I was happy to see that Global HealthNet CEO Sandip Madan, a contributor to my MedTripInfo website, is now publishing in the Wall Street Journal as well. (See We Need Free Trade in Health Care). Along with Columbia University professor Jagdish Bhagwati, he presents the case for increased trade in health care services as an antidote to what ails the US system. I agree with about half of what’s printed there.
Readers of this blog know my concerns about excessive radiation dosing from CT scans, especially for children. (See Image gently, or when the diagnosis is worse than the disease.) So I’m interested in a new resolution in the US House of Representatives that calls for a reduction of radiation dosage delivered to children. From what I can tell it’s part of the Image Gently campaign.
House Resolution 1216, introduced by Representative Sue Myrick (R-NC) reads as follows:
Hope you are enjoying it! I’m taking the day off.
Original post by David E. Williams of the Health business blog
I was traveling from Chicago’s Midway Airport today and had my first encounter with a new TSA system that lets passengers sort themselves into the appropriate security lane based on their experience traveling and whether they’re with their family. The coding is like on a ski slope. Green/circle lanes are for families and those needing special assistance. Blue/square lanes are for casual travelers and black/diamond lanes are for expert travelers. My colleague and I took the expert lane, which said it was designed for people who travel more than twice a month, elite status fliers, people who know the TSA 3-1-1 rules and so on. That’s us.
A May 17 article in the Economist (Quagmire to goldmine?) describes the impending entry of global pharmaceutical companies into developing world markets. Traditionally the big companies like Pfizer and GSK have avoided the third world, preferring to sell blockbuster drugs at high prices in the US, Western Europe, and Japan. Sales in poor countries have typically been low or negative margin, typified by HIV drug giveaways in Africa.