Ask your pharmacy to price match prescription drugs

Meds
June 12, 2010

As we have established repeatedly on LesliesList.org, prescription prices can vary a lot from one pharmacy to another.

But did you know that some pharmacies will actually match a competitor’s price? This could save you a ton of cash, but you have to know how, and whom, to ask for this service. Pharmacy retail chains all have different policies. I spoke to a pharmacist recently at each of the seven top …

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Ask your pharmacy to price match prescription drugs

Wii Sports and Wii Fit Plus exercise equivalents

Conditions
June 11, 2010

Regular exercise has been shown to be helpful in the prevention and management of a variety of clinical neuroscience conditions including: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, major depression and anxiety disorders. However, motivating people to get involved in a regular exercise program is a significant challenge. Wii Sports and Wii Fit Plus may provide the motivation edge for some patients to start and maintain an exercise program.

The Wii video game system …

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Wii Sports and Wii Fit Plus exercise equivalents

Treating a child with fever and leukemia

Conditions
June 10, 2010

I walked into Room 35 to find a three year-old lying on the hospital cot. Her father sat alongside her bed, whispering softly to her. The patient appeared quite tired, wiped-out even, and if it weren’t for her complacent eyes tracking my every move, I would have thought she might be sleeping.

She was visiting our ER because, after a few days of cough and congestion, she had developed a fever. …

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Treating a child with fever and leukemia

Demerol used to treat shivering in patients

Conditions
June 9, 2010

If you have spent anytime with a palliative care team in a hospital you will know of their efforts to essentially blacklist Demerol (meperidine) from use in the hospital.

Some hospitals have removed it or restricted it from the formulary all together. In medical culture, Demerol has been a go to opioid peri-OR and mostly favored by surgeons. The drug has been purported to be less likely to cause billiary spasm, …

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Demerol used to treat shivering in patients

Causes of stroke in young adults

Conditions
June 9, 2010

by Todd Neale

The recent stroke suffered by Delaware’s attorney general Beau Biden, who is 41, has highlighted the fact that people of all ages are vulnerable, despite seemingly good health.

A statement from Timothy Gardner, MD, medical director of the Center for Heart and Vascular Surgery at Christiana Care Health System in Newark, Del., where Biden was initially treated, said he had suffered a “mild stroke,” although it remains unknown whether …

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Causes of stroke in young adults

Clinical judgment and when neurologists should order an MRI

Conditions
June 8, 2010

With healthcare reform dominating the news recently, MRI and other imaging tests have become the (misguided) targets of many critics.

Although MRI makes up only one-half of one percent of total healthcare expenditures, it is easy to demonize since the average healthcare consumer can understand imaging much easier than the diagnosis related groups (DRGs), hospital facility fees or insurance contracts that have a much greater impact on the cost of health …

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Clinical judgment and when neurologists should order an MRI

MRI abuse can be dangerous and expensive for patients

Conditions
June 7, 2010

What is “MRI Abuse”? This is when the health care provider orders MRIs (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) in excess or for the wrong reasons. There are many causes of MRI abusive behavior but most evolve out of a significant misunderstanding of how to properly utilize this diagnostic tool. MRI imaging has a high sensitivity to detect anatomic abnormalities, does not expose the patient to high doses of radiation like a CAT …

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MRI abuse can be dangerous and expensive for patients

Patients who attempt suicide and withdrawal of medical care

Conditions
June 2, 2010

If a person tries to commit suicide, could that be considered as a statement that this person wishes to die and does not want aggressive treatment to save his or her life?

Not from a legal standpoint, and not if you are living in the United States.

A middle-aged man with a long standing history of depression decides to end his life. He puts a large caliber gun straight to his forehead …

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Patients who attempt suicide and withdrawal of medical care

How the oil shortage will affect hospitals and healthcare

Physician
May 31, 2010

I believe in the peak oil theory.

Think about it, in a closed system nothing is infinite. Since oil is a product of millions of years of decay, unless we use it at the same rate that is it produced, we will run out. I do not have a crystal ball any more than anyone else I know, so I will not hang my hat on when, but will commit to …

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How the oil shortage will affect hospitals and healthcare

Your asthma or COPD inhaler is not available, and what to do

Meds
May 28, 2010

As reported in MedPage Today, the FDA announced the end for CFC-propelled inhalers. Of the seven inhalers with deadlines for removal, only three are still being made:

Flunisolide (Aerobid Inhaler System) on June 30, 2011
Albuterol and ipratropium combination (Combivent Inhalation Aerosol) on Dec. 31, 2013
Pirbuterol (Maxair Autohaler) on Dec. 31, 2013

