What Obama means for our healthWhat Obama means for our health

"We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost." So said President Obama this morning in his inaugural speech. The challenges are clear: rising costs, an over-powerful pharmaceutical industry, and a soaring jobless rate giving rise to thousands more uninsured, to name a few. Here's what we've been reading. (Have something to share? Please feel free to add comments below.)

The New Yorker will run a piece in next week's issue—Getting There from Here: How should Obama reform health care?—taking a look at the merits socialized medicine in Great Britain, France, and other European nations, yet arguing that the best course of action is to build on what we have.

The Wall Street Journal reports on Obama-style health care reform, and Steve Nissen's (potential candidate for FDA commish) call to reform the FDA, including a need for greater transparency and "giving the FDA the power to restrict direct-to-consumer advertising of drugs during their first two years on the market."

Though a relatively small part of the national picture, natural supplements and DSHEA (the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act, which has been on the books for nearly fifteen years) stand poised for change too.