Health Care Policy
September 4, 2018
Generic Drugs Are the Standard
Generic drugs are equally effective and safe as brand name pharmaceuticals. Prior authorization for expensive brand names is difficult to obtain and hard to justify. If a brand name is desired, the member will be asked to help provide the rationale for the approval process.
September 3, 2018
Premium Hearing Aids at Costco Prices
Hearing aids are essential devices for many older people, but often are not obtained because of the persistently high expense. I recently explored Costco as a source of high-technology major-brand hearing aids at dramatically lower prices.
August 18, 2018
The Valsartan Fiasco
Contaminated valsartan antihypertensive medication was discovered and is being recalled. No one is likely to have been injured by the NDMA contamination, but we intend to switch everyone to irbesartan, a comparable medication in the same ARB class that has not shown any contamination issues.
April 29, 2018
Opioid Contracts and Monitoring
Opioid drugs, also called narcotics, are critical medications for relieving acute pain but more problematic when occasionally used for chronic pain. We describe new state regulations concerning opioid prescriptions and monitoring and how it affects you and our practice.
March 24, 2018
The Fascinating Arithmetic of Guns in the U.S.
In the midst of the marches against gun violence, the Boston Globe special section pointed out the 78% of Americans don't own guns, but 3% of Americans own over half of all guns. We do some arithmetic with those numbers.
March 21, 2018
Thoughts on Recreational Marijuana and Alcohol
Modest use of marijuana or alcohol is unlikely to be physically harmful, unlike heavy use. Teenagers should not use either. The recreational marijuana statute heightens the concern about how to protect teenagers from marijuana.
March 5, 2018
Silky Smooth “Almondmilk”? Really?
So-called "almondmilk" is not milk but an emulsion of a few almonds in water combined with chalk and vitamins. Let's look through the marketing haze to find the facts.
January 13, 2018
Drugs From Canada
Canadian pharmacies sometimes provide needed first-quality drugs at greatly reduced prices. GoodRx helps find drugs inexpensively at local pharmacies.
May 8, 2017
We Are All Preexisting Conditions
The Republican-passed American Health Care Act reintroduces medical underwriting and preexisting conditions into health care. It will take us back to the dark ages of health care that were even worse than you remember now.
March 1, 2015
Prescriptions and Prior Authorizations
Getting you the medication I prescribe or you want often takes more time and energy because of drug formularies and obstacles such as "prior authorizations." You should be aware of how complex it can be for all of us.
January 11, 2015
Annual “Physical” Without Value? I Think Not.
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel just wrote a piece in the NY Times declaring the annual physical a waste of time and money. I contend he is wildly off base and his view is harmful to primary care.
April 4, 2013
Chest CT Scans to Screen for Lung Cancer
Chest CT scans on an annual basis have been shown to find lung cancers in former long-term smokers early enough to reduce mortality by 20%. We should consider starting annual chest CTs for all current and former serious smokers.