The number of food-borne illness outbreaks has not been increasing. Food-safety agencies have been getting worse at identifying the causes of outbreaks.

The US food system is widely recognized as one of the safest in the world. Nevertheless, about one in every six American is sick every year from eating a contaminated food product. Food safety incidents often make the news and many perceive the US food system as vulnerable.

Being human is not a condition in need of a cure.

Perhaps it's the sweet California air, but the pervasive (though not universal) pessimism in biopharma these days is really bumming me out.  Consequently, I'd like to discuss three potential responses to difficult industry problems.

Insurance should cover effective and appropriate treatment for anorexia nervosa, which may or may not be residential care, for a particular patient. Adding coverage for any medical illness according to category (e.g., residential care) is usually a bad idea.

If the individual mandate is upheld, Americans will have suffered a loss of liberty from which there will be no turning back.

Barack Obama's 17-minute video "The Road We've Traveled" gives us an idea of how he wants to frame the issues in the fall election. The visuals are oddly antique for a president who promised hope and change.

There is in fact a powerful reason to scrutinize the psychology field: we are in the midst of a mental illness epidemic. Office visits by children and adolescents treated for the condition jumped forty-fold from 1994 to 2003.