Doctors are often compelled to make quick decisions in life threatening cases with only limited information. Unfortunately, pregnant women are now going to be put in the same situation. The H1N1 flu has taken an extraordinary toll among pregnant women.…
Doctors are often compelled to make quick decisions in life threatening cases with only limited information. Unfortunately, pregnant women are now going to be put in the same situation.
The H1N1 flu has taken an extraordinary toll among pregnant women. A new vaccine is now available. Because of the nature of the emergency, there has not been time to do any long term studies of the vaccine. Yet pregnant women will …
Originally published in MedPage Today by Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today Washington Correspondent If parents refuse to vaccinate their children, it's ethical and legal to dismiss the child as a patient, a pediatrician told attendees of the American Academy of…
by Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today Washington Correspondent
If parents refuse to vaccinate their children, it’s ethical and legal to dismiss the child as a patient, a pediatrician told attendees of the American Academy of Pediatrics meeting here.
“In the middle of treatment, you can’t just say, I’m done,” Gary Marshall, MD, of the University of Louisville …
by Jeff Brandt Verizon, Motorola, and Google, along with 9 other cell phone manufactures and countless world carriers, have teamed up to provide a smartphone with the power to deliver useful applications for medicine: the Verizon “Droid” smartphone, based on…
by Jeff Brandt
Verizon, Motorola, and Google, along with 9 other cell phone manufactures and countless world carriers, have teamed up to provide a smartphone with the power to deliver useful applications for medicine: the Verizon “Droid” smartphone, based on the Google Android operating system (OS).
The Droid’s processor is the same processor that powers the iPhone. The main reasons this …
Originally published in MedPage Today by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer Just over half -- 54% -- of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) cases in southwest England occurred when the baby was co-sleeping in the same bed as a…
Just over half — 54% — of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) cases in southwest England occurred when the baby was co-sleeping in the same bed as a parent, a case-control study showed.
That compares with 20% of infants among randomly selected families and controls deemed to be at high …
The following op-ed was published on October 5th, 2009 in The New York Times’ Room for Debate blog. Not only are patients asking me whether they should receive the H1N1 influenza vaccine, but it’s a question doctors are asking themselves.…
The following op-ed was published on October 5th, 2009 in The New York Times’ Room for Debate blog.
Not only are patients asking me whether they should receive the H1N1 influenza vaccine, but it’s a question doctors are asking themselves.
Recent polls say doctors and nurses may be more resistant to getting vaccinated than most Americans. The British Medical Journal published a survey showing that less than half of health care …
by Daniel A. Graubert, MD Medicine has changed so dramatically since I graduated medical school in the 1980's, that it is hardly recognizable. Certainly, there has been an enormous growth in knowledge which is often beneficial, but has often led…
by Daniel A. Graubert, MD
Medicine has changed so dramatically since I graduated medical school in the 1980’s, that it is hardly recognizable.
Certainly, there has been an enormous growth in knowledge which is often beneficial, but has often led us down the wrong path. For example, when advanced imaging techniques such as CT scans and MRIs became available, we were able to see the inside of large numbers of patients …
As Bob Dylan sang so long ago, The Times They Are A-Changin’. Some like change; some do not. Consider these change scenarios: * One of the important scenes of change for health care providers is the national debate on health…
As Bob Dylan sang so long ago, The Times They Are A-Changin’. Some like change; some do not.
Consider these change scenarios:
* One of the important scenes of change for health care providers is the national debate on health care coverage currently playing out in Washington D.C. Some are very vocal in their support. The media covers many of the vocal opponents. Certainly some sort of change will come out of …
by Michael Kirsch, MD This is a less controversial issue than patients ‘friending’ their doctors on Facebook, which I oppose. Although most physicians’ offices are not e-mailing with patients, perhaps they should. There are several obvious advantages. * Decompress phone…
by Michael Kirsch, MD
This is a less controversial issue than patients ‘friending’ their doctors on Facebook, which I oppose. Although most physicians’ offices are not e-mailing with patients, perhaps they should. There are several obvious advantages.
* Decompress phone lines, which are suffocating nearly every medical practice in America.
* Relieve patients of the cruel and unusual punishment of languishing on ‘hold’ listening to elevator music or dead air.
One of the many questions asked in the health-care reform debate is ‘how do we keep people out of emergency departments in order to reduce costs?’ Simply put, we probably can’t. And 16 years into my emergency medicine practice, I…
One of the many questions asked in the health-care reform debate is ‘how do we keep people out of emergency departments in order to reduce costs?’ Simply put, we probably can’t. And 16 years into my emergency medicine practice, I think I know why.
Having taken my own children to the emergency department, even I have been surprised at the charges generated. But we should step back and remember that emergency …
Originally published in MedPage Today by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent A vaccine against cocaine was effective in nearly 40% of users of the drug, researchers said. In a randomized, placebo-controlled study, volunteers who reached a high level…
by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent
A vaccine against cocaine was effective in nearly 40% of users of the drug, researchers said.
