Peter Ubel

Is Sex Reassignment Surgery a Basic Human Right?

admin1 — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:02:03 +0000

I expect most of us agree that an incarcerated felon experiencing a heart attack should receive medical treatment, even if that treatment comes at taxpayers’ expense. The same probably goes for more preventive measures—blood pressure pills, cancer screening tests and the like. While serving out the sentence for their crimes, prisoners should not be forced to suffer from treatable and preventable illnesses without receiving appropriate… (Read more and view comments at Forbes)

Early Morning Radio Interview in Australia

admin1 — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:57:45 +0000

Listen to this interview I conducted with a radio station in Australia. Good Q&A about Critical Decisions. Toughest part of the interview was remembering that although it was 4:30 in the afternoon my time, it was 6:30 the next morning … Continue reading →

Are Insurance Companies the Key to Lower Prices?

admin1 — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 19:54:32 +0000

Two patients lie asleep on operating room tables, each with an inflamed appendix demanding to be relocated to a specimen jar. Two operations take place, each one lasting close to fifty minutes, each one performed by an experienced surgeon at a state-of-the-art U.S. hospital. One operation was priced at $1200 dollars. But the other one cost more than $4,000.

Why such different prices for such similar procedures? …(Read more and view comments at Forbes)

When Aggressive Medical Care Was More Dangerous Than Assassin’s Bullets

admin1 — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 19:52:34 +0000

Dr. Smith Townsend knelt on the filthy train station floor, the patient lying in front of him with a bullet wound in his back. The patient was clinically stable for the moment, so Townsend turned his attention to the wound, convinced a quick removal of the bullet would offer his patient the best chance of survival. Fueled by an action imperative, Townsend took his index finger—ungloved, unsterilized, probably only moments earlier… (Read more and comment at Forbes)

Great Piece on Critical Decisions

admin1 — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:47:41 +0000

Here is a well-written piece by The Global Mail discussing Critical Decisions. Take a look.

The Pill, the Pox and the Limits of Religious Freedom

admin1 — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 18:58:56 +0000

300 million dead worldwide from smallpox in the 20^th century alone. No wonder the United States Public HealthService is run by a General—fighting infectious disease was a life or death battle back then, and countries that failed to mobilize against the enemy would leave millions dead on the battlefield.

In Germany, as I discussed in a recent post, the urgency of fighting infections led to… (Read more and view comments at Forbes)

Is Health Insurance Anti-Life?

admin1 — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 18:43:19 +0000

Catholic Charities describes itself as a “social justice movement,” one that sees its mission as providing “service to people in need” and giving aid to local agencies “in their efforts to reduce poverty.” Given the role of healthcare expenses in pushing people into poverty, then, you would think Roman Catholic leaders would be big fans of Obamacare… (Read more and view comments at Forbes)

Health Cost Decisions in the Real World

admin1 — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:09:33 +0000

When Rita Volk, a busy college student, first experienced a nagging sensation in her right ear, she ignored it. Even though she felt like she was traveling in an under-pressurized airplane, Volk assumed the problem would go away.

But it persisted, and her primary care doctor recommended she see an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist…(Read more and view comments at News&Observer)

Mortgaging Your Womb

admin1 — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 19:11:13 +0000

I recently participated in a conversation on HuffPo Live about whether fertility finance companies are preying on families desperate to have children. Watch the segment here.

My Take on Shared Decision Making

admin1 — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 17:01:00 +0000

Put simply, shared decision making is the gold standard — the sine qua non* — for how medical decisions ought to be made. The pipe medical choice is rarely a function of medical facts alone. Tough decisions require value judgments, and it is the patient’s valuesthat often determine which choice is best.

An operation cannot be a “success” unless it was the right course of action to take for an individual patient… (Read more and view comments at IMDF)