H. Jack West, MD

Category: Policy and Practice

  • Is the NCCN Undermining its Credibility by Failing to Acknowledge Bias and Value in its Guidelines?

    Is the NCCN Undermining its Credibility by Failing to Acknowledge Bias and Value in its Guidelines?

    The ostensible role for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is laudable. Essentially, this consortium of 27 leading cancer centers organizes a large group of practice committees with experts in a wide range of cancer subtypes and clinical challenges like supportive care issues, specific complications, age-related challenges, and cancer prevention and screening. These expert committees review the…

  • Faces vs. Data: Protecting Ourselves to Death

    I just saw an an excellent talk by Juan Enriquez at the TEDMED meeting I just attended, on the subject of “What is the missing measure in medicine?”. Specifically, his central point was that we focus on the risk of harm from treatments: the baby victims of thalidomide are etched on our collective memories, with a…