Behavioral economists are really into giving the cognitive errors they study, and the corrective policy interventions they favor, labels. “Status quo bias,” “availability bias,” “recall bias,” etc., can all be fixed through “nudges” that involve “asymmetric paternalism” and the like. Here’s an interesting “cognitive error” that I’m trying to crowd-source a label for: When America’s joint…
Gilead Sciences has developed a new drug (Sovaldi) that cures hepatitis C. This is a huge deal: about 150 million people world wide are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV); according to the CDC 60-70% of people with chronic HCV will go on to develop chronic liver disease, 5-20% will develop cirrhosis over 20-30…
I am often surprised when I discover the folk who are on the same side of an issue as me. I must say, it’s not always a pleasant surprise. In fact, I just as often regret having to share company with many people who are on “my side” of a cause. I expect this is…
Hand-washing is one of the mainstays of public health and of good clinical practice. Images of surgeons with their hands raised in the air, as they enter the OR to have a nurse help them don sterile latex gloves after having meticulously washing their hands, have been immortalized by pop-culture representations of medicine. Indeed, learning…
Coca-Cola has an interesting symbolic presence the world of public health. Its delivery system is the envy of vaccine programs: the committed global health workers who’ve trekked for days through harsh and inhospitable lands to reach even the most distant communities are likely to find a refreshing, cold Coke already waiting for them at the…
My parent’s generation grew up in fear of a nuclear apocalypse: the cold war was raging, team USA and team USSR were competing in a frightening arms race, and people were building bomb shelters in preparation for a nuclear end to the world. That’s like so 1950’s though; what’s hot now is the environmental apocalypse. We…
The world’s population is aging (mostly excluding sub-Saharan Africa however). Perhaps the most alarming example of the challenge this demographic trend creates for policy-makers is the “one-two-four” problem it could cause for China and it’s one child policy: in the face of an aging population, one child might have to care for two parents and four…
By Julián Urrutia I recently attended a presentation by Bernard Black about a study he is working on where he evaluates the effect of health insurance on overall mortality and health among the near-elderly through an observational study using the Health Retirement Survey. He found that health insurance, in general, was not associated with differences…
By Julian Urrutia Human rights embody the humanist egalitarian principle that all human beings are morally important, and that they are morally important simply because of their humanity. Princes and paupers, bankers and bums, women and men . . . we’re all subjects of human rights that are not contingent on anything other than our…
In my last post I promised I would provide details about the new piece of statutory legislation that was recently enacted by the Colombian Congress on the right to health, but first I should talk a little more about the prior jurisprudence that set the stage for it–especially since there’s so much of it. Every…
