Jackpot: Lawyers receive more than the victim in a malpractice win
"Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson approved a settlement payout that gives her lawyers more money than her family.
Under its terms, the family would receive about $4.6 million. The lawyers, from Leesfield Leighton & Rubio of Miami, would receive more than $5 million." (via Common Good)
June 2005
All Stories
Indian doctors continue to take verbal abuse in Australia
"When Indian-trained GP Viney Joshi arrived in Townsville the first question he faced was: 'Are you Doctor Death?'
After a busy day Dr Joshi headed for the taxi rank and was shocked when his cabbie decided he must be Dr. Death."
This study says that health-related e-mail spam can prod people to a healthier lifestyle
I still hate spam.
Reassurance: Men worried about having a small penis are usually pretty average, but have a false idea of what the normal size is
"This best way to reassure men with penile concerns is to educate them, the author of the report says. Men should know that a normal-sized penis is 1.6 inches or more when flaccid or 2.76 inches when stretched out."
Multi-tasking: A toilet can measure blood pressure, analyze urine, and dispense medical advice
"Users begin their toilet-room medical at the built-in urine analyzer, which collects five cubic centimeters (0.15 fluid ounces) of urine before analyzing sugar levels. The device cleans itself automatically after the one-minute long test.
Users then move to the blood ...
The high suicide rate of female physicians
Female doctors kill themselves at a rate 130 percent higher than other adult women, while the rate among male physicians is 40 percent higher than men in general
"The fraternity of medicine, mental health specialists said, is populated by hard-charging professionals taught to pursue perfection and abhor weakness. It's a high-stress profession. And it is a field uniquely positioned to have access to the tools of suicide -- and the ...
Money talks: Doctors outspent lawyers by 40 percent in their political contributions during the last election
"Rios opened his checkbook to Republicans promising to limit lawsuits. So did many colleagues: In the 2004 elections, doctors almost doubled their political contributions compared with four years earlier. And, in another milestone, they outspent trial lawyers, who are opposed to curbs on litigation, by 40 percent, a reversal of the 2000 campaign."
The annual physical is useless - but we still do them
"Even though a panel of experts has thrown cold water on the automatic need to get an annual checkup, physicians and their patients haven't always gotten the message, a new survey says.
The survey, published Monday, found that while there's no evidence annual physicals for healthy people are useful, 65 percent of primary care doctors think they are ...
Vitamin C does nothing for colds
The vitamins are taking a beating the last few years. It has also been recently reported that vitamin E does nothing to prevent heart disease.
An ectopic pregnancy case shows how defensive medicine hurts patients
The next part of this continuing series. A look at how defensive medicine hurts patients as well:
I am not a doctor, but a patient. But I thought I'd write to you about how my recent ectopic pregnancy has driven up the cost of treatment for every single patient at my IVF clinic, most of whom self-pay due to limited insurance coverage for infertility.
Last fall, I had ...
Get ready for the Dr. Death movie
Any suggestions for a tagline?
The American Medical Association is launching a $60 million public relations campaign that includes heartstring-tugging ads that portray doctors as "everyday heroes"
"The AMA is losing out on market share. An internal AMA report reported the AMA lost members in 2004 for the fifth straight year, and only can count one in four doctors and medical students nationwide as members. At one time, the AMA represented nearly 70% of the ...
More education is needed: Many still believe cancer myths
"The authors found only one in four (25 percent) of participants correctly identified all five misconceptions as false. Four in ten (41 percent) of the respondents believed that surgical treatment actually spread cancer in the body and 13 percent said they were unsure whether this was true. Twenty-seven percent believed that there is a cure for cancer available being withheld by ...
Some say a federal ban to cover Viagra can put lives at risk
"Erectile dysfunction drugs are not 'lifestyle' drugs to prostate cancer patients . . . Men already have a great reluctance when it comes to paying attention to their health - significantly downsizing access to the opportunity to fight side-effects of life-saving treatments gives them another excuse."
Medical residents plan to leave Pennsylvania because of the lack of affordable malpractice coverage
One third of residents in their final or next-to-last year of residency planned to leave Pennsylvania because of the lack of availability of affordable malpractice coverage
"An environment of mounting liability costs in Pennsylvania appears to have dissuaded substantial numbers of residents in high-risk specialties from locating their clinical practices in the state. The impact of decreased resident retention on the future availability of specialist services in high-cost states ...
