Hot Tech, Lukewarm Economy, and a Congressional Cold Shoulder

For tech lovers, the FDA recently approved a portable ultrasound that is—get this–about the size of your iPhone. The Signos is reportedly designed and priced to be practical for general medical applications, and I visited the manufacturer's website to see exactly how affordable the device is, but no luck. Still, it has some pretty cool features and only weighs about a pound.

Here’s an interesting read. Based on previous research, a new article in Health Affairs by Todd Gilmer and Richard Kronick projects an additional seven million Americans will be without health insurance by 2010. The authors even take the expansion of public programs such as CHIP and Medicaid into account.

In the news, it looks like the Senate is opening a debate regarding FDA regulation of the tobacco industry. How much good the oversight of the tobacco companies’ marketing practices might do, I can’t speculate. I grew up with Camel cigarette ads flashing before me on TV during commercial breaks from the Mickey Mouse Club and Mr. Ed, so I see a real improvement with regard to what kids are exposed to today. However, our health issues and how we pay for them have finally hit the country in the proverbial wallet, so this discussion is hardly surprising. And the bad news for smokers just keeps coming, as recently researchers added colorectal cancer to the list of ills associated with smoking and drinking.