By David Gorski We advocate science-based medicine (SBM) on this blog. However, from time to time, I feel it necessary to point out that science-based medicine is not the same thing as turning medicine into a science. Rather, we argue that what we do as clinicians should be based in science. This is not a…
By GARDINER HARRIS Annual CT scans of current and former heavy smokers reduce the risk that they will die from lung cancer by 20 percent, a huge government-financed study has found. Suspicious nodules that may indicate lung cancer can be seen in a CT scan of the lung (above), but not in an X-ray (below).…
By Gregory Twachtman Comparative effectiveness research presents a barrier to innovation based on the uncertainty it creates within the payer community, Steven Burrill, CEO of venture capital firm Burrill & Co. said. Speaking at the ECRI Institute’s “Comparative Effectiveness and Personalized Medicine: An Essential Interface” conference, Burrill called that barrier “extraordinary.” The conference was held…
By: Nicholas Wade Two new DNA-based tests, one of them described at a meeting in Philadelphia on Thursday, hold the promise of detecting early — and sharply reducing — colon cancer, a disease that afflicts 150,000 people a year in the United States and costs an estimated $14 billion to treat. The new tests could…
By KENT BOTTLES, MD Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) is suddenly a hot topic at all the health care conferences. How come? Everybody agrees that we have to decrease per-capita cost and increase quality. Why? Government programs like Medicare and Medicaid foot more than 50% of our nation’s health bill, and if everything stays the same…
By Katherine Hobson The United States Preventive Services Task Force has canceled a meeting set for early next month at which the thorny issue of prostate-cancer screening was due for a vote. We heard of the cancellation and agenda from people planning to attend the meeting. And according to a PowerPoint presentation we saw, when…
By Katherine Hobson The United States Preventive Services Task Force has canceled a meeting set for early next month at which the thorny issue of prostate-cancer screening was due for a vote. We heard of the cancellation and agenda from people planning to attend the meeting. And according to a PowerPoint presentation we saw, when…
By Katherine Hobson The United States Preventive Services Task Force has canceled a meeting set for early next month at which the thorny issue of prostate-cancer screening was due for a vote. We heard of the cancellation and agenda from people planning to attend the meeting. And according to a PowerPoint presentation we saw, when…
Tom Daschle, the former Senate Majority Leader and a senior, informal, advisor to President Obama during the health debate has been writing and talking about how the law got passed. In his new book, “Getting It Done,” Daschle talks about the challenges facing the administration now, including walking the line between the “pragmatic and idealistic” and…
Tom Daschle, the former Senate Majority Leader and a senior, informal, advisor to President Obama during the health debate has been writing and talking about how the law got passed. In his new book, “Getting It Done,” Daschle talks about the challenges facing the administration now, including walking the line between the “pragmatic and idealistic” and…
