Larry Hand

Colin T. McDonald, MD, specialized in neuro-critical care at Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General), Harvard Medical School in Boston in 1998, when the father of an emergency room physician at an affiliated hospital became one of his patients. One morning, the father experienced symptoms of stroke, which the son immediately recognized. Doing something about those symptoms, however, was complicated; the father and son were on Martha's Vineyard, where the local hospital was not equipped for emergency neurology care.

epilepsy, multiple sclerosis

neuro-oncology, glioblastoma multiforme

pay for performance, reimbursement

Alzheimer disease,folate,radiology

restless legs syndrome, Parkinson disease, ADHD

traumaticbraininjury,braincancer

Clinical trials--and how they are conducted--have been getting a lot of attention lately, as discussed in our article, "Clinical Trials Appear Headed for More Openness," beginning on page 13. We had already finished editing the article, however, when I got a notice on June 22 about a survey commissioned by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. According to the results, of the surveyed US physicians who treat people with Parkinson disease (PD), 96% agreed that clinical trials are necessary to develop better treatments.

Sometimes it pays to look at something in a different way. Growing up in rural Georgia, I hated kudzu. My disdain began as soon as I was old enough to mow the lawn. The creeping vines relentlessly tried to expand from their ceded territory and take over the civilized section of my parents' property.