A Smokie For My Sister0

• HEALTH CARE - Op-Eds
• April 9, 2003

The war in Iraq rages on, but, as we all expected, will be won by the Allies very shortly. France and Germany are conspicuously silent- their protests at losing their lucrative 100 billion dollar contracts with the Saddam Regime are going up in the smoky plumes of 1 and 2 ton bombs. Basra is now under the control of the British and Baghdad will fall to the Yanks. Thank God.

Activists Promote Known Failures as Health Care Reform0

• HEALTH CARE - Op-Eds
• April 5, 2003

In April, a Denver opinion columnist wrote a health care reform piece titled “Panthers spring at HMOs failure.”[1] Devoid of logic, it parroted the favorite sound bites of advocates for government health care. One hopes that this same writer will one day run another column, comparing those advocates claims to the known facts.

Single Payer Singularly Unsuccessful0

• HEALTH CARE - Op-Eds
• January 11, 2003

Advocates of single payer health care want Colorado state government to pass legislation making government the sole provider of health care in the state. It can be done, but the real question is why anyone would want to be so inhumane.

After decades of experience with single payer health care systems we know that it makes health care harder to get, and increases costs. Even in the unlikely event that government promises to pay for everything, there is no guarantee that it will pay enough to motivate others to provide the expertise and equipment required to treat a particular patient. As the Oregon Health Services Commission snippily told Medicaid clients complaining about their inability to find a doctor, “Having coverage does not always guarantee access.”[1]

Anti-Smoking Guns Deliberate Ignorance0

• HEALTH CARE - Op-Eds
• January 9, 2003

After sitting through the recent Cessation Subcommittee meeting of the Interagency Committee Meeting on Smoking and Health in Denver, one can only be delighted that the Bush administration plans to let the private sector take over commercial activities[i], like mowing federal lawns. Maybe this will free up federal resources and we can stop contracting large chunks of public health policy to wealthy private foundations with radical political agendas.

Public Schools: Spending Money in all the Wrong Places0

• HEALTH CARE - Op-Eds
• September 5, 2002

In school reform, the chasm between establishment advice and what the data show keeps on growing. In exchange for a “Performance Promise,” voters approved a $20 million bond issue for Jefferson County Public Schools to be used on projects that, according to the Districts web site, “have been proven to increase student achievement smaller classes, classroom coaches, staff development, extended learning and individualized attention.”

Restricting first amendment rights could be dangerous to your health0

• HEALTH CARE - Op-Eds
• August 1, 2002

“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech”- First Amendment to the United States Constitution

Ever since those words were added to the Bill of Rights in 1791, just how much free speech there should be has been hotly contested. One of the many battlefronts for this issue is advertising rights for medical drugs and devices. Pharmaceutical advertising rights are tightly controlled and recently some in the medical community have begun to ask the question “Do these controls violate the First Amendment?”