Saying Goodbye

Rick Carlson, a health consultant and one of the people behind the Health Maintenance Organization program, died of a heart attack February 13th, according to the Aspen Daily News. Carlson drafted the legislation sparking the HMO movement while at the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies (now InterStudy) in Minneapolis and more recently would say that he was still trying to live that down. Jason Bobe is mourning the loss of Carlson, who he calls one of his "most valued advisors." Carlson was going to be a guest blogger for Bobe and Bobe has posted the essay Carlson was working on that discusses policy issues surrounding consumer genomics. "The potential benefits are exciting and immense, but along the way, society will have to digest a stew of disruptive social, cultural and economic uncertainties," Carlson wrote.