Recently the legalization of marijuana made traction in two states: New York legalized medical marijuana and Washington issued business licenses to jumpstart the sale of recreational marijuana. On July 9, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Compassionate Care Act and New York became the 23rd state along with the District of Columbia to legalize medical marijuana. … Continue reading
Last week, Gallup released the results from its Healthways Well-Being Index survey. Telephone interviews were conducted from January 1-June 23, 2014 with a random sample of almost 85,000 adults, aged 18 and older from all over the United States. The results of the survey indicate that obese and underweight Americans are less likely to be … Continue reading
Imagine a doctor that will come to you any time, any place or just a reliable, easy-to-reach person who will coordinate the logistics and timing of your health care. Sounds like a dream, right? It’s becoming more and more possible with rising start-ups, physicians increasingly leaving the traditional healthcare market, and an ever-changing policy environment. … Continue reading
Women make up 51 percent of the United States population, based on the 2010 Census. Yet, only 21 to 32 percent of clinical trial participants in early stages of research are women. With a 1.5 to 1.7-fold greater risk of experiencing harmful reactions to drugs, it is imperative that more demographic data from clinical trails … Continue reading
Healthcare in America has come a long way over the last hundred years. Medical innovation and cutting-edge technology have allowed the standard of care to continuously rise, but is a plateau in our future? Many critics of the Affordable Care Act postulated that the enhanced regulatory burden would disincentivize physicians from pursuing technological and medical … Continue reading
Inspector General Richard J. Griffin’s investigation on the Veterans Affairs scandal has confirmed that 1,700 patients that were not placed on the official waiting list for doctors’ appointments at the veteran’s medical center in Phoenix and discovered that the average waiting time for initial primary care for veterans is about 115 days. In light of … Continue reading
Imagine walking into a doctor’s office and being prescribed one, maybe even more than one, medication for a mental illness you do not believe you have and having no choice on whether or not you will take this drug. The drug has significant negative side effects and the long-term effects of it have not been … Continue reading
The battle over school lunches is on again. On May 29, 2014, the House Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal year 2015 agriculture spending bill that included a waiver to allow schools that are floundering under rigorous school lunch program standards one year to play catch up. The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 imposed demanding … Continue reading
Social Security is both the largest program in the federal budget and one of the most fiscally unsustainable. The program has already begun paying out more in benefits than it is taking in through payroll taxes. By 2033, the Social Security Trust Fund will be drained and the benefits paid out will decline by 25 … Continue reading
In budgetary terms, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is anything but affordable. Though well-intentioned, it expands a poorly designed program and adds significant spending during a time of slow economic growth. This attempt to improve and expand health coverage to uninsured Americans is unduly expensive. In an already strained fiscal climate where the federal budget has reached … Continue reading
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