They're getting max cred from me for making articles of general public interest open access, and they definitely get a dog biscuit today. Kerianne Quanstrum and Rodney Hayward tell it like it is -- the crapstorm over the Preventive Services Task Force revised recommendations on screening mammography was largely propelled by the economic interest of radiologists. They even start off with that famous Adam Smith quotation, the one Smith's libertarian fans (who have never bothered to read him) pretend doesn't exist: "People of the same trade seldom meet together . . . [without] the conversation end[ing] in a conspiracy against the public." And yep, they are talking about the American College of Radiology, in your face.
As long as Americans have it stuck in their craniums that in medicine, more is always better and the only reason people argue for less is because they want to kill your mother, we are, well, going to kill people. That's the result of squandering and misallocating limited resources, and it's even the direct result of intervening when it's likely to do more harm than good.
So let's bring on the Life Panels. Tell us what not to do. Please.
Discussion of public health and health care policy, from a public health perspective. The U.S. spends more on medical services than any other country, but we get less for it. Major reasons include lack of universal access, unequal treatment, and underinvestment in public health and social welfare. We will critically examine the economics, politics and sociology of health and illness in the U.S. and the world.
Stop putting in gastro feeding tubes in people who don't stand a chance! Make people comfortable and if death occurs, so be it! It makes no sense to keep vegetables alive! You have to show that you want to and can understand why you are on hemodialysis and to learn to eat, drink and take their medication properly and the first time you say "I know my body", you are dropped from the program!
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