In a randomized, placebo-controlled study, volunteers who reached a high level of antibodies after vaccination used less cocaine than those whose response was lower, according to Thomas Kosten, MD, of Baylor College …
Originally published in MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer Contrary to information that led the FDA and other regulatory agencies to release warnings about varenicline (Chantix), a new study has found "no clear evidence" of a relationship…
Contrary to information that led the FDA and other regulatory agencies to release warnings about varenicline (Chantix), a new study has found “no clear evidence” of a relationship between the risk of suicide and the smoking-cessation drug.
Both varenicline and bupropion (Zyban), another drug used in smoking cessation programs, were …
The following is part of a series of original guest columns by the American College of Physicians. by Steven Weinberger, MD, FACP In the Fall of 2009, we physicians should perhaps change the Biblical phrase, “Physician, heal thyself” to “Physician,…
In the Fall of 2009, we physicians should perhaps change the Biblical phrase, “Physician, heal thyself” to “Physician, immunize thyself” and then follow the phrase twice – once for seasonal influenza and once for H1N1. To date, physicians and other health care workers have too often been lax …
Originally posted in MedPage Today by Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today Washington Correspondent The Senate Finance Committee finished work on its healthcare reform bill in the wee hours of Friday morning, paving the way for a committee vote next week.…
by Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today Washington Correspondent
The Senate Finance Committee finished work on its healthcare reform bill in the wee hours of Friday morning, paving the way for a committee vote next week.
After considering hundreds of amendments, the committee is now waiting for a cost-estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) before it …
I have been in senior executive management in both managed care and a major hospital system. I find the hysteria over "reform" bitterly amusing because it is so misdirected. The real problem with health care in America? Greed, indifference and…
I have been in senior executive management in both managed care and a major hospital system. I find the hysteria over “reform” bitterly amusing because it is so misdirected.
The real problem with health care in America? Greed, indifference and incompetence, pure and simple. But not in the places everyone is pointing.
Insurer side
Insurance companies have to maximize their revenue because they answer to their boards. They are in …
I write as a lay person concerned about the gap between what many people should receive and what they actually receive. The question of good medical care for ordinary people is being buried not only by insurance issues but by…
I write as a lay person concerned about the gap between what many people should receive and what they actually receive. The question of good medical care for ordinary people is being buried not only by insurance issues but by failure to come to terms with what primary care should be about.
Even Atul Gawande, who is particularly good at making distinctions between good and necessary care versus …
Originally published in MedPage Today by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer Men might not be getting the information they need to make an educated decision about prostate cancer screening, two new studies suggest. Among 375 men surveyed by telephone,…
Men might not be getting the information they need to make an educated decision about prostate cancer screening, two new studies suggest.
Among 375 men surveyed by telephone, only 69.9% had discussed a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test with their physician before making a decision about screening, according to the …
The doctor-patient relationship must remain the central focus of good health care. Diminish or hinder that relationship, and no technological advance, funding system, or government intervention in the world will be able to compensate. Many complaints about present health care…
The doctor-patient relationship must remain the central focus of good health care. Diminish or hinder that relationship, and no technological advance, funding system, or government intervention in the world will be able to compensate. Many complaints about present health care systems can be seen as evidence of relationship dysfunction, not in the least due to the interference of third parties, administrators, payers and insurers, who wield the financial clout. Transparency …
Recently, a former staff medical writer at a MECC (Medical Education Communication Company) anonymously alerted me to a particularly sleazy advertising tactic used by a medical writing company. This person had worked as a pharma-supported medical writer for several years,…
Recently, a former staff medical writer at a MECC (Medical Education Communication Company) anonymously alerted me to a particularly sleazy advertising tactic used by a medical writing company. This person had worked as a pharma-supported medical writer for several years, but recently quit because, “I really couldn’t stomach the ethical problems associated with writing for the pharma industry.” Recently, looking for medical writing jobs, this writer came across a company …
Two things are missing from the bustling conversations on health care reform jamming the Internet highway. First, where among the finger-pointing anecdotes and critical analyses of our “broken” American medical system are the stories and discussions of all that is…
Two things are missing from the bustling conversations on health care reform jamming the Internet highway. First, where among the finger-pointing anecdotes and critical analyses of our “broken” American medical system are the stories and discussions of all that is right? Second, where is our sense of hope?
I’ve experienced American health care from an unusual, yet useful, vantage: that of a physician with chronically recurring cancer. From both sides of …
Originally published in MedPage Today by Chris Emery, MedPage Today Contributing Writer Prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests may lead to unnecessary treatment of healthy men for prostate cancer, and there is little evidence supporting the common but controversial test for…
Prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests may lead to unnecessary treatment of healthy men for prostate cancer, and there is little evidence supporting the common but controversial test for routine cancer screening, two new studies found.
Measurements of blood concentrations of PSA failed to predict cancer with the accuracy generally …
The Droid’s processor is the same processor that powers the iPhone. The main reasons this …
