I will never forget the feeling of anxiety that filled the waiting room of the hospital in Kunming, China. I remember the air smelling thick with cramped breath, cigarette smoke and iodoform. Families, friend groups, husbands and wives were all anxiously crammed together waiting to hear a word from one of the maybe five doctors […]
Healthcare
Putting a Price on Life
How much would you be willing to pay for your life? If you’re one of 3,100 young Americans living with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), the current asking price is $475,000. In August of 2017, the FDA approved a groundbreaking gene therapy to treat this specific type of cancer. The treatment is called Kymriah, and […]
Indiana “Rand Paul” Jones and the Temple of Healthcare Reform
On December 23, 2015, the United States Senate cast a final vote, 52–47, to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The repeal bill, proposed by Congressman Tom Price, was similar to bills proposed by Republicans on a regular basis since the Affordable Care Act became law in 2009. It intended to roll back the major measures […]
The Rise of Patient-on-Doctor Violence in China
What do a lead pipe, an umbrella, and a fruit knife have in common? Just ask a Chinese doctor.
Worldwide Access to Insulin Falls Short
Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic condition that, with current technology and a strong education, is manageable, yet remains the eighth leading cause of death worldwide. In individuals with Type 1 Diabetes, the pancreas does not produce the insulin needed to allow sugar to enter the cells and produce energy. A diagnosis with diabetes used […]
Tobacco and the Environment in China
Fifty years ago, the United States Surgeon General, Luther Terry, linked tobacco use to adverse health effects for the first time. To commemorate the anniversary, researchers at Yale published a study in January arguing that subsequent anti-smoking regulations and campaigns have saved eight million lives in the United States alone. Indeed, tobacco use is still […]
Lessons from Cuban Healthcare
It may be strange to think that Cuba takes better care of its citizens than the United States, but in a certain sense this is true. Cuba has a lower infant mortality rate and the same life expectancy rate. Its various cancer survival rates are on par with ours and even surpass American rates for breast […]