Last week, leading experts correctly challenged long held practices in women's health. Despite the evidence, doctors and patients, as well as political and community leaders hotly debated these recommendations. My heart sank when Kathleen Sebelius, Director of Health and Human Services (HHS) weighed in and suggested that women ignore...

There is nothing I would like better than to wake up and learn of a new and effective HIV vaccine (except maybe a malaria vaccine), so I was excited to hear of a successful vaccine trial this morning. Multiple news agencies reported that a vaccine reduced the risk of HIV...

I was stunned to read that Karl Rove, former chief of staff and architect of the Bush administration, recently estimated the country's rate of uninsured to be at "about 2 percent" in a Wall Street Journal editorial. The accurate number was 16 percent in 2006 (a number that...

This week President Obama addressed a meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA), amid media reports that the AMA will oppose the president's call for a public health insurance option.

Over the last 50 years, the AMA has stood on the...

Science was good to us in the last century: 100 years ago we learned to put patients to sleep for surgery and then reliably wake them up afterwards; 60 years ago we started producing antibiotics; the last 30 years heralded a better understanding of genetics, cancer and heart disease, as...

President Obama is right to focus on healthcare as part of the economic crisis. Critics of his initial healthcare proposals argue that his goals for healthcare "reform" are taking our emphasis off of the economy. This view is narrow-minded and short sighted. We cannot fix the economy without addressing healthcare....

Preventing Octuplets: An insider's perspective...

Tuesday morning, as I cared for a patient going through in vitro fertilization (IVF) at our infertility center, I cringed at an interview with Ms. Suleman, the now famous mother of octuplets. This case casts our field in a terrible light. I am pleased that...

The decision by Tom Daschle to withdraw his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) amidst partisan discord and objections is very concerning. The work of the HHS is too important to be politicized. Too often politics has played a decisive role in who fills this important position....

A Doctor's Take on the Stimulus Package

One cannot help but wonder whether congressional Republicans actually want to maintain the current rates of abortion, teen pregnancy, unnecessary public spending, or decreased productivity. Their policy on contraception suggests that they do.

House Republicans dogmatically refused to vote for any stimulus...