By Deborah Cho As an update to my previous post here on medical students and professionalism, Judge Sutton writing for the Sixth Circuit found that a medical school could deny a degree to a medical student for failing to meet “professionalism” requirements. According to the opinion, the medical student had come late to classroom sessions, allegedly…
By Deborah Cho We’ve come a long way in the area of mental health over the past several years. Notably, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 did great work to place mental health on more equal footing with physical health in the health insurance arena. Still, there is much work to…
By Deborah Cho In National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius, 132 S. Ct. 2566 (2012), the Court famously struck down the “individual mandate” of the ACA under the Commerce Clause. The Chief Justice noted that the Government’s argument for regulation under the Commerce Clause — that individuals were participating in interstate commerce by not…
By Deborah Cho I was excited to learn of an article in a recent issue of American Family Physician on the topic of caring for Asian American patients. The contents of the article are worth a read (most of it is available here), but it generally states that medical providers should consider the Asian American health…
By Deborah Cho It’s been over half a year since the beginning of the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, yet the number of cases and deaths from the disease continue to rise. The total case count as of September 29, 2014 is 6,574 and total deaths are at 3,091. Even so, the international response,…
By Deborah Cho I’m a little late to this discussion, but I want to talk briefly about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and how we make our decisions on charitable giving. I’m sure by now most readers understand the basic concept of the challenge: individuals can choose to either record a video of themselves pouring ice…
By Deborah Cho A recent data brief summarizing a national survey spanning from 2005-2012 on the perception of weight status in U.S. children and adolescents highlights one major finding — many children and adolescents who are overweight or obese don’t know it. Key findings were that about 81% of overweight (defined as having age- and sex-specific BMI greater…
In one of the more interesting cases I’ve read about recently, a judge in the Northern District of Ohio granted an injunction against Case Western Reserve University, forbidding Case from expelling a medical student (a former classmate of mine) for his failures in professionalism. As a brief summary of the case, a medical student just weeks…
By Deborah Cho We often determine the value of a particular medical intervention, product, or protocol by weighing its risks against its benefits. If the risks are outweighed by the benefits, then the measure is given the green light. However, risks and benefits are not easily measured nor are they readily comparable. Countless issues arise…
By Deborah Cho I was recently pointed to this poignant post on mental health within the legal profession. The post is the first of a three-part series that is titled “We Need To Start Talking About Why So Many Lawyers Are Killing Themselves.” Parts 2 and 3 can be found here and here, respectively. Please refer…
