M e d i c i n e A ve 2 well come from unexpected quarters across highly interconnected areas of research. Opinion polls demonstrate strong bipartisan public support for investments in research to improve medical care. However, funds must be directed wisely. Of the $2.5 trillion spent on healthcare annually in this country, it is estimated that about one-fourth may go to "chasing the symptoms" of common diseases we do not yet know how to effectively treat—or prevent. Examples are the common cancers (except lung cancer, due primarily to smoking), neurodegenerative and psychiatric conditions, arthritis, and gastrointestinal disorders. Those of us who are clinicians or healthcare systems administrators must do what we can to help current patients, but we should not remain ignorant and impotent as we prepare to care for our children and grandchildren. Each of us involved in healthcare communications must be keenly aware of the delicate balance that exists between communicating just the right amount of information about emerging technologies, and prematurely overstepping the boundaries of what is known into speculative areas unsupported by data. To prevent the pendulum from swinging too far to one side or the other in policy debates over what has been called the Precautionary Principle, we must acknowledge the tension that exists between those who view advances in disciplines such as nanotechnology and the neurosciences as rampant novelty that must be regulated by "anticipatory governance," and those who call for a balanced, temperate approach that protects the public without a chilling effect on innovation—and we must work to manage that tension publicly. 38
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