"In this bewildering world we have to decide what to believe and how to act on that. In principle that’s what science is for...But that method doesn’t come naturally to most of us."

Why Do Many Reasonable People Doubt Science?

We live in an age when all manner of scientific knowledge—from climate change to vaccinations—faces furious opposition.
Some even have doubts about the moon landing.

By Joel Achenbach

"In this bewildering world we have to decide what to believe and how to act on that. In principle that’s what science is for. “Science is not a body of facts,” says geophysicist Marcia McNutt, who once headed the U.S. Geological Survey and is now editor ofScience, the prestigious journal. “Science is a method for deciding whether what we choose to believe has a basis in the laws of nature or not.” But that method doesn’t come naturally to most of us. And so we run into trouble, again and again."

"Still there are many thousands of diseases without treatments and with only fragmented research efforts."

F1000Res. 2014 Oct 31;3:261. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.5564.1. eCollection 2014.

Collaboration for rare disease drug discovery research.

Litterman NK1, Rhee M2, Swinney DC3, Ekins S4.

Author information

• 1Collaborative Drug Discovery, Inc., Burlingame, CA, 94010, USA.
• 2National Brain Tumor Society, Newton, MA, 02458, USA.
• 3Institute for Rare and Neglected Diseases Drug Discovery (iRND3), Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA.
• 4Collaborative Drug Discovery, Inc., Burlingame, CA, 94010, USA ; Collaborations in Chemistry, Fuquay Varina, NC, 27526, USA ; Phoenix Nest Inc., Brooklyn, NY, 11215, USA ; Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation, New York, NY, 10016, USA ; Hannah's Hope Fund, Rexford, NY, NY 12148, USA.

Abstract

Rare disease research has reached a tipping point, with the confluence of scientific and technologic developments that if appropriately harnessed, could lead to key breakthroughs and treatments for this set of devastating disorders. Industry-wide trends have revealed that the traditional drug discovery research and development (R&D) model is no longer viable, and drug companies are evolving their approach. Rather than only pursue blockbuster therapeutics for heterogeneous, common diseases, drug companies have increasingly begun to shift their focus to rare diseases. In academia, advances in genetics analyses and disease mechanisms have allowed scientific understanding to mature, but the lack of funding and translational capability severely limits the rare disease research that leads to clinical trials. Simultaneously, there is a movement towards increased research collaboration, more data sharing, and heightened engagement and active involvement by patients, advocates, and foundations. The growth in networks and social networking tools presents an opportunity to help reach other patients but also find researchers and build collaborations. The growth of collaborative software that can enable researchers to share their data could also enable rare disease patients and foundations to manage their portfolio of funded projects for developing new therapeutics and suggest drug repurposing opportunities. Still there are many thousands of diseases without treatments and with only fragmented research efforts. We will describe some recent progress in several rare diseases used as examples and propose how collaborations could be facilitated. We propose that the development of a center of excellence that integrates and shares informatics resources for rare diseases sponsored by all of the stakeholders would help foster these initiatives.

Acad Med. 2015 Feb 16. [Epub ahead of print]

Sounding Off on Social Media: The Ethics of Patient Storytelling in the Modern Era.

Wells DM1, Lehavot K, Isaac ML.

Author information

• 1D. M. Wells is a fourth-year medical student, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington. K. Lehavot is research clinical psychologist and assistant professor, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle Division, and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington. M.L. Isaac is assistant professor, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington.

Abstract

Use of social networking programs like Facebook and Twitter, which enable the public sharing of diverse content over the Internet, has risen dramatically in recent years. Although health professionals have faced consequences for clearly unethical online behavior, a relatively unexamined practice among medical students is the disclosure of patient care stories on social media in a manner that is technically compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, yet is ethically questionable. In this Perspective, the authors review three such cases in which students do not specifically reveal a patient's identity but share details of a personal nature, motivated by a variety of intentions (e.g., a desire to reflect on a meaningful experience, reaching out for social support in the event of a patient's death). Using ethical principles and professional policy recommendations, they discuss aspects of these postings that are potentially problematic. Consequences include the possibility of undermining public trust in the profession, inadvertently identifying patients, and violating expectations of privacy. The authors recommend that medical schools explicitly address these issues across the preclinical and clinical curricula and emphasize that patient-related postings on social media may carry inherent risks both to patients and to the profession.

