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The Huckabee Diet: A Flawed Model of Health Advocacy

January 22, 2008 | By Sudip Ghosh, MD | 3 Comments

Mike Huckabee, ex-Governor of Arkansas, might not be a Universal Healthcare advocate, but his stance on tackling the obesity epidemic might need closer scrutiny than many of the professional nutrition programs out there. Beyond the rhetoric of his advocacy of a slimmer America, there is one important truth - current healthcare insurance systems indirectly reward 'obesity' through payouts rather than personal initiatives to stay fit. As the Governor of Arkansas he led the battle against obesity for the state at a political level, calling for changes in insurance legislation.

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SICKO – Reality and Rhetoric

September 11, 2007 | By Sudip Ghosh, MD | 3 Comments

As Michael Moore ventures deeper and deeper into politics, his film-making abilities are getting better and better. I enjoyed Sicko for its slick cinematography and the powerful use of disturbing images and stories. Since its release in June 29, 2007, it is clear that it will be overwhelmingly successful at the box-office, and is sure to do well across the world markets for anti-Americana. And for once, I am convinced anti-Moore critics are temporarily on the back seat.

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The Cigarette Century and Beyond

August 31, 2007 | By Sudip Ghosh, MD | 6 Comments

We needed a truthful account of how cigarettes have become the highest selling addictive drug in the history of the human race, lawfully. Alan Brandt, Harvard Professor of History of Medicine and Science, and author of the recently published "The Cigarette Century - The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America" tells us the extra-ordinary story of the rise of the "modern cigarette" in the 20th century. Dr. Brandt is one of the U.S.'s leading expert witnesses for federal and state tobacco-related lawsuits, after spending nearly twenty years researching on this topic. In the 2004 U.S. vs. Philip Morris trial, Dr. Brandt was cross-examined for nearly two days, and for the first time in U.S. history, tobacco companies were found to have breached Federal statutes on racketeering. Dr. Brandt was quoted 200 times in the verdict, apparently.

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A Patient is Not a Consumer

August 29, 2007 | By JC, MD | 2 Comments

I'm going out on a limb here but in many respects, a patient is not a consumer. Most of the changes in the medical system are based on the consumer model of healthcare. The problem with the consumer model is that medical service is not like buying a product from Wal-Mart. You can't return it when it malfunctions. There is no lifetime warranty. There are no guarantees. It is almost impossible to compare services of one physician to another. Every surgeon or physician practices a little different. It is difficult to define what is the "best" service or product.

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