The Cardiologist Who Wasn't

Author(s)
Published on
December 13, 2010

Here's what we're checking out today:

Health Reform: A federal judge in Virginia "strikes the most serious legal blow" to health reform so far, reports Noam Levey for the Los Angeles Times. Will we see a Supreme Court showdown in 2012?

Pilot-Doctor Fraud: Licensed pilot and "cardiologist" William Hamman trained doctors for years – until someone figured out that he didn't actually have a medical degree. The AP's Marilynn Marchione reports on this Catch Me If You Can-style story.  RetractionWatch also asks: what will happen to the "doc's" published papers?

Smoking: Kids who live in apartment buildings are exposed to higher levels of tobacco smoke than children who live in houses, apparently because of shared walls, ventilation systems and ductwork, researchers report.

Nutrition: President Obama signs into law a $4.5 billion expansion of the school lunch program that will feed an estimated 115,000 more children and make lunch on campus healthier, Nia-Malika Henderson reports for the Washington Post.

SSI: In the first installment of what's likely to be a prize-winning series, the Boston Globe's Patricia Wen reports on how the nation's welfare system creates awful incentives for parents to medicate their children with psychiatric drugs so they can get federal income and medical benefits for the disabled.