Exceptional

→  October 11th, 2010  →  Blog

Its difficult to imagine America without “American exceptionalism” – that combination of “can-do” attitude, assurance of one’s own destiny, and cockiness that has characterized the “American” spirit. A recent Economist commentary elaborates: Greatness is part of America’s birthright and lexicon. Its 18th-century founders had no doubt that they were embarking on a daring experiment inspired [...]

Lets hear it for Mike

→  September 6th, 2010  →  Blog

I’ve known Mike Lee since we were both in high school doing debate. He’s a great guy, and I’ve enjoyed talking to him over the years about comic books, science, religion, and politics. He and I don’t always see eye-to-eye (translation: sometimes I think he’s nuts – come on, Mike, Kyle Rayner as the greatest [...]

Schering-Plough says goodbye via analyst call

→  October 27th, 2009  →  Blog

If you follow the biopharma sector at all, then you’ll know one of the most noteworthy deals to be announced in recent months is the $41 billion deal where Merck will buy former rival Schering-Plough. With the deal closing soon, Schering-Plough’s execs had to deliver one last earnings call with the analyst community which cover [...]

More thoughts on the healthcare debate

→  September 15th, 2009  →  Blog

If you follow this blog at all, you’ll know that healthcare policy is a big interest of mine. Given that this was the focus of President Obama’s most recent address (and that this blog is my personal soapbox) I thought I’d chip in three thoughts to the blogosphere “marketplace of ideas” on the topic. The [...]

Sleepless in Medicine

→  June 12th, 2009  →  Blog

Econo/politco blogger Megan McArdle explains her rationale for why we need medical resident work reform (which I’ve posted on here and here): I am a gold medalist in the macho Sleepless Working Olympics.  I once worked a 60-hour shift without sleep.  (Yes, that’s 2.5 days without any shuteye.)  One stormy February, I put in 468 [...]

Hazing by any other name

→  June 1st, 2009  →  Blog

I read a WSJ piece today about some of the backlash towards proposals to reduce the bone-crushing hours that medical residents (doctors-in-training) need to endure. Having written a previous post on the subject attacking the crazy hours as “hazing”, I was eagerly awaiting some brilliant doctor to point out why I was wrong. I was [...]

Make Money off of the Uninsured

→  December 17th, 2007  →  Blog

How much do the uninsured cost the American healthcare system? This is a question with great practical relevance, as without a clear understanding of the health needs of the uninsured and the cost of providing care for those needs, it’s impossible to make a policy which successfully addresses the issues facing them. Now, I personally [...]

A Potential Solution for Healthcare?

→  November 1st, 2007  →  Blog

With the election coming, a great deal of talk on both sides of the aisle revolves around healthcare. Various competing and not-so-competing plans have been thrown around, but they all fall into the politician’s practice of promising everything while not properly accounting for the tradeoffs and costs. While I don’t profess to have all the [...]

Anxious Complexity

→  October 27th, 2007  →  Blog

How do you think the economy has been going the past couple of years? David Brooks and Marginal Revolution note that despite the fact that US economic growth has been fairly strong in recent years (ignoring the current credit market crisis) and that US income inequality is not only comparable to the reputedly more egalitarian [...]

NextGen

→  May 8th, 2007  →  Blog

Eight Years Date: (winter 2005-now) Lester Leung struck me as very odd the first time I met him. The odd dash of color in his hair. The strange look in his eyes whenever he talked about “pirates”. And the paranoid side of me was always a bit uneasy around someone who seemed to be nice [...]