Category: Stephen Latham

Twitter Round Up

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

This week’s twitter round up features a variety of topics from our contributors, from discussions about health care spending and the Affordable Care Act to articles about environmental poisoning of soldiers in Iraq.

  • Amitabh Chandra tweeted that “Healthcare spending growth hits a 10yr high… so much for ‘ACA is bending the cost curve’” and shared an article from USA Today.
  • Frank Pasquale shared a blog entry by Larry Backer about Pennsylvania State University students’ worries about the rise of health care costs.
  • I. Glenn Cohen shared a link to an article in The New York Times entitled “‘Environmental Poisoning’ of Iraq Is Claimed” and states that many veterans suffer from environmental poisoning while the “IOM [is] not sure.”
  • Kate Greenwood retweeted Austin Frakt and an article from The Incidental Economist about the negative impact of the insurance market before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act on entrepreneurship.
  • Stephen Latham tweeted a link to his blog reporting on the recent announcement of the Public Health Committee of the Connecticut Legislature that it does not plan to vote on a bill addressing “Aid-In-Dying” or physician-assisted suicide despite “61% public support for the bill.”

Blogger Twitter Round-Up

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Parker Davis

This week’s twitter round up features a variety of topics from our contributors, from the chemical imbalance theory to infant mortality rates and IVF conception rates.

Frank Pasquale tweeted an article from The Star about the shift of the chemical imbalance theory related to mental illness from an agreed upon medical principle to simply another tactic used by marketers for pharmaceutical companies.

Art Caplan shared two updates regarding current rates of flu vaccination. The first was a retweet of a map graphic showing the “rate of nonmedical vaccine exemptions by state,” and the second was an update based on the records of the Immunization Action Coalition regarding the “now more than 400 organizations with mandatory flu” vaccines for health care workers.

Amitabh Chandra tweeted an update of the infant mortality rates of Pakistan versus India: “In 1960, India and Pakistan had the same infant mortality rate (155/1000). Today, Pakistan’s is 71/1000, which is what India had in 1995.” He also tweeted a Wikipedia article regarding infant mortality driving child mortality.

Stephen Latham tweeted a link to his blog reporting on “US IVF Conceptions at All-time High” which discusses the potential effects of not insuring people for assisted reproduction and encouraging implantations of multiple embryos.

Richard Epstein tweeted several times about the contraceptive mandate including links to the John Batchelor Show online.

Twitter Round-Up 2/12

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

This week’s twitter round up features a variety of topics from our contributors from the hunger crisis in America to the contraceptive mandate and the Lancet/Oslo Commission on Global Governance for Health.

Frank Pasquale tweeted an article from MSNBC about the millions of residents of New York suffering from hunger and the American hunger crisis overall (2/12).

Art Caplan was a guest of Southern California Public Radio, where he discussed the proposal in Rhode Island to mandate flu shots for children from 6 months to 5 years enrolled in preschool or daycare.

In response to a New York Times article about Medicaid expansion, Amitabh Chandra tweeted in support of allowing Medicaid beneficiaries to buy insurance on an exchange.

Stephen Latham tweeted a link to his blog responding to the Lancet/Oslo Commission on Global Governance for Health.

Richard Epstein tweeted his article in “Defining Ideas” about the contraceptive mandate and his view on the strength of the classical liberal case versus the religious case against the law.

Twitter Round-Up 10/9

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff 1 Comment

By Sara Providence

This round-up features our bloggers’ key tweets from the past two weeks, ranging from the Affordable Care Act to issues of life and death:

Frank Pasquale tweeted the article, “40 Percent of Doctor Practices Unsure About Obamacare Exchanges.” According to the author, more than 80% of doctors participating in a study were unsure about how they would be paid by the exchange plans, and 40% don’t know if they’ll accept the plans at all. (10/8)

Art Caplan posted the article “Euthanasia for emotional pain: Mercy or a ‘culture of death’?” The harrowing piece continues the conversation about the ethics of assisted suicide, this time through the lens of a transgender man’s story. (10/7)

Frank Pasquale tweeted the article “When the Machine That Goes Ping Causes Harm: Default Torts Rules and Technologically-Mediated Health Care Injuries.” In the piece, author Nicolas Terry discusses the liability questions brought to light by the increased use of technology in healthcare delivery. (10/7)