J Med Ethics. 2015 Feb 18. pii: medethics-2014-102150. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2014-102150. [Epub ahead of print]

Can physicians conceive of performing euthanasia in case of psychiatric disease, dementia or being tired of living?

Bolt EE1, Snijdewind MC2, Willems DL2, van der Heide A3, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD1.

Author information

• 1Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VUmc Expertise Center for Palliative Care, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• 2Section of Medical Ethics, Department of General Practice, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• 3Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (EAS) in patients with psychiatric disease, dementia or patients who are tired of living (without severe morbidity) is highly controversial. Although such cases can fall under the Dutch Euthanasia Act, Dutch physicians seem reluctant to perform EAS, and it is not clear whether or not physicians reject the possibility of EAS in these cases.

AIM:

To determine whether physicians can conceive of granting requests for EAS in patients with cancer, another physical disease, psychiatric disease, dementia or patients who are tired of living, and to evaluate whether physician characteristics are associated with conceivability. A cross-sectional study (survey) was conducted among 2269 Dutch general practitioners, elderly care physicians and clinical specialists.

RESULTS:

The response rate was 64% (n=1456). Most physicians found it conceivable that they would grant a request for EAS in a patient with cancer or another physical disease (85% and 82%). Less than half of the physicians found this conceivable in patients with psychiatric disease (34%), early-stage dementia (40%), advanced dementia (29-33%) or tired of living (27%). General practitioners were most likely to find it conceivable that they would perform EAS.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study shows that a minority of Dutch physicians find it conceivable that they would grant a request for EAS from a patient with psychiatric disease, dementia or a patient who is tired of living. For physicians who find EAS inconceivable in these cases, legal arguments and personal moral objections both probably play a role.

"Advances in medicine can reduce active euthanasia of newborns with severe anomalies or unusual prematurity, but they cannot eliminate it."

Hippokratia. 2014 Jul-Sep;18(3):193-203.

Involuntary euthanasia of severely ill newborns: is the Groningen Protocol really dangerous?

Voultsos P1, Chatzinikolaou F1.

Author information

• 1Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Abstract

Advances in medicine can reduce active euthanasia of newborns with severe anomalies or unusual prematurity, but they cannot eliminate it. In the Netherlands, voluntary active euthanasia among adults and adolescents has been allowed since 2002, when the so-called Groningen Protocol (GP) was formulated as an extension of the law on extremely premature and severely ill newborns. It is maintained that, at bioethical level, it serves the principle of beneficence. Other European countries do not accept the GP, including Belgium. Admissibility of active euthanasia is a necessary, though inadequate, condition for acceptance of the GP. Greece generally prohibits euthanasia, although the legal doctrine considers some of the forms of euthanasia permissible, but not active or involuntary euthanasia. The wide acceptance of passive newborns euthanasia, especially when the gestational age of the newborns is 22-25 weeks ("grey zone"), admissibility of practices within the limits between active and passive euthanasia (e.g., withholding/withdrawing), of "indirect active euthanasia" and abortion of the late fetus, the tendency to accept after-birth-abortion (infanticide) in the bioethical theory, the lower threshold for application of withdrawing in neonatal intensive care units compared with pediatric intensive care units, all the above advocate wider acceptance of the GP. However, the GP paves the way for a wide application of involuntary (or pseudo-voluntary) euthanasia (slippery slope) and contains some ambiguous concepts and requirements (e.g., "unbearable suffering"). It is suggested that the approach to the sensitive and controversial ethical dilemmas concerning the severely ill newborns is done not through the GP, but rather, through a combination of virtue bioethics (especially in the countries of the so-called "Mediterranean bioethical zone") and of the principles of principlism which is enriched, however, with the "principle of mutuality" (enhancement of all values and principles, especially with the principles of "beneficence" and "justice"), in order to achieve the "maximal" bioethical approach, along with the establishment of circumstances and alternatives that minimize or eliminate the relevant bioethical dilemmas and conflicts between the fundamental principles. Thus, the most appropriate/fairest choices are made (by trained parents and physicians), considering all interests involved as much as possible.

