People are dying because of emergency room waits
11 percent of patients leave the ER because the waits were too long (8 to 9 hours in Ontario). A case in point was a 24-year old with meningitis. After waiting 8 hours without being seen, she went home and later died.
These problems are not confined to Canada, but reflective of a larger problem.
March 2005
All Stories
A hospital is urging patients who had recent colonoscopies to get tested for hepatitis and HIV because the instruments may not have been disinfected adequately
One instrument you want to be sure is disinfected properly would be a colonoscope.
A doctor was sued after penis lengthening surgery ruined the patient's libido
"Eric Neuberger, 31, contends his pre-operation libido let him 'engage in intercourse approximately 30 to 50 times a month.'
But his sexual appetite was destroyed by Dr. Rodney Barron's work, Neuberger said."
Not sure that phalloplasty commonly causes a decreased libido. Any urologists care to comment?
Another case of PML hits the MS drug Tysabri
PML is a rare demylinating disease that occurs in 6 per 10 million patients. This is the third case that is associated with Tysabri. Investors are not happy.
An alternative medicine physician is in trouble for prescribing steroids to football players on the Carolina Panthers
"A South Carolina doctor accused of writing steroid prescriptions for three players on the Carolina Panthers says he prescribes the drugs only when medically necessary.
Dr. James Shortt, an alternative practitioner under investigation by federal and state officials, said in Wednesday's editions of The Charlotte Observer that he prescribes steroids only ...
A student is saying many of his colleagues graduating from Pennsylvania medical schools may move to neighboring states because of the rising cost of malpractice insurance
The malpractice situation is affecting new graduates as they become more attuned to the current crisis.
Today is National Doctors Day!
"* The first Doctors Day observance was March 30, 1933, in Winder, Ga. The idea came from Eudora Brown Almond, wife of Dr. Cha Almond, and the date was the anniversary of the first use of general anesthetic in surgery. (On March 30, 1842, Dr. Crawford Long of Barrow County, Ga., used ether to remove a tumor from a patient's neck.)
* The Barrow ...
"I will not treat you and I don't need this shit."
The response of a physician in South Africa who refused to treat a patient with HIV.
No surprise, the neurologist who testified that Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state is under constant fire
"He's called some doctors who disagree with him 'pro-life fanatics,' and others quacks and charlatans.
No legitimate neurologist in the world, he says, would look at the evidence in this case and dispute that Terri Schiavo is in a permanent vegetative state."
People who rely on their primary-care doctor to coordinate their health-care needs fare better than those who don't
"In addition, having a long-term relationship with a doctor resulted in fewer hospitalizations and other reductions in health-care costs, the researchers found."
"Doctors need to understand that we are businessmen"”nothing less, nothing more"”and the sooner we accept this the better."
The New Yorker writes about the intersection between money and medicine. (via kottke.org)
Hospital advertising to consumers is now coming under scrutiny
"Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs had come under intense scrutiny in the wake of the recent Vioxx debacle. Experts across many fields felt that the huge advertising effort behind Vioxx and other cox-2 inhibitors contributed to an over-prescribing of the drugs, and the subsequent heart-related problems experienced by some users.
Ads by medical centers are a more recent phenomenon, another ...
over my med body! hosts this week's Grand Rounds
Get all the scoop from the best of the medical blogs.
A police officer faces charges for delaying an OB speeding on the way to a delivery
"Rather than release Chidiac [the OB] at that point, Lilliston [the officer] drove him to the hospital and marched the doctor to the maternity ward with his motorcycle helmet still on and his hands cuffed behind his back.
A nurse urged the doctor to hurry, because the baby's head was showing."
Missouri signs malpractice litigation reforms
"The law limits an award for noneconomic damages in medical liability cases to $350,000, down from $500,000; regardless of the number of defendants in a case, and there is no inflation adjustment on the cap."
9 out of 10 medical doctors worldwide have penmanship that is quite easy to read
"Among other findings about physicians from the Pilot Pen/Graphology Consulting Group handwriting report are the characteristics of medical specialists:
* Cardiologists -- fast thinkers, open-minded, positive high energy.
* Neurologists -- forward thinkers, quick, interested, intuitive and "elegant."
* Orthopedic surgeons -- Surprisingly, only 15% display handwriting signs that indicate manual dexterity.
* Male ...
In the UK, some physicians solely practice to give second opinions
"But it is aiming to reverse the trend with the introduction of a new GP post, called a referrals GP, which will give patients access to a second family doctor if they are not convinced by their own."
The UK's busiest GP has a patient panel of over 6,000 and works 17-hour days
Did I mention she was also pregnant?
"I think it's imperative that the patient has to be everybody's primary concern, and I'm afraid they're getting lost in the woodwork."
As doctors, lawyers, and insurance companies battle for reform, it's the patient that often loses.
"We need our federal government to create a system that removes profit motives from the practice of medicine."
A doctor yearns for medicine as it was practiced 30 years ago. Best of luck to him - a doctor who doesn't accept business being a part of medicine cannot survive in today's world.
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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How we deliver bad news is critical to how families deal with grief
As a cardiac electrophysiologist, I have had to discuss bad news with patients and families more times than I would like during...
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His father’s suffering had already been too great
He looked dead. The paramedics brought him down the hall toward one of my critical care beds, and for a moment I...
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Diversity provides color to the tapestry of human experience
I was recently appointed the Assistant Director of the Yale Cancer Center with the portfolio of Diversity/Disparities. While I’m not sure I’m...
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Necessary is a word best defined when looking back in time
How do you define a “good” doc? I was reading the patient responses to an article here on KevinMD.com and was saddened...
Patient
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How death can be a beautiful experience
I was honored to be part of a beautiful experience in late January of 2011. It was the death of my mother-in-law...
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What meaningful encouragement can be given to someone who is dying?
Theirs is a lonely journey; to be moving towards the separation and end of all things known and loved. Being with a...
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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....
Policy
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Hospitals around the world aim to remain relevant to patients
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ..." So begins a story called A Tale of Two...
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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,...
Tech
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Doctors, use Google to get more patients in less than 7 minutes
Every month, hundreds of thousands of people look for a doctor on Google. As an amazing practitioner, your site deserves to be...
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The user interface for EHRs should be uniform
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the physician’s office were the tall cabinets filled with manila folders, tabbed with...
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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...
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...
