Why Medical Care Costs So Much

The cost of medical care is high because the body is complicated and doctors and patients hate ambiguity. The cost is high because a missed diagnosis can lead to death and a large lawsuit. The cost is high because we have many specialists that view the body in tiny pieces and want to feel 100% correct about their piece. Let me give you a real life example:My patient, Rick is a brilliant

Ground Beef is Unhealthy and Contaminated

I am a bit obsessed this week with Celebrity Chef Jaime Oliver and his mission to reform the way Americans eat. I watched his new ABC show where he tries to reform the school lunch program in North Carolina where 50% of the town is obese. It is really a great show and it's great to see this type of "reality" TV rather than the usual fare. In honor of eating healthy, I am re-posting a blog from

Eating Healthy is High Cost

I watched a good documentary called "Food, Inc". It was nominated for an Academy Award . The promo says you'll never look at dinner the same way and they are right. Since I am a fan of Michael Pollan and have read "Fast Food Nation", I was already one of the healthy food fans, but seeing how agriculture and farming has changed over the last 40 years was still a shocker.There is no doubt that

Don Berwick to Head CMS

President Obama likes to shake things up. He has named Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Medicare and Medicaid Agency known as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This is a huge government agency with a budget of over $800 BILLION a year. That is more than most countries in the world. Dr. Berwick would be a major force in implementing the new health laws and changing Medicare to be

Corporate Hall of Shame Award

Thanks to reader m.scott for alerting me to this weeks Corporate Hall of Shame winner. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is the winner for it's egregious denial of care for a 10 day old baby who was born with a congenital heart defect. Coverage for surgery to treat transposition of the great arteries was denied for...are you ready for this....a "preexisting condition". Both of the Houston

New Approved Treatment for Dupuytren's

I did a blog on Dupuytren's contracture last year that got a lot of interest. There are a lot of men out there with this condition and, apparently, many of them are reading EverythingHealth. I mentioned a new biologic drug that was being developed as a non-surgical treatment for Dupuytrens. At that time, it was still in testing phase and not available for use.The product, collengenase