Cancer Manag Res. 2015 Jan 23;7:51-63. doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S72814. eCollection 2015.

New and emerging therapeutic options for malignant pleural mesothelioma: review of early clinical trials.

Kotova S1, Wong RM2, Cameron RB1.

Author information

• 1Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Los Angeles, CA, USA ; UCLA Division of Thoracic Surgery and Comprehensive Mesothelioma Program, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
• 2Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Los Angeles, CA, USA ; UCLA Division of Thoracic Surgery and Comprehensive Mesothelioma Program, Los Angeles, CA, USA ; Pacific Meso Center at the Pacific Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Abstract

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare tumor that is challenging to control. Despite some benefit from using the multimodality-approach (surgery, combination chemotherapy and radiation), survival remains poor. However, current research produced a list of potential therapies. Here, we summarize significant new preclinical and early clinical developments in treatment of MPM, which include mesothelin specific antibody and toxin therapies, interleukin-4 (IL-4) receptor toxins, dendritic cell vaccines, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and gene-based therapies. In addition, several local modalities such as photodynamic therapy, postoperative lavage using betadine, and cryotherapy for local recurrence, have also shown to be effective for local control of disease.

Anat Sci Educ. 2015 Feb 16. doi: 10.1002/ase.1525. [Epub ahead of print]

Human body donation programs in Sri Lanka: Buddhist perspectives.

Subasinghe SK1, Jones DG.

Author information

• 1Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand; Department of Anatomy, South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine, Malabe, Sri Lanka.

Abstract

Considerable attention is being given to the availability of bodies for anatomical education. This raises the question of the manner in which they are obtained, that is, whether they are unclaimed or donated. With increasing emphasis upon the ethical desirability of using body bequests, the spotlight tends to be focused on those countries with factors that militate against donations. However, little attention has been paid to cultures where donations are readily available. One such country is Sri Lanka where the majority of the Buddhist population follows Theravada Buddhism. Within this context, the expectation is that donations will be given selflessly without expecting anything in return. This is because donation of one's body has blessings for a better outcome now and in the afterlife. The ceremonies to honor donors are outlined, including details of the "Pirith Ceremony." The relevance for other cultures of these features of body donation is discussed paying especial attention to the meaning of altruism and consent, and justification for the anonymization of cadavers. The degree to which anatomy is integrated into the surrounding culture also emerges as significant.

Bioethics. 2015 Feb 17. doi: 10.1111/bioe.12155. [Epub ahead of print]

Ethical, Legal, and Clinical Considerations when Disclosing a High-Risk Syndrome for Psychosis.

Mittal VA, Dean DJ, Mittal J, Saks ER.

Abstract

There are complex considerations when planning to disclose an attenuated psychosis syndrome (APS) diagnosis. In this review, we evaluate ethical, legal, and clinical perspectives as well as caveats related to full, non- and partial disclosure strategies, discuss societal implications, and provide clinical suggestions. Each of the disclosure strategies is associated with benefits as well as costs/considerations. Full disclosure promotes autonomy, allows for the clearest psychoeducation about additional risk factors, helps to clarify and/or correct previous diagnoses/treatments, facilitates early intervention and bolsters communication between providers but there are important considerations involving heritability, comorbidity, culture, and stigma. Non-disclosure advances nonmaleficence by limiting stigma and stress (which may inadvertently exacerbate the condition), and confusion (related to the rapidly evolving diagnosis) in a sensitive developmental period but is complicated by varying patient preferences and the possibility that, as new treatments without adverse effects become available, the risk with false positives no longer justifies the accompanying loss of autonomy. Partial disclosure balances ethical considerations by focusing on symptoms instead of labels, but evidence that laypersons may interpret this information as a pseudo-diagnosis and that symptoms alone also contribute to stigma limits the efficacy of this approach. In addition, there are notable societal considerations relating to disclosure involving conservatorship, the reach of insurance companies, and discrimination. We advocate a hybrid approach to disclosure and recommend future research aimed at understanding the effects of stigma on clinical course and a renewed focus on those help-seeking cases that do not transition but remain clinically relevant.

J Relig Health. 2015 Feb 14. [Epub ahead of print]

Religious Perspectives on Human Suffering: Implications for Medicine and Bioethics.

