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Index 2008: Letters to the Editor

Write a letter to the editor - Learn more

Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec - 2007 - 2009

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Dec. 29

• Dr. Davis left us with an important lesson in rediscovering faith in God
• Hard times spur sweeping changes

Dec. 22

• Medical home designation carries threat of more scut work
• Will small practices be able to compete for title of medical home?

Dec. 15

• Physician-assisted suicide will stir public mistrust of the profession
• Pa. needs liability reform to keep its doctors -- and their economic benefit

Dec. 8

• Arthroscopic surgery has a role, which is more common than skeptics allow

Dec. 1

• Thanksgiving should not mark the close of influenza vaccine season

Nov. 24

• Conscience law enforcement protects those making a crucial moral decision
• Fair e-prescribing pay? Think double the primary care services rate
• "Politics" represents the public's interest in stem cell debate

Nov. 17

• Doctor-patient relationship goes both ways when judgment is at issue

Nov. 10

• When considering organ donation approaches, look to Spain, not Iran
• Properly provided drug samples do not undermine generic prescriptions

Nov. 3

• Tobacco is harmful, but attacks on freedom to smoke also pose a threat

Oct. 27

• Drop third-party-payer contracts and be free from hassles and bondage
• Government should do some more thinking on soundness of ICD-10 shift

Oct. 20

• Activist veto of abortions will result if conscience laws enforced as proposed
• Standard on curbing disruptive behavior could be misapplied easily

Oct. 13

• Patients do benefit from DTC ads
• Let physicians decide individually how to decipher drug marketing

Oct. 6

• Ban direct-to-consumer drug ads
• Recognize Center for the Intrepid's Dr. Menetrez is a physiatrist

Sept. 22/29

• Pharma pen, pad bans demean "boots on the ground" doctors
• Our society, not government, is key to achieving health care for all
• Two shortages, one poor solution

Sept. 15

• Standard "time out" alone not always enough to prevent surgical errors

Sept. 8

• Medical Justice: Our mutual privacy agreement will stand up when the patient is federally insured
• In-depth smoking history leads to proper selection of therapies

Sept. 1

• APA: Decision to review industry funding came before outside attention

Aug. 25

• Direct-to-patients ads, not free pens, are the real problem
• Drug industry gifts: Congress should practice what it preaches
• E-prescribing cost should be borne by companies who will reap the benefit

Aug. 18

• Nurses taking NBME exam want to boost skills, not act as physicians

Aug. 11

• Solution for health plan CEOs' outrageous pay: Let doctors decide the salaries
• Doctor of nursing degree is just another entitlement

Aug. 4

• A salute to medical students who are choosing military service
• CMS no-pay list call to action

July 28

• A test is in order for nurses who want to expand their scope of practice

July 21

• Direct-to-consumer ads are "a profit wolf dressed in an altruistic sheepskin"
• Want to be a doctor? Go to med school

July 14

• Titles should convey clarity, but "doctor of nursing" will confuse public
• A scribe, not an EHR, for efficiency
• Gifts and trips are given to physicians with the expectation of a return
• Don't limit liability reform to crises
• Safety tips an acknowledgment that some practices choose to be armed

July 7

• AOA president: DOs are responding to the need for more rural care
• Beeper on, cell phone off

June 23/30

• EHR sent this physician back to efficiency of handwritten records
• CMS says it wants quality reports, but isn't so good at its own reporting
• When looking for villains, start with major insurers -- not drug reps

June 16

• Health threat from climate change is not supported by the evidence
• There is no "unholy alliance" between doctors and drug, medical firms

June 9

• Tobacco use places a quarter of adult population within addictive disorder
• Abolish for-profit health plans
• Insurance industry taking resources out of our health care system

June 2

• Single-payer support doesn't fit with what's known to dissatisfy doctors
• EMR article was too positive
• P4P? Let's have C4C instead

May 26

• EHRs must be made irresistible, but for now are clearly inadequate
• Appreciation for AMA's Dr. Davis

May 19

• Physicians should be more realistic on national health insurance -- they have already experienced Medicare
• In law-abiding hands, a gun is no more sinister than a fire extinguisher

May 12

• 5 things needed to make EMRs practical

May 5

• Number doesn't tell whole story of how psychiatrists view health plans
• It's up to the woman if a pregnancy creates 1 patient or 2
• EMRs have 2 strikes against them

April 28

• There is a strong case to be made for postpartum depression screening
• For a couple facing the match, a couple of services spells trouble

April 21

• To get more empathy, focus more on character of med school applicants
• Insurers misuse wellness programs
• Hippocratic oath does not apply to issue of doctors pitching products

April 14

• ADA: There can be even more collaboration between dentists and physicians
• In medicine, emphasis should be on compassion and less so on empathy

April 7

• Amid debate on prostate cancer care, one physician relates his experience

March 24/31

• Predominance of hospitalists has quality assurance implications
• Motherhood is daunting but should not be recast as a disease

March 17

• Address patient safety with pay levels that cover time needed for good care
• There were airport clinics in the '70s

March 10

• Insurers are using an overly broad definition of "preexisting condition"
• Adults forgo vaccinations because of poor coverage, limited reimbursement

March 3

• How high is the stack of rules and regulations that apply to physicians?
• Physician's duty to unborn patient precludes an abortion referral

Feb. 25

• Less work for ethics committees as consensus replaced controversies
• Financial transparency is essential to creating best possible health system
• Turnabout is fair play when medicine meets anonymous online venting

Feb. 18

• Consumer-directed health care just the latest risk-shifting scheme
• Set health costs apart by use of dedicated credit card

Feb. 11

• It's understandable that a practice would drop a litigious patient
• Lawmakers should read doctor's letter on being forced from practice

Feb. 4

• If FSMB wants better care, it should raise doctor morale and lower hassles

Jan. 28

• Medicine is not well served when it is blurred with religion
• Physicians doing what's right need shield from money-minded litigation

Jan. 21

• Reliance on primary care may explain early cancer diagnosis in rural areas

Jan. 14

• Balance billing will come too late for this doctor but may save others

Jan. 7

• "Primary care physicians do not have a corner on the market of altruism"

Last year's letters - Back to top

Doctors generally are barred from referring patients to entities in which they have a financial stake. Read more

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