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Summary. Like all physicians, radiologists in the United States are subject to frequent and costly medical malpractice claims. Legal scholars and physicians concur that the US civil justice system is neither precise nor accurate in determining whether malpractice has truly occurred in cases in which claims are made. Sometimes, this inaccuracy is driven by biases inherent in medical expert-witness opinions. For example, expert-witness testimony involving "missed" radiology findings can be negatively affected by several cognitive biases, such as contextual bias, hindsight bias, and outcome bias. Biases inherent in the US legal system, such as selection bias, compensation bias, and affiliation bias, also play important roles. Fortunately, many of these biases can be significantly mitigated or eliminated through the use of appropriate blinding techniques. This paper reviews the major works on expert-witness blinding in the legal scholarship and the radiology professional literature. Its purpose is to acquaint the reader with the evidence that unblinded expert-witness testimony is tainted by multiple sources of bias and to examine proposed strategies for addressing these biases through blinding.

Summary. In a recent symposium article (Expert Mining and Required Disclosure, 81 U Chi. L. Rev. 131 (2014)), Professor Jonah Gelbach discusses the problem that a litigant in the American adversarial system can consult multiple expert witnesses on a given question but only disclose the single most favorable opinion to the fact finder (a jury, judge, or arbitrator). He calls this the problem of “expert mining.” In particular, Gelbach considers whether a policy that requires litigants to disclose to the fact finder the number of experts that they consulted might be a satisfactory solution to the problem. Alternatively, Gelbach considers whether an even more radical change to the American litigation system — the exclusion of all expert opinions rendered after the first one — might be necessary. In doing so, Gelbach extensively discusses my own work on this problem and the third solution I developed in a 2010 article, Blind Expertise, 85 NYU L. Rev. 174 (2010). There, I show that expert mining is one part of a broader problem of expert bias, and I propose a conditional-disclosure rule as the solution. This Essay provides some analysis of Gelbach’s framing of the problem, reviews the blinding proposal, and identifies the limits of Gelbach’s analyses.

Summary. For over two decades, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) has been advocating for a national pharmacare plan. Now, as the costs of prescription drugs continue to rise, putting pressures on a health care system that is already stretched to the limit, the CFNU is gaining some new allies. There is a growing consensus that prescription drug policies require reform. Advocates for reform include the C.D. Howe Institute (a well-known public policy think tank), the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, provincial and territorial governments, as well as patient advocates from coast-to-coast. Like our premiers, the CFNU is committed to tackling the issue of escalating drug costs, while ensuring access and quality care. The failure to contain the costs of pharmaceuticals is threatening Canada’s ability to provide patients with the health care they need. A national pharmacare program is an urgent priority if our health care system is to provide patients with the medications they need.

Summary. This blog explores the role of structural incentives and institutional cultures in the systemic suppression of serious threats to public safety and public health.

Summary. Describes legal limits on illegal promotional speech by drug company representatives.

Summary. There has been an important development in the study of the right of access to public information and the so-called economics of information: by combining these two premises, it is possible to outline an economics theory of access to public information.

Summary. When governments ask companies for bribes, it leads to a prisoner's dilemma situation in public procurement processes. However, companies can manage to escape through collusion.

Summary. Logics of corruption compiles articles published by the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University and elsewhere. In these texts, Mosquera explores different logics to understand the individual and collective rationality of corruption. Moreover, the systematic study of the various logics of corruption is important if we are to find innovative solutions in the form of anti-corruption strategies.

Summary. Develops the reform implications of influence market/institutional corruption

Summary. This edited volume was the first of its kind in creativity scholarship to include an ethical dimension in the definition of creativity (separating creativity as positive contribution vs. corruption as devolutionary or parasitic contribution), inviting contributions from the few leading scholars who had at least touched on ethics or lack thereof in creativity. In addition to initiating the book, I contributed two solo and 2 co-authored chapters.

Summary. Game theory has allowed the study of the rationality of relationships among actors. This is a strategic relationship where the final outcome depends on the decisions made by each actor. As each player awaits the other player’s decision, the anticipation of the opponent’s move is essential. For game analysis, it is important to view such anticipation as a combination of expectations. When it comes to a negotiation game, the various rules of the game, the means that condition players’ moves and the projection of goals are also important. Likewise, corruption can be also analyzed as an agreement that is reached after a process of negotiation between actors. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to interpret Schelling’s negotiation games as adapted to the problem of corruption.

Summary. This commentary raises the concern that efforts to ensure that industry is “at the table” for the WHO/FAO’s Second International Conference on Nutrition allow industry to influence the agenda, as well as the ways in which global health challenges are framed and addressed.

Summary. This essay explores how oil and gas companies exploit secret settlements with families harmed by fracking in order to suppress evidence of the harmful effects of their commercial practices.

Summary. This article outlines the systemic ethical implications of public-private partnerships with the food and soda industry—including research agenda distortion and framing effects (such as the characterization of obesity primarily as a problem of individual behavior, and the minimization or neglect of food systems and the role of powerful corporate actors in those systems).