3 Questions: David Jones on heart problems
With a universal health-care law set to cover all United States citizens starting in 2013, many experts are now wondering how medical costs can be contained. David Jones, an MIT associate professor of the history and culture of science and technology, has a distinctive perspective on the subject. In addition to his PhD in the history of science, Jones received his MD from Harvard in 2001 and worked as a doctor before coming to MIT. He is currently writing a book about the history of cardiac procedures that explores, among other things, the rise in popularity of those interventions despite clinical evidence that their effectiveness is limited. MIT News asked him about his ongoing research about heart medicine. Q. Is cardiac bypass surgery an over-used procedure in the United States — and if so, what is the evidence for this? A. No surgical operation has been studied more...