To the Editor: In the January 30 issue, a laudable attempt was made to come to grips with the many issues surrounding terrorist use of variola. An essential point remains unclear, however. How easily is variola transmitted? In the model of Bozzette et ...

To the Editor: Rubins and Relman, in their Image in Clinical Medicine (Jan. 30 issue),¹ mention that a lymphangitic streak was present on day 9 and that “two physicians who examined the patient on day 10 . . . suspected bacterial cellulitis.” The lesion ...

To the Editor: Gæde et al. (Jan. 30 issue)¹ unintentionally demonstrate that for many patients, treatment of type 2 diabetes amounts to benign neglect. This is illustrated by the absence of a meaningful reduction in glycosylated hemoglobin, total ...

To the Editor: Michaëlsson et al. (Jan. 23 issue)¹ show that the risk of fracture increases in Swedish men with increased intake (and serum levels) of vitamin A. Furthermore, Lips, in an accompanying editorial,² points out that bone mineral density ...

To the Editor: We welcome the article by Nathoe and colleagues (Jan. 30 issue).¹ In its infancy, off-pump coronary-artery bypass was mostly used in high-risk patients,² with observed reductions in morbidity and mortality.³ Cardiopulmonary bypass has two ...

To the Editor: We share Buffon and colleagues' belief in widespread coronary inflammation (July 4 issue).¹ However, believing in a hypothesis is not the same as proving it. Conclusions drawn from these experiments are not based on anatomical fact.

The ...

To the Editor: The clinical problem that was easy to see (Jan. 2 issue)¹ could have been less hard to find if the diagnostic approach had been slightly different. When myeloma is likely, the first step should be to look for a paraprotein. Serum and an ...

To the Editor: We report a case of bromoderma from excessive ingestion of a soft drink. A 63-year-old man presented with a two-week history of tender, ulcerated, erythematous nodules on his hands and fingers (Figure 1). There was no history of recent ...

In the United States, there are three ways to achieve a transfer of power from the producers of goods or services to the public in order to improve health and safety. The first is traditional federal or state regulation, wherein laws enable governmental ...

Is health care a right? If so, what duties does this right confer on health care systems and on societies? Since an unlimited right to all services is unaffordable, even in the United States (where spending on health care in 2001 exceeded 14 percent of ...

Peter Jacobson begins his book with questions about why physicians and lawyers always seem to be at odds and why physicians are resentful of the legal system. From the point of view of an economist, the answer is obvious: when physicians have much to lose ...

With the health care system in about as much turmoil as anyone can remember its being in, this hardly seems the time for a book that pays homage to the prowess of the private sector in health care reform. Indeed, the publication of The Privatization of ...

A Randomized Trial of Aspirin to Prevent Colorectal Adenomas in Patients with Previous Colorectal Cancer Original Article, N Engl J Med 2003:348;883-890.. As a participating institution, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, should have ...