Len Zwelling

Cost, Quality, Value and Malarkey By Leonard Zwelling          M. Gregg Bloche, a physician and attorney from Georegtown, has written a superb opinion piece in the March 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine entitled “Scandal as a Sentinel Event—Recognizing Hidden Cost-Quality Trade-offs.” Here’s the link: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1502629          In the piece he discusses […]

Garland, Bork, and DePinho By Leonard Zwelling          President Obama has done exactly what any thinking person hoped he would do. He chose a nominee for the vacant Supreme Court seat of Antonin Scalia who is unassailable in his credentials, not a member of any of diversity’s many groups du jour, and right down the

Making American Medicine (and MD Anderson) Great Again By Leonard Zwelling          Why has Donald Trump so captured a significant proportion of the American electorate?          Both he and his hats claim to be able to Make America Great Again.          But Hillary Clinton has this right. America is great and always has been. And

Obama Going to Cuba But Not To Scalia’s or Nancy Reagan’s Funeral By Leonard Zwelling          Isn’t this the perfect metaphor for the entire Obama Presidency?          One of the most distinguished jurists of the last 50 years and the longest serving member of the Supreme Court dies and the President does not attend his

Is Donald Trump Just the Latest Incarnation of the German American Bund? By Leonard Zwelling          I suspect I am beginning to sound like quite an alarmist to my regular readers, a Johnny One Note in a distinctly minor key.          Donald J. Trump scares the hell out of me.          First, he is basically

The Trump Loyalty Oath: Right Arms Extended By Leonard Zwelling          You don’t have to be Jewish to be frightened. But it helps. The resemblance to rallies of the 1930s is beyond concerning. Protestors are being roughed up by the gathered masses and carted off by the security police.          It is not at all

Does Anyone Else Besides Me Think These Guys Aren’t Smart? By Leonard Zwelling          To me, the most amazing thing about the Trump phenomenon is the popularity of a man who seems not very bright. Forget for a moment the stupid things he says about women, Muslims and the Klan (if you can). How about

When Division Heads Act Like GOP Presidential Hopefuls By Leonard Zwelling          One of the things that struck me as unusual about Washington, DC and Capitol Hill in particular was the ability of sworn political enemies to become best friends forever in a heartbeat. Today we are throwing bombs across the aisle. Tomorrow we are

Where Is MD Anderson’s Mitt? By Leonard Zwelling          It was Thursday. March 3. I was driving to Austin on 71 to go to a speaking gig that evening. That was when I heard Mitt Romney give what was undoubtedly the best speech of his life. If you haven’t watched it or heard it or

A Pleasant Morning at MD Anderson: My Patient Experience By Leonard Zwelling          That’s right. I may have retired as a faculty member, but I am still a patient. I am fortunate in that I am not a cancer patient–yet, but after all, all of us Boomers are potential cancer patients in waiting.          My