Why is President Obama ignoring the doctors when it comes to health reform?

Health Policy
February 15, 2010

by Ernesto Gutierrez, MD

There is a lot of discussion about what Obama did right and wrong in managing the politics of passing health insurance reform. What strikes me as the most obvious is the failure to engage physicians. Sure there was support from the AMA, ACP, and AAFP, but the support was lukewarm at best. The position letters sent out to society members outlining their support seemed forced …

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Why is President Obama ignoring the doctors when it comes to health reform?

Why The Biggest Loser uses CT scans to help contestants lose weight

Conditions and Diseases
February 15, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Cole Petrochko

The train wreck has become an integral part of reality TV programming, and that’s terrible. As much as I’ve learned on the internet about the “Snooki Punch” fiasco from MTV’s Jersey Shore, there’s little to watching a household of adults thrown together under a wacky premise turn into overgrown, throat-seeking children under lights and a camera, except on the one-season CBS show Kid …

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Why The Biggest Loser uses CT scans to help contestants lose weight

What should free health care to members of Congress be called?

Health Policy
February 14, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Charles Bankhead

Recently, I learned that members of Congress have their very own medical clinic. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. Being a member of Congress is a tough job, filled with stress and posturing and righteous indignation. I know that if I had to decide whether to spend tax money on a Bridge to Nowhere or a pet airport that has flights to …

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What should free health care to members of Congress be called?

How alternative and herbal medications can have dangerous side effects

Medications
February 13, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor

Herbal medicines are not always the harmless nostrums that many patients and even some physicians think, but may actually contribute to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, researchers warned in a review covering 44 years of research into the subject.

Many such products, including aloe vera, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, and green tea, can …

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How alternative and herbal medications can have dangerous side effects

Op-ed: Social media can enhance the doctor-patient relationship

Social Media in Medicine
February 13, 2010

A version of this op-ed was published on January 27th, 2010 in the USA Today.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever left a physician’s office without fully understanding what the doctor just told you.

Studies show that half of patients admit to not understanding what their doctor told them during an office visit; and more than 75% of emergency room patients acknowledge not fully grasping instructions given to them.

As a primary …

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Op-ed: Social media can enhance the doctor-patient relationship

How overly aggressive cancer awareness can backfire

Conditions and Diseases
February 12, 2010

The American Cancer Society has designated this weekend “Suits and Sneakers Awareness Weekend,” as part of the annual Coaches vs. Cancer program that will feature well-dressed basketball coaches wearing “sneakers instead of dress shoes with their usual game attire during weekend games to demonstrate their support for the Society and the fight against cancer.” The idea is to encourage people to exercise and eat a healthy diet to reduce their …

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How overly aggressive cancer awareness can backfire

Thoughts from a doctor attending a patient funeral

Patient
February 12, 2010

On the way to the funeral you wonder how you’ll be received by the grieving. Although you are confident that your care for the deceased was sincere, professional, and adept, you still question if others will so assume. There is silence in the car. This is a trip you make alone.

You manage a bitter smile as you recall stories the patient shared in unguarded moments, behind the door of a …

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Thoughts from a doctor attending a patient funeral

Neuroscience explains why changing addictive behavior is so difficult

Conditions and Diseases
February 12, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

By the end of January, many New Year’s resolutions have been tossed out with the leftover holiday cookies. That’s because change is hard — and neuroscientists are learning why.

Advances in neuroimaging have enabled researchers to peer inside the brains of addicts and patients with addictive behaviors. They can see in …

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Neuroscience explains why changing addictive behavior is so difficult

Why Haiti disaster relief efforts cannot be applied domestically

Social Media in Medicine
February 11, 2010

Like most people, I’ve found the news and images coming from Haiti in the aftermath of the January’s earthquake appalling and upsetting.

The sheer amount of devastation and orders of magnitude loss of life make the story compelling by itself. Coupled on top of Haiti’s ignominious history, the situation touches us for its Job-like quality: ”How much misery can one people withstand?”

