Reuters:
"Herbal" Viagra and other so-called natural alternatives for treating impotence advertised on the Internet and in men's magazines are often contaminated with real drugs and could kill those who take them, researchers said on Monday.
"These are being marketed as being safe and natural products," said Dr. Neil Fleshner of Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Canada. "It is plausible that deaths have occurred or could occur."
Like ...
May 2004
All Stories
A case for defensive medicine
AMNews:
A family sued their infant's pediatrician, an emergency department physician and an on-call pediatrician at the hospital for not ordering a CT scan. To the doctors, the 11-month-old boy appeared normal and in no need of the test.
But after the infant had more serious injuries resulting from an incident at his babysitter's home a couple of weeks later, the parents faulted the physicians for not ...
Progress in smoking cessation
AMNews:
Smoking cessation success reported
Training nurses and medical assistants who register patients at primary care facilities to use specific, guideline-based methods to encourage smoking cessation increases the likelihood that patients will successfully quit, according to a study published in the April 21 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Researchers tested the effectiveness of guidelines developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in a randomized, ...
FDA rejects emergency contraception against its own advice
Boston Globe:
The Food and Drug Administration yesterday rejected over-the-counter sale of the emergency contraceptive Plan B, saying that the distributor had not proven that young teens can take the drug safely without a doctor's guidance.
The decision was an unusual repudiation of the the lopsided recommendation of the agency's own expert advisory panel, which voted 23-4 late last year in favor of the switch and 27-0 that ...
Deceiving a physician, then suing him
AMNews:
In what's believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind, a Texas patient who presented a fake ID and the patient's father were allowed to go forward with a civil lawsuit against a physician who gave the girl an abortion without contacting her parents.
Cherise Mosley Hughes first came into the clinic where Houston general practice physician Douglas Karpen, DO, works in the summer of 2000. ...
How to prevent blood clots when going on airplanes
I'm flying soon, and thought this would be a relevant article to share.
Prescriber's Letter:
Practical Tips for Avoiding "Economy Class Syndrome"
What Is Economy Class Syndrome?
Economy class syndrome is a condition that can happen after sitting in a cramped space, such as the economy class section of an airplane. This can lead to blood clots in the legs and sometimes the ...
Importing drugs gaining momentum
Boston Globe:
2 chains urge OK for drug imports
CVS, Walgreens add to growing support
The nation's two largest chain drugstores, CVS and Walgreens, launched a challenge to the nation's drug manufacturers yesterday by calling on the Bush administration to develop a legal, safe channel for Americans to buy imported drugs.
CVS Corp.'s Tom Ryan, chairman and chief executive of the Rhode Island company, led the way ...
Physicians still prescribing new blood-pressure medication
AMNews:
Doctors prefer prescribing newer blood pressure drugs
Physicians are more likely to prescribe newer anti-hypertensives than their less expensive predecessors recommended by the Joint National Commission on High Blood Pressure Treatment, according to a study published in the December Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Researchers at the University of Michigan surveyed 1,700 primary care physicians, finding that most believed diuretics were less effective and that beta-blockers ...
Cover the uninsured week
Although the United States spends more on health care than any other industrialized country (the United States spent $4,887 per capita on health care in 2001, compared to $2,792 in Canada, $2,513 in Australia and $1,992 in Britain) - totalling more than 1.4 trillion dollars, there continues to be a sizable portion without health insurance. This is simply unacceptable. Next week is "Cover the unisured week" to ...
Ear infections and antibiotics
The Prescriber's Newsletter cites a study that comments on the use of antibiotics for ear infections. Using the statistical variable, Number Needed to Treat (NNT) and Number Needed to Harm (NNH) helps put data into perspective:
The number needed to treat is 15...you have to give antibiotics to 15 kids for ONE to benefit.
But you must also consider the number needed to harm...only 12. Treating ...
Patient education is needed to reduce drug resistant bacteria
This past Sunday, 60 Minutes did a piece on the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. One of the major contributing factors is the overprescription of antibiotics for non-bacterial infections:
While we can't stop the bacteria from trying to outwit antibiotics, health officials say a dramatic cut in their use could help reverse the tide. That means doctors will have to stop writing, and patients will have to stop ...
Final data for estrogen-only hormone replacement
AMNews:
Final data from WHI's estrogen-only arm published
Estrogen-only hormone therapy for postmenopausal women does not affect coronary heart disease but increases the risk of stroke by 39% while decreasing the risk of hip fracture by 39%, according to a study published in the April 7 Journal of the American Medical Association.
Therapy was also associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, although this was not ...
