Conditions

How biased medical experts are destroying doctors’ lives and careers in the opioid crisis

Conditions
September 12, 2024

As a U.S. health care writer and patient advocate for almost 30 years, I read a lot.  Recently, some of that reading is in court transcripts of doctors being persecuted out of medicine or into jail by various prosecutors and their hired “experts.” I use the term “persecuted” intentionally.  I believe that “medical experts” in many court or Medical Board proceedings are simply “hired guns” – clinical predators hired for …

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How seniors can reverse muscle loss and belly fat

Conditions
September 11, 2024

As a retired physician, I notice many seniors become skinny and weak due to muscle loss yet have big bellies as fat accumulates. They are less strong, less vibrant, and prone to falls and chronic illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, and cognitive decline. This does not need to happen, but many older people do not appreciate the health and wellness impacts of muscle loss …

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What medicine never taught me about parenting a child with ADHD

Conditions
September 11, 2024

Once again, I found myself balled up on the kitchen floor, head between my knees, sobbing. My shoulders shook, and my chest heaved as I gasped for air, but air wouldn’t be enough. What I was truly gasping for was hope, something that had eluded me during this perpetually challenging season of my “neurodivergent” parenting career.

I’m not sure what made that moment any different from the countless dysregulated nights that …

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When technology merges with humanity

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September 10, 2024

An excerpt from Nephilim.

“Those eggs really hit the spot, right?”

“I’d love some more,” he answered.

“Sure,” Zdenek responded. “One or two?”

“How many do we have?”

Before long, James had wolfed down nine eggs.

“I wonder if it’s the choline,” Zdenek mused as James shoveled. “Eggs have a boatload of choline. Maybe she’s craving it. Orange that is.” James hadn’t touched his toast. “Choline, you know? It might help my baby merge with …

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How health systems can combat a $3B+ patient retention issue

Conditions
September 9, 2024

In today’s health care ecosystem, patient retention has become a $3 billion dollar issue for health systems, with patient leakage (also known as patient keepage) at its core. Despite efforts to keep patients within their networks, a significant portion continue to seek care elsewhere, leading to financial losses. Interestingly enough, physical therapy proves to be key in improving patient retention, as recent data shows that rehab-related leakage is the number …

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The heartbreaking reality of smoking: a daughter’s final goodbye

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September 7, 2024

Fred was the cool guy.

Back in the 1950s and 60s, smoking cigarettes was considered movie star quality. That circling of smoke in his parked car with the girl of his dreams.

He started smoking at the tender age of 15.

Fred had it figured out. Cigarettes were glamorous. Cigarettes were cool.

Doctors advertised that smoking was good for you. It helped you keep weight off, and it relieved your anxiety.

In 1965, the Surgeon …

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How parental preferences and evidence-based practices intersect to achieve success in intervention programs

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September 6, 2024

With more than 15 years of experience as a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) and clinician working with children and teens with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents, I have seen first-hand how parent involvement is the key to success in intervention programs. To make an impact on these children’s lives, we need to go beyond simply applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy sessions. This is where parents come in, reinforcing, …

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Should transgender athletes compete in women’s sports?

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September 5, 2024

Watching the 2024 Paris Olympics reminded me of my intense love for sports. It is the nobility, beauty, strength, agility, and fairness that attract me and the audience. Performances by Simone Biles, with her majesty and strength, to Katie Ledecky’s’ power and domination, surrounded by Olympic and world record performances, often bring me to tears. These attributes have abounded in Paris, but unfortunately, something foul is also afoot.

Sexual and gender …

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From anaphylaxis to food allergy freedom: a family’s journey down under

Conditions
September 4, 2024

My daughter Amelia’s first bottle of formula was a turning point. The innocent act triggered a terrifying anaphylaxis that catapulted us into a world of food allergies. As a young mother, the diagnosis was a gut-wrenching blow. Every food label became a riddle to decipher, and every social event a logistical nightmare, as we didn’t want our daughter to grow up facing the social exclusion, bullying, and isolation that all …

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Is saliva the key to early disease detection and better oral health outcomes for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities?

