Peter J. Pitts

It seems that lately, when it comes to health care policy, we are living in the land of unintended consequences. A recent Supreme Court ruling is a set back to addressing quality concerns in generic drugs.

There are no magic bullets in the fight to improve adherence and compliance. What we really need are solutions that impact social conditioning and address patient responsibility, and that means using social media - specifically, apps.

Counterfeit medicines are not just a theoretical problem anymore. Now is the time to close a major loophole that allows the purveyors of false products to prey on an unsuspecting American public.

If we want to lower health care costs (or, more honestly, health care spending), we need to look at where the spending takes place. It's a classic case of Occam's razor.

The responsibility of risk means appreciating and actualizing the philosophy of the safe use of drugs. For example, by not just educating physicians about the drug, but educating them about the drug's label too.

Since 2005 the U.S. has been experiencing increasing drug shortages that affect all segments of the health care community.