Burkablog »
And now a discussion that really matters (Fri Nov 20 at 5:02 PM)
In the Pink »
The Wrecking Coup (Fri Nov 20 at 1:33 PM)
Page Break »
Supreme Court to Rehear Exxon Case. Yes, That Exxon Case. (Sat Nov 21 at 1:45 PM)
Eat My Words »
Talking Tamales (Thu Nov 12 at 11:12 AM)
Alan says: I am in favor of limiting the governor to two consecutive terms. But blacklisting someone after eight years altogether, regardless of how good or bad they did their job, can needlessly force an effective public official out of public service. Many state governors throughout history have served well over eight years without their constituents regretting it. I would point out that such a system is wholly unworkable in twenty-first century America: we live in the era of the permanent campaign and the 24-hour news cycle. A governor facing re-election every other year would essentially do nothing but fundraise (which is close to what most do anyway even with four-year terms). (November 19th, 2009 at 11:09pm)
Stories on Health
Wealth Care »
Why does our health insurance system treat a small part of the Rio Grande Valley differently from the rest of the state?
by Patricia Kilday Hart [December 2009]
Warning Shot »
Texas parents have the choice to opt their children out of school vaccination requirements based on “reasons of conscience.” But what about the other kids around them?
by Pamela Colloff [November 2009]
Brain Storm »
The role of the cerebellum and underlying brain abnormalities in autism.
by Eileen Smith [November 2009]
Dawn Cockrell »
Dawn Cockrell, midwife.
by Jordan Breal [September 2009]
Being a Super Model »
I avoid saying the word “diet” like the plague. I try to be careful about what I eat and what I do because I know my six-year-old daughter is watching me. She’s listening.
by Patricia Busa McConnico [September 2009]
Widespread Panic »
Despite its status as a public health emergency, is the swine flu just another flu?
by Michael Hall [September 2009]
Mismanaged Care »
A unique confluence of medicine, money, and politics is driving health care costs in the Rio Grande Valley. At the center of it all is a Democrat from Palmview, who is already under indictment for unreported income.
by Patricia Kilday Hart [August 2009]
An Open Letter »
If you’re not part of my health care solution, you’re part of my problem.
by [August 2009]
Unhealthy Living »
Texas school districts will no longer be required to offer health classes—and that’s just sick.
by Pamela Colloff [July 2009]
Circle of Influenza »
If you need an example of how the world can change in an instant, here is a small blow by blow.
by Mimi Swartz [May 2009]
Risk Reduction »
Is there a place in Texas for drug needle exchange programs?
by Jena A. Williams [May 2009]
Feeling the Burn »
I used to spend every weekend out by the pool, working on my tan. Now I check my body for changing moles or new spots, and call my doctor.
by Patricia Busa McConnico [April 2009]
Under the Weather »
If UTMB’s trauma center really is slated to reopen, the hospital will have a few questions to answer.
by Jena A. Williams [April 2009]
The Long Goodbye »
I’ve treated hundreds of elderly patients with Alzheimer’s. Now the disease is stealing my own father.
by Jerald Winakur [January 2009]
GI Woe »
The esophagus explained.
by Jim Atkinson [December 2007]
Take Heart »
Let’s have a heart-to-heart.
by Jim Atkinson [October 2007]
Do Sweat It »
Sweat 101.
by Jim Atkinson [August 2007]
Getting Antsy »
Fire ants forever. (sigh.)
by Jim Atkinson [June 2007]
Hot Shot »
The ABCs of HPV.
by Jim Atkinson [April 2007]
Eating Myself Alive »
Ten foods to gorge on in 2007.
by Jim Atkinson [February 2007]
The Big D »
The unsweetened truth about diabetes.
by Jim Atkinson [December 2006]
Under My Skin »
The newest nightmare disease.
by Jim Atkinson [October 2006]
The Mosquito Diaries »
The buzz on mosquitoes.
by Jim Atkinson [August 2006]
Welcome To the 03 »
Why ozone is indeed a menace.
by Jim Atkinson [June 2006]
Bleeding Edge »
Blood will tell.
by Jim Atkinson [April 2006]
Casualty Of War »
A real-life G.I. Joe, Master Sergeant James Coons hardly seemed like a candidate for post-traumatic stress disorder. But when his demons got the best of him, there was nothing anyone could do—not that anyone really tried.