Fitzpatrick SJ¹, Kerridge IH, Jordens CF, Zoloth L, Tollefsen C, Tsomo KL, Jensen MP, Sachedina A, Sarma D.

Author information

• ¹Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health, University of Newcastle, Bloomfield Campus, Locked Bag 6005, Orange, NSW, 2800, Australia, scott.fitzpatrick@newcastle.edu.au.

Abstract

The prevention and relief of suffering has long been a core medical concern. But while this is a laudable goal, some question whether medicine can, or should, aim for a world without pain, sadness, anxiety, despair or uncertainty. To explore these issues, we invited experts from six of the world's major faith traditions to address the following question. Is there value in suffering? And is something lost in the prevention and/or relief of suffering? While each of the perspectives provided maintains that suffering should be alleviated and that medicine's proper role is to prevent and relieve suffering by ethical means, it is also apparent that questions regarding the meaning and value of suffering are beyond the realm of medicine. These perspectives suggest that medicine and bioethics have much to gain from respectful consideration of religious discourse surrounding suffering.

What's Wrong With Public Intellectuals?

 By Mark Greif

"Which leaves the question of the university. The economics of higher education in the contemporary moment may be bad for many of us—teachers, students, and temporary passers-through. But, again—this should not be a priori bad for public intellect or public debate. Quite the opposite. A large pool of disgruntled free-thinking people who are not actually starving, gathered in many local physical centers, whose vocation leads them to amass an enormous quantity of knowledge and skill in disputation, and who possess 24-hour access to research libraries, might be the most publicly argumentative the world has known."

Wake up feeling tired? It’s time to see the doctor

Rachel Stiles 


"Sleep deprivation can have all kinds of short and long term effects on our bodies and mind. If after what you think was a “normal” night’s sleep, you still feel tired during the day or generally out of sorts, you need to talk to your doctor."

Lack of sleep puts teen girls at risk

  Lack of sleep puts teen girls at risk

 

By Mike TeSelle

 

The American journal of pediatrics sleep study shows the lack of sleep in children is 15 percent higher in girls and is a contributing factor in childhood obesity.

@uthor: "...you have a landscape of social documentation and medial interaction that collectively generates an algorithmically amplified real-time archive of authorial presence."

What Is an @uthor? by Matthew Kirschenbaum


"What is new, however, is a book tour accompanied by the author’s own Twitter stream (William Gibson is @GreatDismal), to say nothing of the many hundreds of fans and followers who have Tweeted, Facebooked, Tumbled, Snapchatted, Vined, YouTubed, and Instagrammed his appearances. Spot-checking did not turn up a single North American in-store appearance by Gibson not documented by at least some video footage, and often the event is available in its post-produced entirety courtesy of the host venue — such is the case with both of the NYPL dates, as well as the Politics and Prose reading I attended. Add to this Gibson’s own interviews and media segments (there are dozens on this tour alone) as well as reviews, discussions, blog posts, and forum threads about the book — all pulled in its wake like the umbilical soul in Cayce Pollard’s memorable rendition of jet lag — and you have a landscape of social documentation and medial interaction that collectively generates an algorithmically amplified real-time archive of authorial presence."

"...[Max] Weber worried about the fate of personality and responsibility in what has infamously (if incorrectly) come to be known as the “iron cage” of a rationalized and bureaucratized modern world."

Why Max Weber matters

DUNCAN KELLY

Peter Ghosh
MAX WEBER AND “THE PROTESTANT ETHIC”
Twin histories
424pp. Oxford University Press. £30 (US $49.95).
978 0 19 870252 8

"Weber’s well-known refrains about the dangers of a politics of national vanity (Eitelkeit), made most famously in his lecture on the vocation of politics, were in fact extant in his writings from the start. For example, in a perspicacious essay realistically assaying the prospects of Germany against the European world powers during the war, he once more stated his belief that “objective politics” was not a “politics of vanity”, but one whose actions necessarily took place in the shadows. In the darkness personality could really count, rather than in public, when it was too often just for show. Whether inThe Protestant Ethic or in his later essays and lectures on politics, Weber worried about the fate of personality and responsibility in what has infamously (if incorrectly) come to be known as the “iron cage” of a rationalized and bureaucratized modern world. In The Protestant Ethic, he wrote that perhaps the mechanization of life would continue unchallenged until the last ounces of fossil fuel had been used up, and the danger was that we might simply fail to notice. In later work, such environmental imagery had turned into a worry about the future as a polar night of icy darkness. In order to guard against these dangers, inner personality had to be focused, hardened and retooled, made able to resist superficiality in its own engagement with the impersonal force of fate. In our own age, where borderlands between environmental crisis, near-pathological boredom and disaffection with mainstream politics, and tensions driven by religion have if anything become more rigidly crippling than ever, Max Weber looks a more profound guide than we might care to think."