Michelle Meyer tweeted a blog post by Josiah Neeley, called “How to Avoid Defaultmageddon: Randomize Obamacare.” Written before the government shutdown, it discusses the potential utility of allowing the Affordable Care Act to continue as planned in some states but not in others, in order to observe its effects. (10/3)

Richard Epstein tweeted his piece, “Government overreach threatens lives.” In light of an appeal of the 2012 decision in Regenerative Sciences LLC v. United States, he expresses the opinion that the FDA’s decision to review each individual stem cell procedure performed is bad policy. (10/2)

Stephen Latham tweeted about his appearance on the Melissa Harris-Perry show on MSNBC. He was featured as a discussant in a conversation about the book “Knocking on Heaven’s Door: The Path to a Better Way of Life” by Katie Butler, which addresses the idea that a longer life is not necessarily a better one. (9/28)

Twitter Round-Up (1/27-2/7)

caseyt Leave a comment

By Casey Thomson

Even the surprisingly resurrected Richard III (on the Twitter-sphere, anyway) appreciates bioethics concerns. Read on to find out more about Richard III’s eagerness for patient confidentiality and other updates in this week’s (extended) Twitter round-up:

  • Stephen Latham (@StephenLatham) included a link to his blog post challenging Andrew Francis’ recent claim that penicillin was the central drug spawning the sexual revolution of the 1960s. While penicillin may have facilitated the widespread acceptance of pre-marital relations, it was The Pill that “translat[ed] that newfound sexual freedom into sexual equality.” (1/28)
  • Dan Vorhaus (@genomicslawyer) posted a summary video regarding the Neanderthal baby story that rocked the internet in the past few weeks, as reported by Taiwan’s Next Media animation. (1/28)
  • Michelle Meyer (@MichelleNMeyer) shared a news report on Israel’s recent admittance to giving birth control to Ethiopian Jewish immigrants, frequently without either consent or knowledge. Concerns first arose after an investigative journalist began to explore why birth rates in the community had fallen so drastically and seemingly inexplicably. (1/28)
  • Arthur Caplan (@ArthurCaplan) linked to a piece explaining the future implications and consequences of the guidance requiring schools to make “reasonable modifications” in order to include students with disabilities in either general athletic programs or provide them with parallel opportunities. The guidance, while a potential huge move forward for individuals with disabilities, nonetheless will be nothing without “tough and honest conversation about financing and revenue – and soon.” (1/28)
  • Michelle Meyer (@MichelleNMeyer) retweeted an article showing the return of the “invisible gorilla” from the 2010 book, but this time in the fake CT scans shown to both expert radiologists and volunteers alike. The gorilla was large in size compared to the typically indicative nodules, and was unmistakably a gorilla, but yet 20 out of the 24 radiologists failed to see the gorilla. It’s a frightening real-life example of what the original study’s jargon terms as “inattentional blindness.” (1/29)
  • Kevin Outterson (@koutterson) live tweeted the Pew meeting concerning new antibiotic development pathways for limited populations. See the string of tweets on his Twitter page for further details of how the meeting proceeded. (1/31)
  • Daniel Goldberg (@prof_goldberg) shared a link describing the first scientific evidence suggesting that doctors can “truly feel” their patients’ pain. The study, done by Harvard researchers, used brain scans to indicate activated regions of physicians’ brains during a simulated interaction with patients. (2/1)
  • Frank Pasquale (@FrankPasquale) linked to a story on the problems associated with over-prescribing amphetamine-based medications, particularly to teenagers and young adults. While focusing on the individual story of an aspiring medical student named Richard Fee, the author delves into the underexposed side effects of often overzealous prescribing and the surprisingly casual attitude that most Americans hold towards this medication. (2/3)
  • Frank Pasquale (@FrankPasquale) also posted a piece inspired by the talk surrounding World Cancer Day on the problems related to cancer treatment in developing countries. Contrary to being solely a problem of so-called developed nations, cancer remains an issue globally – including such cancers that are caused by an infectious agent. Fighting the false notions – that cancer in developing nations is minimal, that it is always not “catchable,” and that enough care (particularly vaccines) is being delivered – is essential to reducing the global inequity in cancer treatment. (2/4)
  • Michelle Meyer (@MichelleNMeyer) retweeted the (supposedly resurrected and technologically adept) Richard III’s tweet regarding publication of details surrounding his newly-identified bones: “Hmmm not so happy about my physical attributes being discussed in public. What happened to patient confidentiality ???” (2/4)
  • Daniel Goldberg (@prof_goldberg) shared a report on a new study that found a correlation between low self-esteem and female body representation and obsession in “chick lit.” The report noted that the results suggested a possible “intervention tool” by having characters seek support from friends and family for such body concerns. (2/5)
  • Michelle Meyer (@MichelleNMeyer) retweeted a graphic eloquently summarizing one of the simplest and most potent arguments in favor of vaccination, and arguably the greater biopharmaceutical industry. (2/6)

