My dad told me that when you get into bed with the government the last thing you will get is a good night’s sleep. And now it looks like Uncle Sam is entering the field of patient care.

And according to a September 2005 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, there has been an across-the-board decrease in the number of internal medicine residents seeking primary care positions. So why this move away from primary care? This reason is simple: It's about the money.

Cloning is complex and there are many issues that need deciding. What better group to propose research guidelines than doctors.

For the most part, physicians favor balance billing. The mention of anything else raises blood pressures and drops glucose levels. Many say that a physician has not only the right to set his or her own fees, but also the right to try to collect those fees. The issue is how to resolve the difference between what the doctor charges and what, if anything, he is paid.

I don't know about you, but my practice runs on pens, and I can't seem to keep a pen for more than a few minutes. I am not sure what happens to my pens. They must jump from my pocket or I must just set them down without noticing. To keep my practice going, I count on a fresh supply of pens from my local drug reps. But now some folks are calling on a ban to cut off my supply of pens.

The Los Angeles County Medical Association board has taken a stand against translation requirements for offices. This practice would increase physician costs, and in high-volume, low-fee operations, it might lead to reduced patient access. Clinics run on very small profit margins, and the costs of translation services would put them and most of the rest of us in the red. Proponents of translation services have not solved the age-old question of who should pay.