Here are some of the more interesting comments readers have left recently.
1. Rogue Medic on how Oprah should be handling medical issues:
If she is going to give medical advice, and she is giving medical advice, and she is going to focus on giving advice contrary to the guidelines of reputable medical organizations, maybe some of her viewers need to start suing her for the bad medical advice.
I am guessing …
5 top medical comments, July 5th, 2009
The FDA has declared war on acetaminophen, with Vicodin and Percocet being collateral damage. You can bet Dr. Gregory House is sweatin’ pretty hard over this news.
In the last few days, acetaminophen, otherwise known as the brand name Tylenol, has been squarely in the FDA advisory panel’s crosshairs. In general, it’s a very safe medication, but there is …
Vicodin and Percocet banned and taken off the market, or is a black box warning more likely?
Michael Jackson’s death continues to consume the news cycle.
There is currently no clear explanation. Some have speculated that it may be related to the narcotic pain drug, Demerol. According to this report from the UK’s The Sun, “An Emergency Room source at UCLA hospital said Jackson aides told medics he had collapsed after an injection of potent Demerol …
Did Demerol cause Michael Jackson’s cardiac arrest and death?
A recent study in Lancet becomes the first study to pull back the curtain on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its impact on global health.
Since the money the Gates Foundation spends on global health (61% of its total $2.01 billion budget) is almost as large as the entire budget of the WHO, and because it is not a passive donor (it actively engages in policy making and agenda …
A few days ago, we talked about how Scrubs was a relatively accurate portrayal of medical life.
Let’s talk about the other end of the spectrum, namely, Fox’s House M.D.
As an emergency physician notes, the doctors in the House-universe seem super-human. Indeed, “the docs on that show are not only walking encyclopedias of rare diseases, but they are …
Is House M.D. bad for medicine?
Here are some of the more interesting comments readers have left recently.
1. Carla Kakutani on the lack of primary care access in Massachusetts:
So we have a chicken and egg problem. Do we wait health care reform until we have revived US primary care, or is that even possible without health care reform to create the disruption needed to change our entrenched fee-for-service, procedure-happy payment …
6 top medical comments, May 3rd, 2009
Where is the line between true and false advertising? And should we be more careful when the claims an ad makes has potential health consequences for children and communities?
Let’s ask newspapers that question about big adverts they’ve printed from Generation Rescue, an autism advocacy group, the one headed up by Jenny McCarthy, who regularly appears on National TV claiming vaccines cause autism.
The ads, which you can see on the Generation …
Anti-vaccine ads, and how false advertising harms children
The following is a reader take, in response to a post on whether patients should own their medical records, by an anonymous nurse.
Dear Dr. Pho,
I wish to respond to your position on patient access to their medical records both as a patient and a nurse.
If a doctor or other health professional believes their documentation would be inappropriate or too sensitive for …
Reader take: Patients should be allowed to access their entire medical record
The following is a reader take from the staff at HealthHarbor.
We had a chance to attend the HIMSS conference two weeks ago. HIMSS is healthcare’s premier annual tech expo, and was in Chicago this year. The undeniable theme of this year’s conference was the anticipated expansion of Health Information Technology (HIT) via the Economic Recovery Act. …
HealthHarbor: Health IT stimulus leads to more questions than answers
Here are some of the more interesting comments readers have left recently.
1. Dr. Gwenn on limited health literacy:
For us to do a better job with patients and teach them to be better advocates for themselves, we need more time – plain and simple. At the same time, patients need more community supports to understand the complex health world and build the skills they need …
5 top medical comments, April 12th 2009
The following op-ed was published on March 26th, 2009 in the USA Today.
As a primary care doctor, I am frequently faced with decisions where the choice is not always clear. Do the latest, more expensive drugs work better than the less costly, older medications? Will ordering an MRI help me treat a patient’s lower back pain? Often, the answer to these questions is, “I’m not sure.”
Because …
Op-ed: Unbiased research for doctors is good medicine
If both patients and doctors don’t accept the changes required of their behavior, no amount of comparative effectiveness studies will cut health care spending.
Two prominent medical journalists write as much in their respective blogs.
First, the NY Times’ Tara Parker-Pope notes that patients have to realize that, yes, they should demand the best care possible. However, that means, “we will have to accept that ‘best’ …
Will patients or doctors be the biggest obstacle impeding health care reform?
The following op-ed was published on February 26, 2009 in the USA Today.
Have you ever noticed the pens, coffee mugs and prescription pads at your doctor’s office? Chances are, they were prominently adorned with the brand name of the prescription drug its company is touting.
The pharmaceutical industry has been giving these types of small gifts to doctors for years, in hopes of raising physician awareness of …
Op-ed: Pads, pens, prescriptions
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There’s no shortage of informed opinions on the Tom Daschle debacle, and how this will affect the chances of successful health care reform.
I don’t pretend to be a political pundit, so instead, here is a collection of selected insights from news sites and health policy blogs that I regularly read.
First off, the NY Times says it will likely halt the momentum for health reform, and …
Tom Daschle withdraws, and how that will impact health care reform
Mariana Bridi da Costa, a 20-year old Brazilian model, tragically died early Saturday morning from Pseudomonas aeruginosa urosepsis.
How can this happen?
Miss Bridi da Costa initially presented on December 30th, and was diagnosed with kidney stones. An ultrasound, plain film, or CT scan likely would have been done to confirm the diagnosis. I assume that a urinalysis was also performed, and if …
Tragic event, but as usual, news reports raises more questions than answers:
The drugs used in labor epidurals are usually a dilute local anesthetic and a small amount of narcotic. Using both types of drugs in combination allows lower concentrations of each individual drug to be used, hence improving the margin of safety for each. In labor epidurals, our goal is relieve pain without causing significant weakness. That is why …
Epidural overdose: An anesthesiologist responds
Dr. Crippen thinks Big Pharma is to blame:
Dr Crippen’Â’s old fashioned” treatment for blood pressure costs a few pence a month, and the drugs he uses (such as beta-blockers and diuretics) have been around for years. They have a proven safety record. They are not going to produce any surprises. The only problem is that they do not offer any profit to the big drug companies.
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