Zyrtec from Canadian pharmacies
As you may know, Claritin has been OTC in the United States for awhile now. The repercussions of this is that competing brands such as Allegra and Zyrtec have been pushed to the most expensive co-pay tier in many drug plans. This is especially of concern for those who are not on a tiered drug plan. It has been my experience that some allergy sufferers do not ...
Be prepared for your physician visit
Last year, there was a study done by the Royal Society of Medicine that suggested that patients forget up to 80 percent of what a physician tells them during an office visit:
"While you might not recall everything your doctor tells you, you're pretty confident you remember most of the information. Right?
Probably not, new research contends. Most patients forget as much as 80 percent of what their ...
Kevin Pho, MD
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Warren Buffett’s prostate cancer choices aren’t right for every man
A version of this column was published on April 24, 2012 in USA Today. There has been a recent uptick of elderly men...
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Many medical decisions require shared decision making
The following column was published on April 1, 2012 in USA Today. I recently saw a middle-age man in my primary care clinic...
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Patients deserve a medical malpractice early offer
The following column was published on March 25, 2012 in the Nashua Telegraph. Medical malpractice historically has been a contentious issue. Doctors...
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Discussing whether tests actually help patients or cause more harm
The following column was published on April 11, 2012 in CNN. When you visit the doctor, chances are you are given a...
Physician
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Being a good doctor is no more an achievement than being a good Mom
At no other time in my medical training was I as confident that, with hard work and dedication, I could master the...
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The malpractice risk of volunteer medical coverage at sporting events
From Outside Online, an article about how physicians are increasingly hesitant to provide volunteer medical coverage at athletic events: "Last year, 13 Americans...
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What does a perfect pediatrics practice look like?
I had a phenomenal day in clinic yesterday. Imperfect for sure but inspiring, connected, and busy. I felt useful and like anybody...
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Tips to improve your patient satisfaction scores
Recently I was asked, “How can I improve my Press Ganey scores?” Presently this question applies mostly to hospitals as CMS is...
Patient
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Health care journalists have tendencies similar to those of doctors
As a patient who was asked to speak at the Association of Health Care Journalists 2012 conference, I felt a bit covert....
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Adaptation can be painful, but it can also be a gift
Nothing will force you to live life on your own terms faster than almost losing it. In 2008, I was on fire....
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Embracing the longing without the outcome
I’m not sure when I stopped missing my husband. I suppose familiarity crept in after 7 years together and I rarely felt...
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Minimize reactance in your health organization
Can you say “reactance”? Don’t feel bad, I wasn’t familiar with the term either until recently. But as you will see, anyone...
Policy
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Repairing the tear in health care’s safety net with social media
The nation’s “safety net” hospitals are designed to ensure that uninsured, lower income and indigent populations receive adequate medical care – a...
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Look to technology to reduce health costs
Technology to lower costs rather than accelerate them. Smart phones to increase physician and other providers’ productivity. Fewer primary care physicians but...
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How to save a trillion dollars in health care
It is both conventional wisdom and factual truth that, unimpeded, American healthcare cost inflation will bankrupt the United States economically, educationally, socially,...
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How the Affordable Care Act combats preventable hospital infections
As the Supreme Court deliberates the Affordable Care Act, Americans should take a closer look at the commonsense reforms embedded in the...
Tech
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EMR liability needs to go further than just the physician
This example of a disaster waiting to happen, in the form of an error-promoting CPOE, is a poster example of why the...
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AMA: Changes are needed in the stage 2 meaningful use EHR proposal
A guest column by the American Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com. Continuing our efforts to move medicine forward while prioritizing patient care and minimizing...
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EMRs require better user-centered design
Healthcare IT News recently asked, “Do doctors have to be typists to get MU incentives?” That question reminded me that given the...
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Electronic records don’t tell us stories that make cognitive sense
One morning recently, I found another physician standing morosely at one of the mobile computer terminals we refer to as “cows”—computers on...
Social Media
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We need to see the potential harm of social media
Prior to 1794, farms across the world could only pick cotton as fast as humanly possible. In the late 18th century, Eli Whitney...
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Why social media may not be worth it for doctors
Social media in healthcare is all the rage these days. You can’t visit even one physician-oriented website without someone breathlessly advising you...
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Transparency defines social media success for doctors
Want to understand social media? Physicians wanting to learn about social media must learn transparency. We must learn transparency on a personal...
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How Twitter was used in a potential mass casualty scenario
It was my first ER shift in charge of the resuscitation area. Needless to say, my adrenaline and nerves were firing like...
