Viewpoints: Does 'fiscal cliff' end justify the means?; A shrinking government under any plan; Wrongly confusing Asperger's with mental illness

The New York Times Opinionator blog: Dietary Seat Belts
Forget the fiscal cliff: we've long since fallen off the public health cliff. We need consistent policies that benefit a majority of our citizens, even if it costs corporations money. And guns are just the bloodiest public health menace to go virtually unregulated. Preventable, chronic disease -- to a large extent brought about by diet -- is now the biggest killer on the planet. Soda kills more people than guns -- more people than car wrecks -- only less dramatically. What we need is the equivalent of a dietary seat belt (Mark Bittman, 12/18).

Kansas City Star: The Best Medicine For Healing KC's Wellness Plan
The sickness that plagued Kansas City's employee wellness program allegedly was spread not just by a few people but by hundreds of city workers. That appalling possibility indicates City Hall contains a large number of people who tried to game the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City system to make some easy money for themselves -- without doing the work needed to get healthier and truly earn those rewards (12/18).

The Lund Report: Making Sense Out Of Drug Prices
I take a generic drug, a little yellow pill that's been produced for decades, to control blood pressure. I started taking it long before the day I turned 65 that happened to coincide with the beginnings of the great recession that effectively reduced the value of our savings and our house. ... in all the upheaval, I still had my little yellow pill to quell the violence of a blood pressure that was simply responding in kind to the events of the day. Some stability existed after all in $4 a month yellow pills. Then one day last year I went as usual to pick up my 90 day supply and was told the pharmacy didn't have it. Say what? How could you not? (Bertha Cooper, 12/18).