Dr. Jen Gunter
health insurance
To cut isn’t always to cure: knee surgery, health care, and our love affair with the scalpel
An article, just published in the NEJM, caught my attention not only for the study results, but because of what is says in a between-the-lines kind of way about the American health care system. The study looks at arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus in people over the age of 45 who also have arthritis … Continue reading
The FDA’s new restrictions on hydrocodone are unlikely to solve any problem.
America consumes 80% of the world opioid supply (99% of the world hydrocodone supply), but has about 5% of the world’s population. If you don’t think America has some kind of opioid problem, then move along because this rational, evidence-based, experience-laden way in which I’m going to discuss opioid use and misuse will not interest you. … Continue reading
7 reasons Romney and Ryan are not pro-life
Romney and Ryan have confirmed their “pro-life” platform as have Akin, Mourdock et. al. (the list of GOP candidates who are over eager to be the “best most pro-life politician ever” is really too long). However, I am having a hard time accepting their “pro-life” commitment. I mean, if they were really “pro-life” wouldn’t they … Continue reading
Romney affirms commitment to fetus, but not heart attack victims
The Columbus Dispatch is reporting an interview with Mitt Romney where he once again voiced his belief that a lack of health insurance is just no big deal: “We don’t have a setting across this country where if you don’t have insurance, we just say to you, ‘Tough luck, you’re going to die when you … Continue reading
When your oxygen benefits run out
My boys were 8 months old when their oxygen benefits ran out. It’s a bit dystopian in that Total Recall kind of way (the first film where they turn the oxygen off, not the second one). I mean run out of oxygen benefits? What kind of demon dreams this shit up? It’s one thing to … Continue reading
Mitt Romney channels Ebenezer Scrooge on 60 minutes
Last night on 60 minutes Mitt Romney was questioned about health care. When asked if the government had a responsibility to care for the fifty million Americans who don’t have health insurance he replied, “Well, we do provide care for people who don’t have insurance, people — we– if someone has a heart attack, they … Continue reading
Sandra Fluke’s information about the pill and ovarian cysts is wrong and why it matters
Sandra Fluke is once again under attack. This time by Representative Joe Walsh. She responded in the Huffington Post to Rep Walsh, writing: I testified before members of Congress not because “I wanted the American people to pay for my contraception,” but because I wanted the private insurance that women pay for themselves to cover … Continue reading
The one horror story that’s missing when Canadians talk about health care
I just spent a week in Canada. Most days were spent enjoying the glory that is a Manitoba summer on the sandy shores of lake Winnipeg, the kids playing in the water and building sandcastles while the parents chatted. As often happens, when people find out that I’m a doctor, the conversation turns to medicine. … Continue reading
Does HIPAA protect me from providing my employer with information about using birth control?
Arizona, the new Gilead, is considering bill 2625,a piece of legislation that authorizes employers to exempt contraception from healthcare coverage if it is prescribed for, you know, contraception (using the ever eloquent Limbaugh terminology that would be slut use versus non slut use). This is to allow employers with religious “beliefs” to opt out of … Continue reading
Messing with reproductive health, Texas style
The Texas Women’s Health Program provides uninsured low income women between the ages of 18 and 44 with Pap smears, STD screening, breast exams, and contraception. Under a rule adopted March 14, 2012 WHP providers must certify they do not “perform or affiliate with an entity that performs or promotes elective abortions.” As the Federal … Continue reading
