Daily Rounds: Serotonin Backlash; Docs Go For Value; Home Births Cost Effective; And More

Post-Prozac Nation: The Science and History of Treating Depression (The New York Times) — "Is the “serotonin hypothesis” of depression really dead? Have we spent nearly 40 years heading down one path only to find ourselves no closer to answering the question how and why we become depressed? Must we now start from scratch and find a new theory for depression?"

Doctors Groups Tell Patients To Go For Cheaper, High-Value Care (NPR) — "The American College of Physicians is urging patients with newly diagnosed diabetes and back pain not to opt for the latest-and-supposedly-greatest. It's part of a new campaign to steer patients (and their doctors) to what the College of Physicians calls "high value care," and away from expensive tests and treatments that aren't any better — and often are worse. That may seem like common sense. But it's a departure, and maybe a surprise, to hear a mainline physician group name names when it comes to drugs that shouldn't be first choices — and even steer patients to non-physician competitors."

Home Births More Cost Effective, Oxford Study Says (BBC) — "Planned births at home and in midwifery units are more cost-effective than giving birth in hospital, particularly for women who have given birth before, University of Oxford research suggests. The research, in the British Medical Journal, compared the costs of giving birth in different places and the health outcomes for mother and baby. More than 60,000 low-risk women in England were studied over two years."

BU Student Is City's Fourth Homicide This Week (The Boston Globe) — "A violent week in the city of Boston continued Thursday morning when a Boston University graduate student was fatally shot in a part of the Allston section that is usually safe, police and neighbors said."