Indian J Med Res. 2014 Nov;140 Suppl:S106-11.

Sourcing human embryos for embryonic stem cell lines: Problems & perspectives.

Mehta RH1.

Author information

• 1Trivector Embryology Support Academy, Mumbai, India.

Abstract

The ability to successfully derive human embryonic stem cells (hESC) lines from human embryos following in vitro fertilization (IVF) opened up a plethora of potential applications of this technique. These cell lines could have been successfully used to increase our understanding of human developmental biology, transplantation medicine and the emerging science of regenerative medicine. The main source for human embryos has been 'discarded' or 'spare' fresh or frozen human embryos following IVF. It is a common practice to stimulate the ovaries of women undergoing any of the assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and retrieve multiple oocytes which subsequently lead to multiple embryos. Of these, only two or maximum of three embryos are transferred while the rest are cryopreserved as per the decision of the couple. in case a couple does not desire to 'cryopreserve' their embryos then all the embryos remaining following embryo transfer can be considered 'spare' or if a couple is no longer in need of the 'cryopreserved' embryos then these also can be considered as 'spare'. But, the question raised by the ethicists is, "what about 'slightly' over-stimulating a woman to get a few extra eggs and embryos? The decision becomes more difficult when it comes to 'discarded' embryos. As of today, the quality of the embryos is primarily assessed based on morphology and the rate of development mainly judged by single point assessment. Despite many criteria described in the literature, the quality assessment is purely subjective. The question that arises is on the decision of 'discarding' embryos. What would be the criteria for discarding embryos and the potential 'use' of ESC derived from the 'abnormal appearing' embryos? This paper discusses some of the newer methods to procure embryos for the derivation of embryonic stem cell lines which will respect theethical concerns but still provide the source material.

How To Reverse Effects Of Poor Sleep? 30-Minute Naps

How To Reverse Effects Of Poor Sleep? 30-Minute Naps Can Boost Immune System, Relieve Stress

"Researchers of the new study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism say that brief day time naps may help protect individuals against the damaging effects of poor sleep as napping appears to restore normal levels of proteins and hormones that are linked with stress and immune system."

By Rhodi Lee, Tech Times

Am J Bioeth. 2015 Feb;15(2):3-11.

Collectivizing Rescue Obligations in Bioethics.

Garrett JR1.

Author information

• 1a Children's Mercy Bioethics Center and University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Abstract

Bioethicists invoke a duty to rescue in a wide range of cases. Indeed, arguably, there exists an entire medical paradigm whereby vast numbers of medical encounters are treated as rescue cases. The intuitive power of the rescue paradigm is considerable, but much of this power stems from the problematic way that rescue cases are conceptualized-namely, as random, unanticipated, unavoidable, interpersonal events for which context is irrelevant and beneficence is the paramount value. In this article, I critique the basic assumptions of the rescue paradigm, reframe the ethicallandscape in which rescue obligations are understood, and defend the necessity and value of a wider social and institutional view. Along the way, I move back and forth between ethical theory and a concrete case where the duty to rescue has been problematically applied: the purported duty to regularly return incidental findings and individual research results in genomic and genetic research.

"But what we DO already know- and have known for more than two decades at least- is enough to prevent 80% of all chronic disease."

Calling All Nutrition Experts: An Open Letter, and Bet

"The public only hears about our disagreements- because those are provocative, and titillating. Our disagreements are the stuff of morning show teases, and best-selling books.

Our disagreements are also home to legitimate uncertainties, and the need for new studies to elucidate what we don’t yet know.

But what we DO already know- and have known for more than two decades at least- is enough to prevent 80% of all chronic disease. It is enough to add a bounty of years to lives, and life to years."

