Shame not on us: Diagnoses and treatments need to be transparent

Conditions
September 21, 2022

In Australia recently, a woman successfully sued a hospital for $2.4 million for a series of misdiagnoses that left her quadriplegic. A London woman was recently misdiagnosed four times before doctors discovered she had cervical cancer.

A Canadian woman recently filed a $3.5 million lawsuit claiming she was misdiagnosed and ignored when relaying her symptoms to doctors; she could have died. A 26-year-old woman nearly died after a …

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Making death conversations fun!

Conditions
September 21, 2022

“Arriving at an acceptance of one’s mortality is a process, not an epiphany.”
– Atul Gawande

Imagine a group of old (mature) friends gathered for a “girls” weekend in balmy Florida. The friendships started in grammar school and have continued for the better part of 50 years. These women have met at least once a year for more than 25 years and shared life’s ups and downs. On this trip, one of …

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The nicest patient I’ve ever met

Physician
September 21, 2022

The nicest patient I’ve ever met was Mr. Harris.

I first met him in the ED with his son and daughter by his side, noticing a foley bag filled with bright red blood.

He was an elderly gentleman with ALS and was brought by his children for hematuria and blood clots overnight. Never happened before, and we were all unsure of the cause. Urinalysis soon showed likely UTI, so we started antibiotics. …

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Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and long COVID [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 20, 2022
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“ME/CFS is a complex multi-system illness that destroys lives (essentially killing the person yet leaving them alive).  It leaves patients with unimaginable fatigue, post-exertional malaise (meaning that minor exertion makes them feel worse), cognitive deficits, cardiovascular dysfunction, …

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Is your smartwatch smart about your health?

Tech
September 20, 2022

Your smartwatch talks a lot but may not say as much as you believe with regard to health. Constant data collection from wearables claims to improve medicine at large. Is the “quantified self” the next evolution or a gimmick for patients?

Imagine your sleep and heart data beamed straight to your medical record. Your care team might notice a red flag and schedule a virtual appointment immediately. Health care wearables, meaning …

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Don’t let vindictiveness creep into medicine like it has in politics

Policy
September 20, 2022

The callous and inhumane dislocation of migrants recently perpetrated by governors of the states of Florida and Texas reminded me of an equally disdainful and appalling tactic utilized by health care workers since the 1960s: “Greyhound therapy.”

Greyhound therapy refers to attempts by health care workers and administrators to remove undesirable patients from emergency rooms, hospitals, and other types of facilities by providing them one-way tickets on a Greyhound Lines …

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Giving up the knife: Saying goodbye to surgery

Physician
September 20, 2022

This year, I stopped doing surgery — giving up the knife, so to speak. It wasn’t an easy decision to make. I’ve been a surgeon for 32 years since graduating from medical school. It’s been a distinct part of who I am for most of my life.

This doesn’t mean I’ve retired. I’m still practicing in a clinic-based setting and still do procedures in the office. I just no longer operate …

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What is ambient clinical intelligence – and how is it transforming health care?

Sponsored
September 19, 2022

This article is sponsored by the Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience. AI-driven ambient clinical intelligence (ACI) promises to help by revolutionizing patient and provider experiences with clinical documentation that writes itself.

For decades, researchers have been working toward a vision of ambient intelligence, finding ways to harness cloud, advanced AI, and the Internet of Things to create more intelligent spaces that help …

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4 steps to de-escalate hostile people [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 19, 2022
YouTube video

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“The boundaries of unacceptable behavior have eroded in the past few years. Politicians, law enforcement, movie stars, health care providers, the health care system, and society, in general, are all acting badly occasionally. I’m amazed but no …

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Football pervades our society so we must be prepared to deal with it

Conditions
September 19, 2022

It’s not that I hate football; truly I don’t. I try hard to get into it. I scan the sports page to become familiar with names, rivalries, predictions, and opinions. I tune in to Sports Extra on Sunday nights for the weekend analysis and wrap-up. I watch the introduction to televised games for the opening excitement and colorful background of the teams. I’ve enjoyed a few episodes of Hard Knocks.

Why …

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The most important tool a medical student can have is the ability to reflect on experiences

Education
September 19, 2022

Throughout my life, I have been trained by Jesuit institutions. I have loved all of what they have prescribed – to “find God in all things,” to “care for the entire person,” to “be a woman with and for others.” But the most important pillar that I have gained from these educational institutions is to have a reflective mind – the ability to ask why and dig deeper into a …

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Should all health professionals be teetotalers?

Physician
September 19, 2022

I recently published “Avoid ‘Shots in the Dark’ to Maintain Pristine Professional Boundaries” in Psychiatric Times to demonstrate how drinking alcohol in public may lead well-meaning licensed health professionals onto the slippery slope of boundary violations and costly career jeopardy. Across the United States, millions of doctors, nurses, and other licensed health professionals are permitted to perform the sacred work of healing others because we have been authorized to …

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Lessons from Radonda Vaught: Nurses need to raise their voices [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 18, 2022
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“One thing is hard to ignore – nurses need better treatment. Nurses need a seat at the table and advocacy. Nurses need to raise their voices, listen to each other, and unify to achieve the progress that …

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Top 4 burning questions doctors ask health care attorneys

Finance
September 18, 2022

Being a transactional lawyer for physicians is never dull because the more the regulations, guidance, and laws change, the more questions everyone has. But it’s more than just getting an answer to a question and being in compliance. Doctors are feeling overly worn down and out of control, and the risks that face their practice are real. It contributes to burnout and apathy, as it’s hard enough to keep track …

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How this primary care doctor found his dream practice

Physician
September 18, 2022

Eleven years ago, I escaped the drudgery of the corporate medicine hamster wheel to set up a solo family practice where I could be my own boss and practice medicine my way.

After 38 wonderful years as a family doctor, I am ready to retire. I hope to gift my practice to a doctor eager to be independent, well compensated, and enjoy a balance between work and life.

Who might be the …

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The consequences of unmasking and ending quarantines

Conditions
September 18, 2022

The CDC has updated its COVID masking and quarantine guidelines as children return to school and more adults return to work at the end of summer.

Unfortunately, the new, less restrictive guidelines are premature.

As most people know, the current COVID variant is extremely contagious.  Many argue that since a majority of the public has already been exposed to COVID either by vaccination or infection, we can relax into less vigilance.

However, it …

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A neurosurgeon puts down the knife [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 17, 2022
YouTube video

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“MRI studies of these patients determined that it was not only the circuitry that was affected by the burnout but also the size of the brain structures. Compared with the controls, patients suffering from burnout showed volume …

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Patients come to you for treatment, not your politics

Physician
September 17, 2022

As he was being wheeled in for surgery, President Reagan joked, “I hope you are Republicans.” The surgeon, a liberal Democrat, replied, “Today, Mr. President, we are all Republicans.”

All very appropriate and from another era. As a usually intelligent and intellectual segment of society, it is not surprising that physicians should have opinions, including politics. As citizens, they are entitled to them too.

In fact, one would hope that physicians participate …

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As doctors, caring is our poetry

Physician
September 17, 2022

Poiesis is a Greek term that evolved into the word poetry in English. According to Wikipedia, in philosophy, poiesis is “the activity in which a person brings something into being which did not exist before. Etymologically derived from the ancient Greek term which means to make.” The word is used as a suffix, as in the biological term hematopoiesis, the formation of blood cells.

In the book All Things Shining, Hubert …

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