Health

"If I tell you that this is the greatest good for a human being, to engage every day in arguments about virtue and the other things you have heard me talk about, examining both myself and others, and if I tell you the unexamined life is not worth living for a human being, you will be even less likely to believe what I am saying. But that's the way it is."
- Passage from Socrates' famous speech at his trial.

Last week a friend of mine posted on Facebook, “I need a new lawnmower. Any opinions on what I should get?”

She received several responses. One person suggested a goat. Another posted a picture of an attractive shirtless man with bulging muscles gleaming with sweat as he worked in the yard. But others identified the pros and cons of various lawnmower brands for her. Based on those comments and reviews, she went with a Fiskar's momentum reel mower because it "won't need to be repaired."
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Big pharma is one of the main scapegoats for the steeply rising costs of medical care. This might make sense when you learn how staggering the pricetag on necessary processes—like clinical trials—can be.

According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the U.S. pharmaceutical industry’s advocacy group, it costs $1.3B (in 2005 dollars) to bring a new drug to market. » Read more

Many of us, at some point in our lives, have had to deal with a variety of different healthcare professionals for an episode of care. Perhaps your primary physician has referred you to a specialist, or the ER doctor required you to see your primary physician for follow-up, or you've been admitted to the hospital from the ER.

When going from one healthcare provider to another, a patient’s health information—including the symptoms, test results, diagnosis, treatment plans, medications, allergies—can often be lacking, missing, contradictory, or just confusing.
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