HT:DC

This Incredible Hospital Robot Is Saving Lives. Also, I Hate It

• BY MATT SIMON  
 
• 02.10.15 

"The whole circus is, in a word, bewildering. The staff still seems unsure what to make of Tug. Reactions I witness range from daaawing over its cuteness (the gentle bleeping, the slow-going, the politeness of stopping before pancaking people) to an unconvincingly restrained horror that the machines had suddenly become sentient. I grew up in Silicon Valley and write for WIRED and even I’m confused about it. The whole thing is just weird."

HT:GB

"Orwell must be kicking himself in his coffin for not thinking of putting such doublespeaking words in the mouths of his tyrannical characters in 1984."

OXFORD, ABORTION AND THE CLOSING OF THE WESTERN MIND

"O’Neill, writing in the Tab, noted the whiff of doublespeak about statements like ‘Cancelling the debate is not a violation of free speech’: ‘Orwell must be kicking himself in his coffin for not thinking of putting such doublespeaking words in the mouths of his tyrannical characters in 1984. Just as they insisted that “war is peace”, so today’s Big Sisters on campus claim “censorship is freedom”.’ ‘Pretty appalling, but unsurprising’ was the verdict of a writer for the Washington Post."

Perspect Clin Res. 2015 Jan-Mar;6(1):10-4. doi: 10.4103/2229-3485.148794.

Conflict of interest in clinical research.

Ghooi RB1.

Author information

• 1Scientia Clinical Services, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Abstract

Increased focus on ethical review of research demands a number of improvements in the existing system. Although these are being implemented, some factors that have received less attention in the past could be examined. One of these is conflict of interest. Such conflicts could exist for investigators, ethics committee (EC) members, and even the regulators. Guidance for identification and management of conflicts has been issued by many countries and Indian rules also speak about these conflicts. Greater clarity would help investigators and ECs manage conflicts more effectively. It is admitted that conflicts cannot be done away with, but their timely identification, disclosure, and management can reduce their impact and bring more transparency and accountability to trials in this country.

Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai Slams ‘Obama’s 332-Page Plan To Regulate The Internet’

Republican FCC Commissioner Slams ‘Obama’s 332-Page Plan To Regulate The Internet’

Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai on Friday raised the first of many criticisms to come about FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s aggressive net neutrality plan distributed to commissioners Thursday, which Pai described as “President Obama’s 332-page plan to regulate the Internet.”

Medicare To Cover Low-Dose CT Scans for Lung Cancer Screening

Friday, February 6, 2015

Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2015 Feb;139(2):163-4. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2014-0136-ED.

Pathologists and medical error disclosure: don't wait for an invitation.

Cohen DA1, Allen TC.

Author information

• 1From the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas (Dr Cohen); and the Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston (Dr Allen).

Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2015 Feb 2. [Epub ahead of print]

The 2015 Physician Quality Reporting System Reflects Pathologists' Role in Lung Cancer Biomarker Testing.

Cagle PT1, Allen TC.

Author information

• 1From the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas (Dr Cagle); and the Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston (Dr Allen).

Government Handouts at Wireless Auctions

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/opinion/government-handouts-at-wireless-auctions.html?_r=0

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

Large telecommunications companies have repeatedly taken advantage of rules meant to help small, rural, female- and minority-owned businesses buy licenses for airwaves for wireless phone and data transmission, including in a recent auctionthat raised nearly $45 billion for the government. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission should crack down on such abuse.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai Says Discount Going to Large Company ‘Makes a Mockery’ of Program

Regulator Objects to Dish’s Wireless Deal

FCC Commissioner Says Discount Going to Large Company ‘Makes a Mockery’ of Program

By 

RYAN KNUTSON and

 

THOMAS GRYTA

Feb. 2, 2015 12:01 a.m. ET

A top regulator is objecting to Dish Network Corp. ’s claim on more than $3 billion in discounts aimed at small business in the government’s auction of wireless licenses.

Ajit Pai, one of two Republicans on the five-member Federal Communications Commission, plans to ask FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on Monday to investigate the award, saying that giving such a lucrative break to a company as large as Dish “makes a mockery” of the small-business discount program.

HT:SD