Note: As mentioned in previous posts, retweeting should not be considered as an endorsement of or agreement with the content of the original tweet.

Twitter Round-Up (1/20-1/26)

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By Casey Thomson

Though simply the consequence of bad translation, the story of the Harvard geneticist George Church looking for a woman to act as surrogate for a Neanderthal clone shocked the internet bioethics world. A look at the problems with this hypothetical situation is just one of the components of this week’s Twitter Round-Up.

  • Frank Pasquale (@FrankPasquale) linked to an opinion piece discussing the reasoning behind the United States’ place in the world rankings of life expectancy at different stages of life. The news is a big hit to ideas of American exceptionalism: according to a report by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, Americans have a substantially higher death rate for those younger than 50 as compared to Western Europeans, Canadians, Japanese, and Australians, but once they reach the age of 80, they have some of the longest life expectancies globally. (1/20)
  • Arthur Caplan (@ArthurCaplan) shared his article on why Neanderthal cloning is a bad idea, both in terms of safety and in terms of avoiding cruelty. (1/22)
  • Arthur Caplan (@ArthurCaplan) posted a news story on the reopening of bird flu experimental procedures for vaccine creation. Caplan was quoted in the article as stating: “I have no issue with restarting the research but some issue with where they are going to publish it and where they present it because bad guys can use it too.” (1/23)
  • Daniel Goldberg (@prof_goldberg) included an evaluation as to the medical disparities occurring in Colorado, particularly between races. The article emphasized in its conclusion that the existence of the disparities themselves is quite clear, but discussion on how to erase such differences is noticeably absent. (1/23)
  • Michelle Meyer (@MichelleNMeyer) retweeted a post that attempted to quantifiably compare the quality of care in Medicare options, namely whether Medicare Advantage plans 1) will eventually shortchange patients by skipping out on care quality because of profit motive or 2) have incentives to improve care quality because of the newly implemented systematic quality monitoring, where poor ratings impact them financially. The author found that most existing data makes the second theory more compelling, though the amount of data regarding the subject in general is largely lacking. (1/24)
  • Michelle Meyer (@MichelleNMeyer) also shared a link to an explanation of the intricacies of “personalized regulation” in medicine, which aims to preserve patient choice in an era leaning more and more towards paternalistic medical oversight. Understanding that patients may choose to make rational decisions that diverge from the community or committee consensus is key towards improving medical care to better reflect patient wants, and rights. (1/24)
  • Arthur Caplan (@ArthurCaplan) included a story on the large imbalance in misconduct reports in research between the genders. Men overwhelmingly led the charge, with only nine women out of the 72 faculty members who committed research misconduct. (1/24)
  • Michelle Meyer (@MichelleNMeyer) additionally shared a letter written by the Editor of The Hastings Center’s Bioethics Forum on the reasoning behind publication of a controversial article on the social pressures leading to obesity. The letter calls for the importance of recognizing that publication means that an article contributes to the larger debate on an issue, though does not affirm that the publication medium agrees with the views espoused within; it also encouraged responses to the ideas of the article. (1/25)
  • Stephen Latham (@StephenLatham) posted a video link from Comedy Central on the perils of WebMD and vegetarianism. (1/25)

Note: As mentioned in previous posts, retweeting should not be considered as an endorsement of or agreement with the content of the original tweet.

Quick, Effective Public Health Measures

Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research Leave a comment

By Stephen Latham [cross-posted at his blog, A Blog on Bioethics]

I’m freshly back from the annual meeting of the Public Health Law Research program, sponsored by Robert Wood Johnson.

