modern medicine
Pepper, Chalk, and a War of Words
That classic authority on the English language the Oxford English Dictionary (the OED) defines a “war of words” as a journalistic phrase meaning “a sustained conflict conducted by means of the spoken or printed word.” Such a “war” had erupted three weeks ago in news stories about the causes and cures for a skin disease […]
Birhor Man Receives Care in Major Medical Center
Chhotan Birhor, a 28 year old laborer in India’s Jharkhand State, is receiving excellent medical care because he has a potentially life-threatening illness. As part of its continuing series of news stories on the Birhor tribal society, the Telegraph of Calcutta last week carried an article that described the measures being taken to help the […]
High-tech Medical Care for Tristan Islanders
The doctor for Tristan da Cunha, perhaps the most remote inhabited island in the world, has just been connected to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center through a high-speed, Internet service. The system that several agencies have established allows the island’s only doctor, Carel Van der Merwe, to record and transmit medical data—X-rays, EKGs, examinations—about […]
Amish Health Care, Part I [reviews of journal articles]
Last year, when a quiet but very pleasant Amish boy in Central Pennsylvania contracted leukemia, his father took him to Mexico for some of his chemotherapy treatments. The Amish community, plus non-Amish friends and supporters, put together a bake sale in the nearest town and organized a blood drive to help with expenses. The family […]
