. Too many vested financial or...
Central Oregon Pathology Consultants has been in business for nearly 60 years, offering molecular testing and other diagnostic services east of the Cascade Range. Beginning last winter, it operated for months without being paid, surviving on cash on hand, practice manager Julie Tracewell said. The practice is caught up in the aftermath of one of the most significant digital attacks in American...
Q&A — Health communications researcher Lucy Popova Regulatory hurdles, industry objections and legal fights have gone on for decades over traditional tobacco. What’s in store for the next generation of smoking? In 1966, the first warning label appeared on the side of cigarette packs in the United States. Stating “Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health,” it was also the...
