Medical Malpractice Reform

Why Obama Deserved the AMA Standing OvationWhen President Obama recently addressed the American Medical Association (AMA) and signaled support for malpractice reform, he received a standing ovation. No surprise there. But the truth is this reform is long overdue, and will better serve the people as well as those caring for the people. Medical malpractice […]

Medical Malpractice Reform: Why Obama Deserved the AMA Standing Ovation

Story of the Week | June 30, 2009 Medical Malpractice Reform Why Obama Deserved the AMA Standing Ovation By Mike Magee, MD When President Obama recently addressed the American Medical Association (AMA) and signaled support for malpractice reform, he received a standing ovation. No surprise there. But the truth is this reform is long overdue, […]

Smoking Out the Ad Industry

Money Talks Last week, after decades of fighting dating back to FDA Commissioner David Kessler’s valiant attempts, the FDA was finally granted authority to regulate tobacco. Congress passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which President Obama is now expected to sign into law.1,2 This landmark legislation controls elements of manufacturing, marketing, and […]

Water Pricing and Control

Who Should be in Charge? Who owns more water then any other individual in the US today? That would be T. Boone Pickens, the oil billionaire who describes water as "the new oil" or "blue gold." He sees water as the ultimate commodity, to be bought and sold.1,2 Water is already a $500 billion dollar […]

When Swine Flu Returns in the Fall, How Bad will it Be?

Several years ago, when Bird Flu, viral strain H5N1, hit, I reported on it immediately. I provided several updates over the following 24 months.1,2,3 I did this not because of the numbers of people affected (many more birds died then did people) but because of the deadliness of this microbe. The bottom line for avian […]

Digitizing Health

Two years ago, the major national primary care organizations went public with their patient-centered "Medical Home" concept.1 Since then, the AMA and 17 other specialty societies, as well as many Fortune 500 companies have endorsed the movement. This includes a vote of confidence for primary care, patient centrality, coordinated team care and payment reform to […]