Conditions
September 3, 2024

Dental appointments for patients with special health care needs – especially those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) – are no easy feat. Fraught with challenges, uncertainties, and fears, a dental appointment can be, at best, a trying situation and, at worst, traumatizing for patients with IDD. The sensation of plaque being scraped from teeth, the loud sounds of drills and suction, and the bright lights while lying in a …

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Hope from an older doctor to those patients ready to give up their car keys

Conditions
September 1, 2024

When you are older, you are considered a threat to other drivers. Reflexes are dampened, muscle responses are sluggish, cataracts obscure vision, and inflexible eye lenses slow focus.

Cars are made to drive fast, and many whippersnappers navigate the streets as if they are at the Indianapolis 500. How many times have you been tailgated and honked at from behind when traveling at the posted speed limit?

And should there be an …

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The tragic migraine classification and diagnosis fiasco

Conditions
August 31, 2024

The first classification of primary headaches was developed in 1962 by the Ad Hoc Committee, a group of neurologists with a special interest in migraine. They correctly classified primary headaches, as per the published data, into:

  1. Vascular headache of the migraine type
  2. Muscle contraction headache
  3. Mixed muscular/vascular headache

The different types of primary headaches were classified according to the anatomical structure from which the pain originates. Therefore, one had to examine …

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Health care communication in a post-COVID world: What’s changed and what’s not since the pandemic

Conditions
August 31, 2024

An excerpt from The Mumbo Jumbo Fix: A Survival Guide for Effective Doctor-Patient-Nurse Communication.

If you’re like me, you mark life’s timeline by three milestones—before COVID, during COVID, and after COVID. While most of us no longer wear masks or maintain social distance, the world has undeniably changed in ways that impact health care communication among its three essential participants: doctors, patients, and nurses.

Telemedicine, the …

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The hidden pain behind a smile

Conditions
August 30, 2024

(Trigger warning: suicide attempt)

It was dinner time at this hospital’s psychiatric unit. They shuffled into the dining area—slippers, pajamas, disheveled, sad, lonely, depressed … and forgotten.

Head count. All were present except for one: Rita. Faithful Rita. Always at every therapy session, including poetry therapy, art therapy, and bingo night. Always smiling and laughing, cheering up the other patients. Rita was 54 years old and a mother of three. Her husband …

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Why doctors are afraid to take on insurance giants—and how it hurts patients

Conditions
August 30, 2024

Half of my family and many of my friends are doctors. I admire them enormously: they are smarter, work harder, and are more compassionate than any group I know. Yet sadly, they are all wimps. Despite non-stop carping about the dangers and cost of health insurers’ prior authorization machinations, not a single one is willing to step up and take on an insurance company.

Of course, I understand why: doctors’ incomes …

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The unspoken emotional toll of trauma surgery: a medical student’s journey

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August 30, 2024

It’s one thing to choose a career dedicated to saving lives; it’s another altogether to confront the harsh reality of death. As a third-year medical student, my trauma surgery rotation highlighted that distinction. For all the patients we saved, there were also those who, despite the team’s best efforts, succumbed to their injuries amidst trauma activations. The protocol for a patient’s death in the trauma bay was always followed to …

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When corporate hospitals cause real harm

Conditions
August 29, 2024

When patients go to the hospital seeking help, they are vulnerable and fully trusting of the modern hospital system to do only what is needed and nothing more. And with good reason—patients are well aware of the incredible sacrifices doctors have made, including the oath to do no harm, and their passion to save lives. What is less known by patients is the fee-for-service model of health care that awaits …

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Embracing data-driven solutions to prevent falls

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August 28, 2024

Released in 2000, the landmark report “To Err is Human” aimed to transform patient safety by highlighting the prevalence of medical errors and their devastating impact. The report underscored various issues, including medication errors, falls, and surgical complications, garnering widespread attention and spurring significant improvements in certain areas of patient safety. As a result of this increased focus, tools like the World Health Organization’s Surgical Safety …

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The dark psychology of medical con-men

Conditions
August 28, 2024

Paolo Macchiarini, MD, is a thoracic surgeon and regenerative medicine researcher who gained international fame for pioneering surgeries that involved implanting synthetic tracheas seeded with the patient’s own stem cells. However, Macchiarini’s career came to a halt when allegations of scientific misconduct, ethical breaches, and fraudulent practices surfaced. Several of his patients experienced severe complications, and some died as a result of his experimental surgeries. Investigations revealed that Macchiarini …

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