Jane Brody (NY Times) weighs in on Vitamin D

Jane Brody's article on Vitamin D in the NY Times seems to come a bit late to the table, and it does not seem to reflect the NCI's latest take on the literature linking low Vitamin D to cancer. But, she does have a way of summarizing issues, so it's worth reading. Bottom line: what we knew already. Vitamin D is good for you. You should take at least 1000 to 2000 IU, depending on your stage in life. Most important: get tested.

How to compare hospitals on quality measures

Here is a great site, from the Commonwealth Fund, Why Not the Best? that allows you to compare hospital scores on a range of quality measures. I just did it for Georgetown University Hospital, a bit late for my surgery that took place earlier this year, but I was gratified to learn that GU has a high quality rating. (Whew!)

Areas of agreement & disagreement on how to reduce federal deficit

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget just published the results of its on-line budget simulation project, where people could vote on which actions they would prefer to see the Federal government take. I'm amazed at how much agreement there is across parties on some things. Seems that it's likely the Social Security retirement age will be raised to 68, if lawmakers follow the will of the pople.