The Rundown | Week of 1.29.2018

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The Market Reacts to Amazon, JP Morgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway Merger

Amazon, JP Morgan Chase, and Berkshire Hathaway have announced their plans to create a health insurance company for their employees, reports Forbes. ‘”Tackling the enormous challenges of healthcare and harnessing its full benefits are among the greatest issues facing society today,” Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder said in a statement. “By bringing together three of the world’s leading organizations into this new and innovative construct, the group hopes to draw on its combined capabilities and resources to take a fresh approach to these critical matters.”’

>>Read more: “If Amazon And Buffett Lift Veil On Health Prices, Insurers Are In Trouble”

CDC Director Resigns Amid New Politico Report

Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald has resigned on Wednesday as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a new CNN report. This resignation comes one day after Politico reported that Fitzgerald purchased stock in tobacco after she became the director of the CDC. Given that smoking has been a proven health concern, this was perceived as a conflict with her position as the leader of a national public health organization. Politico reports that Fitzgerald “toured the CDC’s Tobacco Laboratory, which researches how the chemicals in tobacco harm human health” just one day after purchasing this stock.

>>Read more: “CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald resigns” and “Trump’s top health official traded tobacco stock while leading anti-smoking efforts”

Are You Prepared for Radical Changes in Healthcare?

“The internet already enables patients to seek online consultations when and where it suits them. You can take over-the-counter tests to analyse your blood, sequence your genome and check on the bacteria in your gut. Yet radical change demands a shift in emphasis, from providers to patients and from doctors to data.” The Economist reports on the rise of patient-centered apps, recent healthcare mergers, and what it all means for our nation’s providers.

>> Read more: “A Revolution in Healthcare Is Coming”

Is Slow Medicine Better Medicine? This Doctor Thinks So

Dr. Victoria Sweet is the Author of Slow Medicine, The Way to Healing. In her debut nonfiction book, she argues that slowing down “means stepping back and seeing the patient in the context of his environment,’ and providing medical care that is “‘slow, methodical and step-by-step.’”

>>Read the full NYTimes review: “A Doctor Argues that Her Profession Needs to Slow down, Stat”