Wesley J. Smith

So many stories are coming out of the UK and Canada about the lethal consequences of turning health care over to cost/benefit/best practices control panels, that we ignore them at our very real peril.  The Globe and Mail reports today about women being cut off from drug combo treatments to . . . . Continue Reading »

The Canadians may put up with bureaucrats telling them what medicine they can and cannot receive—but we in the US are not so passive.  Alas, we could become so if Obamacare passes and we let centralized rationing boards to take control of our entire health care system.  If we do, in . . . . Continue Reading »

In a previous post about the new House version of Obamacare, I concluded that the end of life counseling provisions had been improved but could still use further clarification.  But I have a concern about assisted suicide in an area not connected to end of life counseling or advance . . . . Continue Reading »

The new House Obamacare bill is in and the criticisms about the end of life counseling issues appear to have been addressed seriously.  These are my initial impressions, subject to change.  But I must say, it’s better.  On page 129, the bill states (with my italics):SEC. 240. . . . . Continue Reading »

It wouldn’t be this way if the Feds had the courage and foresight to change marijuana”s Controlled Substances Act classification so that it could be prescribed like morphine or cocaine.  But the way things are, with the president breaking his oath of office to enforce the law, this . . . . Continue Reading »

Remember the good old days when Obamacare was a mere 1,100 pages?  Then, it grew in the Senate to over 1,500 pages.  Now, in the House, it is just a shade under 2,000 pages!  From the story:U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a new health care reform bill, backed by most House . . . . Continue Reading »

Well, now: In an apparent acknowledgment that adult stem cell research is moving much more swiftly toward clinical application than embryonic, the CIRM is putting most of this year’s cache of taxpayers’ borrowed money into adult stem cell research.  The New York Times has noticed. . . . . Continue Reading »

“Expert commissions” to advise on contentious issues of public policy are usually political tools designed to come to a predetermined conclusion in order to pave the way for a desired  policy changes.  Remember that as we take a look at a new commission being appointed by the . . . . Continue Reading »

Switzerland, perhaps as much as the Netherlands, illuminates the perils of legalizing and culturally accepting assisted suicide.  The Swiss permit lay assisted suicide—proving that causing death is not a medical procedure—so long as the motive is proper.  This has led to the . . . . Continue Reading »

This is what I have been saying: Under Obamacare, “wellness” will be pushed to promote cost reduction.  It won’t work.  After all, that is what HMOs—health maintenance organizations—were supposed to be all about.  But HMO wellness programs didn’t . . . . Continue Reading »