Lots of people are using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) these days—things like vitamins, homeopathic or herbal medicine, chiropractors, acupuncture or massage therapy. But they don’t always tell their doctors about it.
In a study in the journal Pediatrics, researchers in Canada found that among kids with chronic health problems, 64.5 percent of them were using some form of CAM—but more than a third didn’t tell their …
Initially, I was concerned. I completely agree with the comment from the linked article:“Here is my problem with legislative medicine,” said Dr. Alex Rosenau, president-elect of the American College of Emergency Physicians … “It prevents me …
My membranes ruptured at 22 weeks during my pregnancy. It was the evening of July 5th, 2003. Two days later my first son was born and died. The task before me was bed rest and squeeze as many more days (hopefully weeks) out of the pregnancy as possible to save my other two sons. It was, to put it mildly, a very low time.
The American Journal of Surgery had a nice little (38 patient cohort) study from the VA database that tried to determine the process by which patients make informed decisions on elective surgery. The results were rather surprising, at first glance.
Sixty-nine percent of patients decided to have surgery before meeting their surgeon, and 47% stated that the surgeon did not influence their decision. Although the surgeon was an important source of …
Sometimes, I feel like I belong in law enforcement. There was a time in my life that I seriously considered a career where I would haul in the bad guys and make society a better place. Of course, every American male youngster fantasized that he would one day drive the Aston Martin, get the girl, defuse the bomb, and sip on a …
For most people, anesthesia is one of the more mysterious branches of medicine. What we do for patients is done, generally, when they are asleep. You the patient don’t exactly know what we are going to do, or how it’s done, but you put yourselves in our hands willingly. It’s sort of a weird relationship we have with other humans. We have done our job right if our patients don’t …
I was recently speaking to the clinical leaders of a mid-sized hospital, and a senior administrator posed the question, “should we require our doctors and nurses to get flu shots?” The answer, I said, is yes, and it isn’t just to prevent the flu. It’s to get into the habit of making our folks do the right thing when it comes to patient safety.
One of the first posts I wrote was a about how pharmaceutical reps provide lunch for physicians while presenting information about a medication that they are promoting. The post, and others like it, have generated visceral reactions on the part of the public. A similar article to the one that I wrote prompted comments like “Get over yourself and buy your own lunch” and “I’m certainly glad …
It’s Friday afternoon and I check the day’s schedule. A name jumps out at me and I groan a little and worry — what am I going to say to someone I’ve treated for twenty years, who’s my age and just been admitted to hospice care? If this is goodbye, how do I as a physician, who is more than an acquaintance but not quite a friend, handle this appointment?
“Lance Armstrong is a bad guy who has done some very good things.”
These are the words of a sports radio personality I listened to yesterday. He was obviously commenting on the confession (to my pal Oprah) by Armstrong about his use of performance enhancing drugs. The sportscaster, along with many I heard talk on the subject, were not as upset by the …
The health care scene is evolving. Rapidly. We all know that. Thanks to legislation, changing patient expectations and physician shortages, we are all in for a roller coaster of changes over the next few years.
But what does this mean for physicians? Plenty. Most importantly, it means physician’s roles in the health care system will change. Drastically. And that means the traits and skills you’ll need to be successful will change, too.
The patient – blue-eyed, red-haired, and healthy but worried looking – guided the doctor’s hand to just below the angle of her jaw, where a small lump was barely palpable. She had first noticed the swollen lymph node after a cold and thought nothing of it at the time. But five months later, it was still there. She knew it was nothing, …
For the past month I’ve been trying to formulate a blog that could capture my thoughts about mental illness and the prevention of violence. At this point my ideas are still not crystallized, but perhaps writing this will help. A few days before Christmas I received a phone call from a former patient’s mother. She called while I was at the mall with my family doing some last minute shopping—I …
As a pediatrician at a busy county clinic with close proximity to pediatric specialists, I care for a significant number of children with special health care needs. Instead of colds and ear infections (though there are those too), my days are often filled thinking about gastrostomy tubes, tracheostomies, and ventriculo-peritoneal shunts. I sign orders for specialty formulas and nebulizer machines. Many of my patients have thick charts and diagnoses like …
A common rebuttal to any discussion about of gun control is motor vehicle accident deaths. We don’t blame the car, we blame the driver. Regardless of the object’s intent (the car is for transportation and the gun is shoot people, targets, game, and skeet), neither a car nor a gun can kill or maim without human touch.
And I agree. Comparing guns and cars is fair, after all they kill about …
Recently both President Obama and the AMA have called for physicians to talk with their patients about gun ownership, especially if they sense mental health issues. This request sounds innocuous enough, but let’s explore the implications and the reality here.
First I need to issue a disclaimer. I am neither a member of the NRA nor do I necessarily feel that more gun laws and bans will reduce the recent tragedies …
Don’t be surprised if patients start asking more questions than usual about awareness under anesthesia. We can all thank a recent article in The Atlantic magazine, with a large-print headline on the cover: “Awake Under the Knife”. Written by a UCSF medical student in preclinical training, the article not only assures everyone that awareness can happen, but takes pains to point out that anesthesiologists can’t always prevent …
It’s showtime. No need to worry. This is just another routine performance. I can do this. All I need to do is get on stage, do my dance, and wait for the curtain to fall. Then move on to the next stage and do it all again.
The curtain opens.
My patient is wheeled into the operating room. With the help of the circulating nurse, we guide her from the hospital gurney …
An article written by two physicians in Time questions whether we should blame doctors for the large number of chronic pain patients and the abuse of prescription pain medications.
There are two frames of reference to this article.
First, no one can argue that prescriptions for pain medications in this country are excessive. The article notes that in 2011, “enough …
Somewhere near where you live, a couple will discover this week that they are infertile and that if they want biological children of their own, they are going to need in vitro fertilization (or IVF). According to treatment protocol, the woman will need to take powerful medicines to ramp up her production of fertilizable eggs. One monthly cycle of this treatment will run …
