Loose Lips

"Snake oil is here to stay."
-John Hickner, MD, a professor at the University of Chicago's medical school, on the role that a patient's belief in alternative medicine can have on the patient's health, regardless of the actual medical benefits of the treatment.

"This same incident that affected the Quaids, it could happen again at another hospital in another place."
-Michael Cohen, president of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, on the likelihood that another hospital could make a mistake similar to the heparin overdose given to the infant twins of actor Dennis Quaid and his wife at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

"We can't simply say to the people of California, 'Go buy insurance.' "
-California Sen. Sheila Kuehl, on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to require people to hold private insurance and subsidize the premiums for those who cannot afford them.