At most academic meetings, I prefer schmoozing in the halls to listening to the talks. That’s part personal vice, and part stage-of-career: at this point, it matters more who I talk to than whose paper I hear. This conference was different, though–perhaps because I’m new to it. A very large percentage of the papers (and posters!) repaid close attention.

But the best session of the conference, to my mind, was the “Critical Opportunities” session. The session, which is apparently an annual affair, is presented as a competition: a handful of public health law scholars are invited to present their best ideas for high-impact, evidence-based public health interventions that have a chance at actual enactment. The audience votes on which one they think is (to put it roughly) most worth peddling to health-policy folk under the banner, “Do it now!”

Twitter Round-Up (12/9-12/15)

caseyt Leave a comment
By Casey Thomson
This week’s round-up looks at the problems of substandard drug prevalence abroad, NIH’s possible push for an anonymous grant-awarding process, and the Liverpool Care Pathway investigation. Check it out below!
  • Dan Vorhaus (@genomicslawyer) included a link to a report on the recent launch of Personal Genome Launch Canada. The post includes links to help navigate the content and learn more about the intricacies of this project. (12/9)
  • Frank Pasquale (@FrankPasquale) shared a post on the benefits and detriments of raising the age of Medicare eligibility from age 65 to 67 – an idea that has recently gained sway in the political arena. The author ultimately concludes that the move would only be a matter of cost shifting rather than cost saving, and thus harm the disenfranchised 65-66 year-olds that would front the cost. (12/10)
  • Frank Pasquale (@FrankPasquale) also included this article on Dr. Oz’s wrongful diagnosis on organics. While concerns about finances must indeed be taken into consideration when families decide what foods to purchase, families must also be concerned about the presence of pesticides in their food. Organic food, while more expensive, avoids this health hazard. (12/10)
  • Frank Pasquale (@FrankPasquale) additionally linked to this report on the preponderance of substandard (and oftentimes, consequentially lethal) drugs particularly in emerging markets. Efforts to crackdown on substandard drugs have thus far focused largely on counterfeit drugs, rather than those that are the result of “shoddy manufacturing and handling…or deliberate corner cutting,” which constitute an arguably much greater public health threat. (12/10)
  • Daniel Goldberg (@prof_goldberg) shared this post on the prevalence of worthless clinical practice guidelines. The article notes the need to distinguish the guidelines that meet much of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) quality criteria from the rest. (12/10)
  • Alex Smith (@AlexSmithMD) linked to a blog post on advance care planning and the gap between the needs of the healthcare system and those of patients. Currently, much of the paperwork required for advance directives is given without providing families and patients concrete skills needed for both identifying their desires and communicating such desires to direct their own medical care. This article calls for refocusing on providing direct patient empowerment in addition to the existing efforts to improve clinician communication in order to facilitate the ability of advance care planning to reflect the patient’s wishes. (12/11)
  • Michelle Meyer (@MichelleNMeyer) retweeted an article about the NIH’s consideration of introducing anonymity into the grant-awarding process in order to alleviate some of the concerns with bias that have long-plagued the agency. (12/12)
  • Dan Vorhaus (@genomicslawyer) also posted a report on BGI, a world-leading DNA sequencing organization based in China, and their commercial expansion efforts into the healthcare, agriculture, and aquaculture sectors. The question of whether BGI is more a research institute or commercial enterprise comes into question in the article. (12/12)
  • Stephen Latham (@StephenLatham) included a link to his own blog post on the recently renewed controversy concerning the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient (LCP), particularly as to whether patients put on the LCP had a discussion with their care providers prior to the decision and whether hospitals were wrongly putting patients on the pathway. The talk of scandal sparked an independent investigation into the LCP; Latham’s article expressed his hope for thoroughness in the investigation and for serious consideration on how to renew the LCP effectively. (12/12)
  • Arthur Caplan (@ArthurCaplan) posted a link concerning the implications of 23andMe, a personalized genomics company, and their launch of the $99 genetic test in the hopes of inspiring greater numbers to get tested. The article’s author reflects on how the real benefit will likely not be immediate for individuals, but will rather depend on the chance that greater data will lead to more breakthroughs in understanding the human genome. (12/14)

Note: As mentioned in previous posts, retweeting should not be considered as an endorsement of or agreement with the content of the original tweet.