Daily Rounds: Doctors' Evolving Politics; Drug Shortages Rising; Meals & Memory; RomneyCare Remembered

Doctors Soften Their Stance on Obama’s Health Overhaul - NYTimes.com "There are no national surveys that track doctors’ political leanings, but as more doctors move from business owner to shift worker, their historic alliance with the Republican Party is weakening from Maine as well as South Dakota, Arizona and Oregon, according to doctors’ advocates in those and other states. That change could have a profound effect on the nation’s health care debate. Indeed, after opposing almost every major health overhaul proposal for nearly a century, the American Medical Association supported President Obama’s legislation last year because the new law would provide health insurance to the vast majority of the nation’s uninsured, improve competition and choice in insurance, and promote prevention and wellness, the group said." (nytimes.com)

Hospitals Hunt Substitutes As Drug Shortages Rise | WBUR "The shortage that’s made the most headlines is a sedative used on death row. But on the health-care front, shortages are wide-ranging, including:
-Thiotepa, used with bone marrow transplants.
-A whole list of electrolytes, injectable nutrients crucial for certain premature infants and tube-feeding of the critically ill.
-Norepinephrine injections for septic shock.
-A cystic fibrosis drug named acetylcysteine.
-Injections used in the ER for certain types of cardiac arrest.
-Certain versions of pills for ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
-Some leuprolide hormone injections used in fertility treatment. "(WBUR | 90.9 FM)

To Make A Memorable Meal, Start With A Memory : NPR "Much of the Sensorium show was vivid, Cooke says. For example, during the fish course, actors holding fish puppets swum around the room while the dome pulsed gently with soft lights and music. It made the diners feel as if they were swimming with the fish underwater...Another course involved miniature bites of salty pork belly and sweet potatoes presented on dollhouse-sized chairs and tables instead of plates." (npr.org)

Romney and health care: In the thick of history - The Boston Globe "The former governor has faced a fusillade from the right for the plan they call RomneyCare. But a look back at the birth of the Mass. law shows why he can’t, and won’t, back away. It was an amazing political feat, and no one’s role was bigger than his." (boston.com)