The World of Biomedicine, in Brief
Q: Are drugmakers really so terrible?
A: There are some very good pharmaceutical companies that are being more transparent about their data. Overall, though, they operate very much like any other profit-driven manufacturer. But selling pharmaceuticals is not the same thing as selling a gadget on TV that chops onions. It requires a higher moral standard.
International Medical Graduates: Coming to America
International medical graduates face a difficult road to practice in the United States.
Helping Haiti
The aftermath of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti had these medical bloggers pondering everything from the quiet courage of patients to wider issues in health care.
Spinning Scaffolding for Skin Grafts
A team of researchers in New York is working on a sweet solution—based on the structure of cotton candy—to help engineered tissue survive.
Zinc Fingers
With zinc finger technology, scientists might be able to “cut and paste” DNA to fight certain diseases.
Sticking Points
Percutaneous injuries among medical students and health care workers hurt in more ways than one.
The Salvarsan Wars
When Paul Ehrlich developed the first clinically tested syphilis treatment in 1910, he sparked hope and controversy.
Eye On Medicine
Take a second look at the most compelling images from the opening pages of past issues of Proto.
Paying It Forward
Could a new strategy help reduce the number of people who die waiting for kidney transplants?
The Cost of Free Drugs
Handouts from drug companies might seem helpful, but some experts contend that they create conflicts of interest and raise prescription costs.
“...The nation’s medical schools must realize that for every student they admit who does not practice or do research, or who is admitted at an older age, or whose other responsibilities in life mean that he or she will not practice full time, there are multiple patients who will not be able to find a doctor.”
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Tune in to Proto: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Medicine on ReachMD. Host Dr. Bruce Bloom interviews Mass General experts about evidence-based medicine, hormone therapy and more.
technetium-99m \tek-'nē-sh[ē-]əm nīn'tē nīn ĕm\ n : A radioactive isotope used in at least 20 million medical scans in the United States each year and which has been at the center of controversy because of the shutdown of a 50-year-old nuclear reactor in Canada.
