Food Safety and Irradiation

The radura label Food-borne safety is front and center once again in America, spawning a boom in home-grown foods and "green" or "organic" alternatives. At the same time, we seem to be losing confidence in an inadequately funded FDA to police food at its source and manage the safety of the increasingly complex global food […]

Surgical Burden of Disease

Thinking strategically about health in a connected world Two weeks ago I participated in a conference in Norfolk, Virginia in a session with Dr. Selwyn Rogers, Chief of the Trauma Division at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health for Partners Health Care. Selwyn’s research interest is […]

Wii in the UK

A good example of techmanityI’ve been making the case for “Techmanity” – technology embraced by health care professionals as a human connector and humanizing force. If you’d like a concrete example, and need to put a bit of a smile on your face today, take a look at this piece from the UK on seniors […]

Are Cosmetics in Need of a Makeover?

Emerging evidence suggests personal care products can affect hormonal balance in men and women Healthy skin or healthy hormones – is that the choice our bath, body and cosmetics products are forcing us to make? In our looks-fixated, aging averse society, we hold our personal care products in great esteem. “Moisturize away dry skin and wrinkles!” We dutifully obey […]

Gray and Green Water

Don Elder speaks During the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act in 2002, 30 "national water heroes” were singled out for recognition. Don Elder was one of them. Today Don serves as president of the River Network, a national organization that supports the efforts of state and local river conservation organizations. […]

Yearning for Universal Coverage Is Not Universal

Many still view universal coverage with apprehension, not anticipationEveryone wants universal health coverage, right? Not quite. As I pointed out in a recent opinion piece for the Washington Post, the yearning for universal health care is far from universal. The reaction to that article – about 160 posted comments or direct emails to me – […]

Homelessness and Healthlessness

Connected at the hipAs the saying goes, one thing leads to another. One of the measurables that has been publicized over the years to help stimulate action in health system reform is the number of uninsured in America. But as the economic downturn expands, and people lose their jobs and their homes, the number of underinsured […]

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