Peter Ubel » Ethics

How Much Information Should Patients Get?

admin — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:06:53 +0000

There is a good debate starting up on a website called Prepared Patient Forum, about how much information patients should get when facing important medical decisions. You might want to click on this link and join in.

Whose Life Would You Save?

admin — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:56:48 +0000

WHYY in Philadelphia has a report out on a new study I participated in, led by my good friend Scott Halpern. The study revealed the strange lengths to which physicians will go to help their patients, even if it hurts other patients. To see what Scott and I have to say, click on this link.

Sign on the dotted line or …

admin — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:46:33 +0000

Ever had a doctor present you with a contract, laying out what you need to do or else? Well, this is an increasingly common practice in medicine. Michael Volk led a group of us who wrote about this topic recently in The Lancet. Click on this link to check it out.

Federalizing Medicaid

admin — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:34:22 +0000

Here is a new post I've got up at the Health Care Cost Monitor, in which I try to convince folks that even Republicans should be in favor of federalizing Medicaid. I’d love your feedback, as I’m still developing this idea.

All I want from Health Care is My Two Front Teeth

admin — Mon, 09 May 2011 15:20:05 +0000

Not looking my best...but here is a blog post I wrote for the Hastings Center, in which I try to get to the root, so to speak, of an often overlooked issue: cutting dental coverage when trying to lower the cost of health care.

When Medicaid doesn’t pay

admin — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:55:09 +0000

Here is a link to a Marketplace report that discusses the Obama administration's efforts to keep states from trimming their Medicaid budgets by cutting doctor payments, to the point where patients have insurance but no doctors would be willing to care for them. I am quoted early on, the first broadcast in which I have been able to spout the phrase "dirty, naughty."

How not to let a crisis go to waste

admin — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:11:50 +0000

Here is a blog post I wrote for the Hastings Center, laying out some hopeful thoughts about how we can use Medicaid crises, which are occurring in so many states right now, to figure out how to control health care costs.

Duke “Office Hours” webcast

admin — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:15:14 +0000

Check out my recent webcast interview with Duke University "Office Hours"

New podcast on research ethics and stubbornness

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:05:30 +0000

Check out my latest podcast, which accompanies a new article I co-authored with Robert Silbergleit. In the article, and in the podcast, I discuss a problem plaguing clinical research: that doctors are sometimes not convinced by previous research, and thus want to see more evidence before changing their practice, but at the same [...]

Life or quality of life — what matters to oncologists?

admin — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 15:08:11 +0000

Take a look at a brief summary of a new paper i just published, led by a wonderful medical student at Michigan, Michael Kozminski. It shows that oncologists seem to place far greater value on quantity of life over quality of life.