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Ilya Shlyakhter (notestaff) - letters to editors
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Below are the 11 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Ilya Shlyakhter (notestaff) - letters to editors" journal:
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03:53 am
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selling organs for transplants
Flesh Trade: Why not let people sell their organs?
We already pay healthy people to risk their health in safety trials of new drugs (Freakonomics, Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, July 9). The risks in these trials can be harder to control than the risks in well-studied transplant procedures. We also pay people to risk their health in other contexts — for example, in the military. Most soldiers aren’t millionaires, and financial incentives do play a part. Like soldiers, organ donors may serve for a mix of altruistic and pragmatic reasons. Why let the soldiers be paid but not the donors? And as for the argument that letting the rich buy the poor’s organs is repugnant: what is repugnant is letting people become so poor that they must sell their organs to get by.
Tags: health_policy, nytimes_magazine, organ_transplants, poverty
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09:36 am
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stem cell research
Slightest hope worthwhile
Sen. Tom Coburn justifies his opposition to embryonic stem cell research by saying that it cheapens the lives of the "terminally ill or severely handicapped." But most ill and handicapped people would welcome research that offers hope of a cure, however slight.
What really cheapens these people's lives is when politicians tell them that their lives are less important than the lives of doomed embryos. To say that the research should stop because no cures were produced in 12 years is absurd.
Advances in medicine often take longer — and this is a new field. It's also particularly disingenuous of politicians to point to lack of cures after actively working to starve the field of funding.
Tags: health_policy, hypocrisy, religion, stem_cells, usa_today
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11:25 am
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mental health parity
Food for thought
Presumably, the reason insurers won’t pay for treatment of "non-biological" illnesses such as eating disorders is that these illnesses are seen as "the patient’s fault" — indicative of a lack of character or willpower ["Into Thin Air," News and Features, March 11]. But many "biological" illnesses can result from smoking, bad diet, and lack of exercise. In fact, simple guidelines exist for reducing the risk of biological illnesses via healthy living; no such guidelines exist for reducing the risk of mental illness. So if insurers cover physical illnesses to which the patient may have contributed, they should certainly cover mental illnesses, over which the patient has much less control.
Tags: boston_phoenix, fairness, health_policy
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06:58 am
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medical malpractice
The Future of Medical Malpractice
The Democrats' opposition to malpractice reform runs counter to core Democratic values. To those struggling to make ends meet, even a small decrease in cost of health care can mean the difference between getting treatment or not.
It is unconscionable to price the poor out of health care to give others a theoretical chance of collecting for pain and suffering. To those priced out of health care, the right to malpractice awards is useless!
If malpractice reform fails, at least let people opt out of the right to sue in exchange for cheaper health insurance. If most people decide to opt out, the whole malpractice debate will become moot.
Tags: health_policy, malpractice_reform, nytimes, policy_ideas, poverty
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09:41 am
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allowing drug reimportation
Imports vs. no drugs
The opposing view on drug re-importation by William Hubbard, associate commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, mentions a patient who was harmed by imported drugs ("Risks are too high", High prescription costs debate, Aug. 23). But how many patients are harmed when they can't afford drugs because of the ban on drug imports?
People of limited means may just skip their medicine if it's too expensive. For many, the choice isn't between imported and domestic drugs, but between imported drugs and no drugs at all.
Tags: health_policy, hidden_costs, poverty, usa_today
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07:09 am
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buying imported drugs
Why Shouldn't We Buy Imported Drugs?
If it's wrong for retailers to profit from hurricane-caused scarcity of necessities (''With Storm Gone, Floridians Are Hit With Price Gouging,'' front page, Aug. 18), it's wrong for drug makers to profit from government-caused scarcity of drugs.
Yet the Food and Drug Administration supports drug company attempts to restrict imports, citing safety concerns.
If people forgo medicine because of high prices, isn't that unsafe?
Tags: health_policy, nytimes, poverty
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09:29 am
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malpractice reform
Malpractice idea
REGARDING THE ARTICLE ``A booster shot for ailing Mass. health industry," (op ed, Aug. 12), here is a noncontroversial alternative to tort reform: Give cheaper health insurance to those who accept voluntary caps on any future malpractice awards. Doctors who treat such patients can pay less for malpractice insurance and pass on the savings. Patients who want the right to unlimited jury awards can keep that right without forcing everyone else to pay for it.
Tags: boston_globe, fairness, health_policy, malpractice_reform, policy_ideas
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09:25 am
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malpractice reform
Now, That's the Ticket
Torts, as Christina Forbes argues (letter, July 30), serve a useful purpose, but they do drive up medical costs. To solve this problem, let people opt out of the tort system: Give cheaper health insurance to those who agree to limits on any malpractice awards. Doctors who treat such patients can pay less for malpractice insurance and pass on the savings. People who want the right to unlimited jury awards can continue to play the lottery, but on their own nickel.
Tags: fairness, health_policy, malpractice_reform, policy_ideas, wsj
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08:49 am
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reducing malpractice costs
Voluntary Caps
Re "In Defense of Courtroom Advocates," Commentary, July 26: Bashing trial lawyers won't reduce medical costs, and capping jury awards looks politically difficult. Instead, give cheaper health insurance to people who voluntarily agree to caps on any future malpractice award.
Doctors who treat such patients can pay less for malpractice insurance and pass on the savings. People who want the right to unlimited jury awards can continue to play the lottery, but on their own nickel.
Tags: fairness, health_policy, latimes, malpractice_reform, policy_ideas
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08:02 am
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universal health insurance
Before We Lecture Cuba
Re ''Cuba's Other Face'' (letter, May 23):
The letter writer notes Cuba's low infant mortality and illiteracy rates. I'd like to add that all Cubans get free health care. By contrast, in the United States some 40 million people lack health insurance.
Before lecturing Cubans on how to run their country, shouldn't we close this shameful gap in our own backyard?
Tags: health_policy, hypocrisy, nytimes, poverty, replies
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08:22 am
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stem cell research
Stem Cell Research And Bush's Choice
Re ''Stem Cell Science and the Preservation of Life,'' by George W. Bush (Op-Ed, Aug. 12):
We routinely destroy the ''genetically distinct and valuable'' life of animals for research, food or sport. We have no problem with ending the lives of adult mammals, which are infinitely richer and more complex than the frozen existence of doomed clumps of human cells. What do these clumps have that complex animals lack?
Tags: health_policy, hypocrisy, nytimes, religion, stem_cells
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to_the_editor's journal