Shannon Brownlee  to visit SMC February 12-17, 2012

Schwartz Senior Fellow, New America Foundation; journalist; author; expert on U.S. health care system

Shannon Brownlee was a staff writer for Discover and Sports Illustrated magazines and a senior writer for U.S. News and World Reports. She is now the Schwartz Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation. The New America Foundation is a nonprofit public policy institute established by a diverse group of public intellectuals, civic leaders, and business executives for the purpose of bringing exceptionally promising new voices and new ideas to the fore of our nation’s public discourse. The Foundation invests in outstanding individuals, that transcend the conventional political spectrum. In her role as senior fellow, Brownlee’s work focuses on the U.S. health care delivery system and the cultural, economic, and political forces that result in poor quality and high cost.

She has written about the lack of scientific evidence for many medical practices and the problem of unnecessary care, which accounts for as much as a third of the nation’s health care bills. Her book, Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine is Making Us Sicker and Poorer, which was published by Bloomsbury Press in September 2007, was named the best economics book of the year by the New York Times. Her stories and essays have appeared in such publications as The Atlantic Monthly, Business Week, Discover, The New Republic, New York Times Magazine, Salon, Time, and Washington Monthly. Brownlee has appeared on Good Morning America, Fox News, All Things Considered, and CNN among others.

Ms. Brownlee will present a public lecture and will interact with students and faculty in classes and informal meetings discussing issues including the following topics: the nature of medical evidence: how do doctors know what they know?; it’s the delivery system, stupid: why debate over health care reform is missing the point; conflict of interest in medicine; end of the line: where are all the new wonder drugs?; what’s in store for the pharmaceutical industry?; screening for cancer – when is it not a good idea?; the cost and consequences of unnecessary care.

The Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program is dedicated to encouraging the flow of ideas between the academic and non-academic sectors of society; and, through week-long visits to small liberal arts colleges, connecting liberal education with the world beyond. Saint Mary's has participated in the program for eighteen years, hosting prominent businessmen, journalists, writers and activists, such as Kevin Quigley, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Anita Perez Ferguson, Robert Musil, Callie Crossley, John and Lillian Maguire, and Eleanor Clift.