• Medical specialists continue to be relatively highly paid.
• Male specialists earn significantly more than do women specialists.
• U.S. Physicians earn considerably more than physicians elsewhere in the developed world.
• Medicine is not the most highly paid profession per year of required education.
• Other professionals can earn more, sooner in a career, and with less training.

Following is a selection of the recent published literature on the relationship between feelings of loneliness, social isolation, and rates of morbidity and mortality.

• Having social connections improves peoples’ odds of survival by 50% on average.
• Living alone increased the likelihood of mortality the most, 32%, while social isolation raised the risk by 29% and loneliness by 26%.
• Simply living with someone else increased survival by nearly 20%.
• Extensive social integration nearly doubled the odds of survival.

• State crackdown on high prescribers is associated with more than 1000 fewer deaths.
• CDC reports that prescription drug-related deaths have continued to rise.
• Johns Hopkins researchers find the Florida program to be effective.
• Physicians are being urged to prescribe opioids in fewer cases, to fewer patients, in lower dosages.
• The epidemic of prescription and non-prescription opioid deaths makes clear the need for drug treatment programs and for the widespread use of naloxone kits.

The Myths of Dehydration and Heat Illnesses

• The primary cause of hyponatremia in athletes is drinking too much water.
• The incidence of hyponatremia appears to be between 13% and 15% among endurance athletes.
• Gender and the duration of athletic activity appear to be predictors of the incidence of hyponatremia.
• Sodium supplementation has no effect on the occurrence of hyponatremia.
• There seems to not be a single case of death resulting from sports-related dehydration in the medical literature.

• Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia have remained within the ACA.
• Healthcare enrollment in these states is significantly exceeding forecasts.
• Medicaid is the largest line item in most state budgets followed by K-12 education.
• The federal government currently reimburses 100% of the costs for new enrollees through 2016.
• Federal reimbursement will fall to 90% by 2020.
• Federal reimbursement to states for existing enrollees is just 50%.