Thursday, December 11, 2008
Ritalin for everyone
This Nature article, in which a group of scientists and ethicists come out in favor of allowing healthy people to take cognitive-enhancing drugs, has gotten a lot of news coverage, but it's definitely still worthwhile to read it for yourself.
The authors go pretty far out on some theoretical limbs--making the case that brain-stimulating drugs are no different than sleep or education and suggesting that someday it could be mandatory for surgeons to take the pills if they were proven to improve outcomes. But they build a compelling argument (and a lot of curiousity--would this blog post be vastly more intelligent if I had popped an Adderall beforehand?).
The article also puts a lot of responsibility on physicians, noting that they are already pushed by some healthy patients to prescribe the drugs (anyone want to comment on their experiences with that?). And, in the end, the experts want docs, or their representative organizations, to decide this tricky issue:
"It would therefore be helpful if physicians as a profession gave serious consideration to the ethics of appropriate prescribing of cognitive enhancers, and consulted widely as to how to strike the balance of limits for patient benefit and protection in a liberal democracy."
posted by Stacey Butterfield at
12:21 PM
ACP Internist hosted Grand Rounds on June 16, wrapping up the best of the medical blogosphere. Click here for the complete wrap-up.
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Send comments to ACP Internist staff at acpinternist@acponline.org.
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- The catch-22 of catching z's
- Is health care the new Hummer?
- Insurance insurance (no, that's not a typo)
Blog log
American Journal of Medicine
Also known as the Green Journal, the American Journal of Medicine publishes original clinical articles of interest to physicians in internal medicine and its subspecialities, both in academia and community-based practice.
Clinical Correlations
A collaborative medical blog started by Neil Shapiro, ACP Member, associate program director at New York University Medical Center's internal medicine residency program. Faculty, residents and students contribute case studies, mystery quizzes, news, commentary and more.
db's Medical Rants
Robert M. Centor, FACP, contributes short essays contemplating medicine and the health care system.
Everything Health
EverythingHealth is designed to address the rapid changes in science, medicine, health and healing in the 21st Century.
Getting Better with Dr. Val
Getting Better is the continuation of Dr. Val Jones' previous blog at Revolution Health. It is devoted to helping people understand health issues from a balanced, scientifically sound perspective.
HealthHombre
A roundup of health policy news drawn from a database of hundreds of Web sites.
Interact MD
Michael Benjamin, ACP member, doesn't accept industry money so he can create an independent, clinician-reviewed space on the Internet for physicians to report and comment on the medical news of the day.
Kevin, MD
The alter ego of Kevin Pho, ACP Member, is the closest thing to royalty in the medical blog world.
LSUHSC-S Medical Library Evidence Alert
Major guidelines, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and/or major reviews by national and international organizations.
PLoS Blog
The Public Library of Science's open access materials include a blog.
White Coat Rants
One of the most popular anonymous blogs written by a doctor.
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