TIME Magazine

Imagine yourself in front of your computer, looking up information about a drug prescribed by your doctor. Your Internet search tells you that there is a cheaper, maybe even a generic version available, but you have just paid top dollar for the brand name drug. You also learn that another treatment may be safer than the prescription you just filled. Now imagine you discover that your doctor gets paid by the manufacturer to promote the drug to other doctors.

Last month, an essay posted by retired physician Ken Murray called “How Doctors Die” got a huge amount of attention, some negative but mostly positive. Murray tells the story of an orthopedic surgeon who, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, chose not to undergo treatment. The surgeon died some months later at home, never having set foot inside a hospital again.

Imagine you are sitting in first class on a plane, waiting for the plane to push off from the gate, when you see two people in uniform, the pilot and co-pilot, dash from the Jetway into the cockpit. A few seconds later, a voice comes over the intercom, saying, “This is Captain Jones, please be sure your seat belts are fastened. We’re ready for takeoff.” What crucial event could not have occurred in this scenario? The pilot and co-pilot did not go through their checklist of safety measures. Fuel tanks full? Check! Flaps up? Check!

Unsurprisingly, British author, academic and terrorism analyst Anatol Lieven calls Pakistan "perhaps the biggest and wobbliest domino on the world stage." And the most dramatic symbol of that instability is Karachi. A recent surge in violence has ...

A sizeable number of young kids will be getting e-readers this Christmas. Though not everyone is plunging in –  The New York Times recently reported that some adults are eschewing them for their children even while they embrace them for themselves – the appeal to parents is strong, especially when marketers pitch the devices as on-ramps to literacy.

According to an analysis done by the New America Foundation (NAF), only 48% of the school's football players currently graduate within six years or less. But the more ironic news is that the team that topped the list is Penn State, whose football ...

According to an analysis done by the New America Foundation (NAF), only 48% of the school's football players currently graduate within six years or less. But the more ironic news is that the team that topped the list is Penn State, whose football ...

As well it should: a recent report from the New America Foundation estimated that Americans will spend nearly half a trillion dollars on gasoline this year, up 25% from 2010. (See if gas-powered cars are more fuel-efficient than you think.) ...

Everybody knows obesity is a massive problem in the U.S. It rivals smoking in terms of its health hazards, according to a report in the February 2010 American Journal of Preventative Medicine. As a society, we’ve made great strides, giant leaps even, in reducing rates of smoking. Smoking bans on airplanes, in public buildings, in restaurants, have helped. So have negative ad campaigns aimed at teenagers, higher insurance premiums for smokers and higher taxes on cigarettes.

About a year ago, I accompanied my 80-year-old mother on a visit to the cardiologist’s office. She had been having unexplained dizzy spells and a rapid, irregular heart beat and was in for tests to see what the problem was. After the first test, we sat with the electrophysiologist, who explained Mom’s results.