The reason for this is because CFC’s are harmful for the environment, and the newer inhalers have to be replaced with …

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Your asthma or COPD inhaler is not available, and what to do

How doctors choose which specialists they refer to

Physician
May 28, 2010

There is an aspect of professional sports that I greatly admire. This transcends the athleticism and skill of the athletes, the work ethic, coaching expertise, teamwork and the thrill of the game. This is one of the only institutions that is a pure meritocracy. The philosophy is simple and not blurred by arguments for diversity or massaging the qualifications for admission to serve another agenda. Coaches, managers and owners want …

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How doctors choose which specialists they refer to

A medical student chooses dermatology because of family

Education
May 25, 2010

by an anonymous medical student

As of today, I am one month from adding those long sought-after and hard-earned initials to my name, M.D.. I matched at my number one choice in a very competitive “lifestyle specialty,” have a fabulous husband who has helped me through the emotional turmoil that is medical school, and two young boys who make me laugh and smile every day. I sit here, where …

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A medical student chooses dermatology because of family

Allergy drug recommendations for patients on a budget

Conditions
May 21, 2010

Ahhh spring.

The lovely blooms unfurling. The trees budding.

It’s enough to make a girl get tears in her eyes.

And sneezes in her nose.

And itching on her face.

Yes, it’s allergy season again — but what can you do to make yourself more comfortable without emptying your wallet?

1. Avoidance. Close the windows. Make someone else cut the grass. Stay inside. (Yes, I hate this one too- let’s move on.)

2. Neti pot or other nasal saline rinsing. LOVE …

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Allergy drug recommendations for patients on a budget

House, M.D. physician technical advisor interview

Social media
May 21, 2010

by Ryan DuBosar

“House, M.D.,” is the least realistic medical drama on television. That doesn’t bother Lisa Sanders, ACP Member, one of the show’s technical advisors.

The lead character, Gregory House, MD, verbally abuses patients, goes overboard ordering tests and above all, he’s “a jerk,” Dr. Sanders said. But after all, it’s television, and the former CBS news producer turned med student turned Yale professor understands the difference between reality and good …

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House, M.D. physician technical advisor interview

Physician assistant not associate: Reasons against a name change

Policy
May 17, 2010

In reference to the seemingly “simple” name change being proposed for Physician Assistants to Physician Associates, I take great exception to the commentary offered by Dr. Zilberberg in her recent article entitled, Physician assistant name change rubs doctors the wrong way.

She states: “Physicians have been only too successful at becoming the final word in health, at the exclusion of all others.”

Physicians are the highest and most extensively trained group …

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Physician assistant not associate: Reasons against a name change

Patient wants an apology, not money, after medical malpractice

Physician
May 16, 2010

by Tricia Pil, MD

This is the true story of a hospitalization as told from three points of view: first, the recollections of the patient (who happens to be a physician); second, events as recorded in the medical charts by doctors and nurses; and third, the version put forth by the hospital.

FRIDAY

Patient:
It is fall 2005, and I am nine months pregnant. A healthy 33-year-old pediatrician, I am a longtime patient of …

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Patient wants an apology, not money, after medical malpractice

Bartering and whether doctors should be paid with chickens

Potpourri
May 13, 2010

Generally, I find my practice works best when I get paid in dollars. They’re convenient. They can be transmitted electronically between bank accounts. Mary and Annie like them. I can spend them by swiping a credit card.

But, in a remarkable effort to win the “Let’s See How Stupid I Can Sound” award, a Nevada candidate for U.S. Senate has proposed ditching the idea of paying doctors in money, and going …

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Bartering and whether doctors should be paid with chickens

Declining autopsy rate, and how that impacts doctors

Conditions
May 12, 2010

The role of autopsy in the medical profession is difficult to overestimate. Western medicine takes its roots from comparative studies between patient’s symptoms and the findings on autopsy.

Participation in an autopsy was one of the most valuable lessons from medical school and residency. If you participated in the patient’s care, there is no greater educational tool than witnessing the postmortem exam. It is especially true if the cause of death …

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Declining autopsy rate, and how that impacts doctors

False patient contact information worsens emergency care

Physician
May 10, 2010

One of the biggest emergency room problems is contacting patients after they leave.

Patients sometimes leave false contact information — which makes it difficult for the emergency room staff should problems arise after the visit.

The issue was illustrated in a piece from msnbc.com. Many times, results like blood cultures or x-ray findings take time to return. And if there’s something that needs to be acted upon, contacting the …

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False patient contact information worsens emergency care

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