October 2016

Where’s Ron-do? By Leonard Zwelling          The video from Big Brother Fontaine said it all. MD Anderson is not making enough money at its core area of expertise—oh, that’s patient care if you were wondering—and it’s spending too much. It is spending so much that Mr. Fontaine is asking everyone at the managerial level to […]

Choice: Presidents and Health Insurance By Leonard Zwelling          Americans like choice. In cars, breakfast cereal, health plans and presidents. And why the heck not?          When I was a kid, there were three choices of cars—GM, Ford and other. Most people did not choose other except the few who drove Nash Ramblers (Google it).

After DePinho By Leonard Zwelling          Frank Bruni wrote a very perceptive op-ed piece in the Sunday NY Times of October 23. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/23/opinion/sunday/the-medias-moment-of-truth.html?ref=opinion&_r=0          It is about after. Not the Jewish “after” The Jewish After is the equivalent of later. So when Mr. Schwartz is dying in bed and wants only one last wish and

What MD Anderson Can Learn From This Presidential Election And From Its Own Financial Performance By Leonard Zwelling          There are really only two major lessons.          One, if you spend more than you take in, you go into deficit.          Two, if you are nasty to people, they will not like, respect, or follow

Regrets: Treating Animals As Less Than Sentient Beings By Leonard Zwelling          One thing that I dwell upon in my retirement is the regret I have over behaviors I have exhibited and deeds I have done. I have had supervisors who claimed to never having had any regrets. Those people need to think harder. No

Fake Chinese Data In Drug Trials: Let’s Hope It’s Just In China By Leonard Zwelling          A concerned reader sent me this report from Doximity: http://news.doximity.com/entries/4946944?authenticated=false          It describes widespread fraud and data fabrication in the Chinese system of drug approval and regulation as it pertains to Western medicines. The malfeasance may be even worse

On ObamaCare, Bill Is Right By Leonard Zwelling          In every way, ObamaCare is crazy.          What was the goal of the ACA?          Essentially, it preserved the private health insurance markets, the dominance of the large pharmaceutical companies and the largest providers of health care like large hospital groups. Sure, it gained health insurance

Finally, The DePinho Game Plan By Leonard Zwelling          For the past five years, I have been trying to figure out what the DePinho strategy for MD Anderson was or is.          I think the LeMaistre plan was basically that of a traditional academic cancer center using the revenues from patient care to sustain a

Abraham, Hillary and Don By Leonard Zwelling          The 1968 hit song Abraham, Martin and John by Dion extolled the virtues of the 16th President, along with the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King, Jr. “They freed a lot of people, but it seems the good they die young…”          At the debate on Sunday,

Why Is THIS Enough? NOW They Want Trump To Pull Out! By Leonard Zwelling          A friend just emailed incredulous that the latest revelatory video of Donald Trump speaking like a 16-year old locker room gym rat about a woman is the straw that seems to have broken the back of the rest of the