by Skip Hollandsworth [March 2006]
The Eyes of Texas »
Oh, say, can you see?
by Jim Atkinson [February 2006]
Scent and Sensibility »
Sweaty socks, cat urine, dead skunks: Three cheers for having no sense of smell.
by Suzy Banks [January 2006]
Oh, Lardy »
Fat versus Fit.
by Jim Atkinson [November 2005]
Culture of Strife »
Frozen embryos are destroyed every day in the name of in vitro fertilization. Tell me again what’s so wrong with stem cell research?
by Michael Ennis [October 2005]
Dr. Evil »
By almost any measure of performance, including the sheer number of patients who are crippled and maimed, the medical profession has rarely seen anyone like Houston orthopedic surgeon Eric Scheffey. So why did he get to keep his license for so long?
by S. C. Gwynne [September 2005]
The Doctor Will Mistreat You Now »
What to do if your doctor is a quack.
by Jim Atkinson [September 2005]
Medical Drama »
Executive editor S. C. Gwynne on examining one of the state’s most litigious, at times lethal, MDs.
Interview by Ryan Vogt [September 2005]
See Spot. See Spot Grow. »
Here comes the sun.
by Jim Atkinson [July 2005]
The Good Rats »
Cancer used to be something you died from. Now, thanks to clinical trials, it’s increasingly something you live with.
by Jan Jarboe Russell [June 2005]
Nothing to Sneeze At »
Sneeze play.
by Jim Atkinson [May 2005]
Till Death Do Us Part »
The marriage of Baylor College of Medicine and Methodist Hospital should have been made in heaven—and until recently, it was. Their nasty breakup is a bell tolling for American medicine.
by Mimi Swartz [March 2005]
Pick Your Poison »
Remedies are coming from unexpected places.
by Jim Atkinson [March 2005]
Relief Pitchers »
Pain, pain, go away
by Jim Atkinson [March 2005]
Cutting Deep »
A year after state legislators kicked tens of thousands of children off the taxpayer-funded health insurance rolls, our biggest public-policy problem has reached crisis proportions. And the bleeding shows no signs of letting up.
by Pamela Colloff [December 2004]
The Good Doctor »
Can one of the state’s best writers change modern medicine as we know it? Abraham Verghese hopes so—one story at a time.
by Jan Reid [December 2004]
Shock Therapy »
For several months, TV shrink Dr. Phil McGraw has been picking apart— in full view of his national audience—the life choices made by residents of the Central Texas town of Elgin, who are apparently too fat, too horny, and too domestically violent for their own good. The diagnoses have not been, shall we say, well received.
by Katy Vine [December 2004]
Suffer the Little Children »
Senior editor Pamela Colloff on how cuts in the taxpayer-funded Children’s Health Insurance Program have resulted in a health care crisis.
Interview by Susan Shepard [December 2004]
Invasive! »
The unmaking of medical privacy.
by Christopher Keyes [November 2004]
"Their Last Good Chance to Get Better" »
The state's public mental health system was woeful to begin with, and now legislative budget cuts have made it even worse. For thousands of mentally ill kids like Grant Williams, the only place to get treatment is a juvenile prison.
by Skip Hollandsworth [November 2003]
Perilously Plump »
Texans love to say that everything’s bigger here, but when it comes to the waistlines in one in four of our largest cities, that’s nothing to brag about.
by Jim Atkinson [April 2002]
Susan Powter »
by Eileen Schwartz [September 2001]
Sober »
\More than a decade ago I wrote about the virtues of the drinking life and the comforts of what I called a “bar bar.” Then I hit rock bottom. It’s been eight years now since I took my last drink—and I’m finally ready to tell the rest of the story.
by Jim Atkinson [July 2001]
Killer Bugs »
I learned a shocking lesson when I visited San Antonio's "hot lab," where some of the world's deadliest microbes are studied. The germs are winning.
by Jim Atkinson [June 2001]
To Hell and Back »
After he was shot by a Mexico City cab driver—and told that he might be paralyzed—Jan Reid was flown to Houston, where Dr. Red Duke and a team of therapists literally got him back on his feet. In an excerpt from his forthcoming memoir, The Bullet Meant for Me, Reid reconstructs the grueling nine weeks of recovery before he and his wife, Dorothy, finally headed home to Austin.
by Jan Reid [June 2001]