I’ve been pleased at the outpouring of support for Haiti. …

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Why Haiti disaster relief efforts cannot be applied domestically

AMA: Why patients should care about fixing the Medicare physician payment cut

Health Policy
February 11, 2010

The following is part of a series of original guest columns by the American Medical Association.

by J. James Rohack, MD

Prominently displayed at the top of the AMA’s Web site this week is a “countdown clock” to this year’s 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut, which will hurt physicians ability to care for all Medicare and …

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AMA: Why patients should care about fixing the Medicare physician payment cut

Doctors are responsible for a minority of medical mistakes in radiation therapy

Physician
February 11, 2010

The New York Times recently featured a disturbing expose of serious medical errors associated with the newest forms of high tech radiation treatment, entitled, Radiation Offers New Cures, and Ways to Do Harm. The piece is an example of excellent medical journalism, compelling stories of two individuals who sustained truly horrifying injuries as the result of treatment errors framed a detailed investigation of similar errors that have occurred in New …

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Doctors are responsible for a minority of medical mistakes in radiation therapy

Doctors have an ethical obligation to treat complications from a transplant operation performed abroad

Conditions and Diseases
February 11, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Patients who travel to foreign countries for organ transplants may return with more problems than they left with — and physicians here have a moral responsibility to treat them, researchers asserted in a transplant journal.

“Medical tourism” has been on the rise as demand for organs outpaces supply and U.S. …

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Doctors have an ethical obligation to treat complications from a transplant operation performed abroad

When doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong with a patient

Conditions and Diseases
February 10, 2010

Part one of a series.

The first patient I ever saw as a first year resident came in with a litany of complaints, not one of which I remember today except for one—he had headaches. The reason I remember he had headaches isn’t because I spent so much time discussing them but rather the opposite: at the time I knew next to nothing about headaches and somehow managed to end the …

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When doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong with a patient

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How will the earthquake affect the future of the Haitian American community?

Physician
February 10, 2010

Marleine Bastien is the founder and executive director of Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami–Haitian Women of Miami–www.fanm.org, which advocates for the rights of Haitian women. She is also a congressional candidate for U.S. House District 17, representing Little Haiti and other neighborhoods in Miami. Erin N. Marcus spoke with Bastien on Jan. 22 about the Haiti earthquake.

What has FANM been doing since the earthquake?

As soon as we heard about it, …

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How will the earthquake affect the future of the Haitian American community?

Similarities between H1N1 flu pandemic conspiracies and the Y2K bug

Conditions and Diseases
February 10, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Mike Himowitz

When I read Michael Smith’s account of European politicians taking WHO to the woodshed for allegedly conspiring with vaccine makers to overinflate the danger from H1N1 pandemic flu, I was reminded of a similar — and equally silly — argument that occurred exactly a decade ago.

In the early days of 2000, you …

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Similarities between H1N1 flu pandemic conspiracies and the Y2K bug

Not enough patients receive vaccines and what doctors can do about it

Medications
February 9, 2010

Imagine a world where consumers all knew about the latest developments in preventive health.

Earlier this month the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) released the 2010 immunization schedules. Revised annually, the immunization schedules are what doctors in the U.S. use to decide who should be immunized against what diseases. Far from esoteric, the schedules pertain to every single person living in the United States. If the H1N1 pandemic and subsequent …

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Not enough patients receive vaccines and what doctors can do about it

How fame has corrupted Dr. Mehmet Oz

Social Media in Medicine
February 9, 2010

The newest media doc on the block is Dr. Mehmet Oz. When he was first seen on Oprah, he seemed engaging and answered some interesting questions in a real and professional way. The audience loved his blue scrubs and boyish clean cut open style.

That was then.

Let’s face it . . . the media spotlight seems to corrupt even the best physicians. Dr. Oz now has his own show and …

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How fame has corrupted Dr. Mehmet Oz

Increasing copays will increase costs for health insurance companies in the long run

Health Policy
February 9, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Raising seniors’ copayments for ambulatory care to offset increasing healthcare costs may backfire on insurers, researchers asserted.

Seniors enrolled in Medicare plans that increased copayments had significantly fewer outpatient visits but spent more time in the hospital than patients in plans that left copayments untouched, according to Amal Trivedi, MD, …

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Increasing copays will increase costs for health insurance companies in the long run

The power of a doctor’s choice of words in explaining CPR

Conditions and Diseases
February 8, 2010

Words have power. Language has power.

The words we use may comfort or shock, allay or provoke, sooth or batter. Words often imply layers of meaning that are not explicitly articulated, yet rest beneath the surface:

“I worry that time is short for you” (You are dying) (I care about you)

“I wish we could have done more” (Nothing would have changed her death) (I am on your side)

“I hope with you that …

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The power of a doctor’s choice of words in explaining CPR

An anesthesiologist accused of making up trial data pleads guilty to federal charges

Medications
February 8, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor

A Massachusetts anesthesiologist accused of fabricating data in studies of pain drugs will plead guilty to federal criminal charges under an agreement with prosecutors.

Scott Reuben, MD, a well-known pain researcher at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., was charged with one count of healthcare fraud.

Early last year, the hospital …

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An anesthesiologist accused of making up trial data pleads guilty to federal charges

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