Looking at the "July myth": Is June 30th more dangerous than July 1st?
"One can argue that June, rather than July, is the worst time to be a patient. I don't mind a young doctor who is scared but eager to learn, but I do very much mind that same doctor 11 months later when his knowledge base has increased oÂnly modestly compared with his fatigue and false confidence.We have ...
"You can trust any generic drug as much as you trust its brand name equivalent."
Agreed. Generic drugs often do not receive as much publicity.
The Center for Nursing Advocacy doesn't like the way House, M.D. portrays nurses
"The show itself is a damaging lie: that a team composed entirely of physicians would rove the hospital providing all significant care to desperately ill patients as the few nurses and other professionals stand silently in the background or simply disappear."
Can EMTs be sued for malpractice?
"The wife of a man whose death came under investigation after a San Francisco Fire Department ambulance crew failed to take him to the hospital said Tuesday that rather than helping her husband, the crew had talked him out of getting treatment.
'He was complaining about his heart,' Sheila Narcisse Potter said of her husband, Elissa Potter Jr., 59. 'They kept saying, ...
Kevin Pho, MD
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How I approach ovarian cancer screening with patients
Ovarian cancer screening clearly touches a nerve. No one doubts that ovarian cancer is a devastating diagnosis, often found when the disease...
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Why more primary care doctors are referring patients to specialists
According to a recent study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, primary care physicians are referring more patients to specialists than ever...
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Should Google censor anti-vaccine claims?
One of the reasons there is such a movement against vaccines is the democratization of information, perpetuated by search engines like Google....
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Radiologists who cheat on their board exams: Who’s to blame?
In a widely circulated CNN article, many radiologists have been found to cheat on their board exams: "Doctors around the country taking an...
Physician
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Why an anesthesiologist would be needed for organ donation
I've only had to declare death a couple of times. Once in a three-year-old and once in an adult. In each case...
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5 ways to avoid a misdiagnosis
Billionaire Teddy Forstmann had been diagnosed with a serious form of brain cancer. There’s a tragic twist to the story: according to...
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Benefits of the Medicare Adult Wellness Visit
One of the things I love about family medicine is that I get to care for people of all ages. I almost...
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Cancer has a way of teaching us poignant life lessons
I just finished reading George’s recent post on Evelyn Lauder, who recently passed away from ovarian cancer, and am still stirred by...
Patient
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In love there is a life giving force
Here is a toast to the miracle of love. Not to the romantic, chocolate, dance club nightlife type of love. Not warm...
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How to get ready for death
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet...
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The long term cost of a pain in the neck
One morning this May, I woke up with a stiff neck. I applied hot and cold therapy all day and took an...
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Preparing for your visit with someone in hospice care
Visiting someone who is dying or critically ill is an experience many of us will have in the course of our lives....
Policy
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AMA: Advocating for Medicare, military and fiscal responsibility
A guest column by the American Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com. This week, I’m joining hundreds of physicians and medical students in Washington, DC...
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A critical look at value driven health care
Everyone in the world is talking about “value-driven health care.” Or so it might seem if you pick up a medical journal...
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Surviving the new landscape of physician reimbursement
CNN recently posted an article titled "Doctors Going Broke." It described several cases of independent physicians who are near bankruptcy although they once...
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Doctors lobby Congress to repeal the SGR
One of the things that I like most about my job is engaging with ACP’s physician leadership—the internal medicine doctors who dedicate...
Tech
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There is a patient attached to that implantable defibrillator
As a follow-up to my post on why patients with implantable defibrillators should have access to their device’s data, I am going...
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The pitfalls of email communication with patients
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reviewed the emerging role of email in healthcare, arguing that doctors should more aggressively...
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Why adoption of EHRs is a transformational event for physicians
Paul Conslato, MD, director of clinical affairs for Lancaster General Medical Group, recently was quoted in the PAMED Better Health Network eZine...
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Why EMR is a dirty word to many doctors
Don’t get me wrong, EMRs (electronic medical records) are inevitable. Over the long-run they are almost certainly good for physicians, patients and...
Social Media
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Using Twitter to deliver health improvement messages
I have decided to spam for public health. Phone calls, text messaging, and even apps have been shown to help improve health...
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Addressing comments on your medical practice’s Facebook page
Does your medical practice allow anybody to post links and comments on your Facebook page? The short answer is yes. We do....
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The Internet is where patients go for pre-visit consultations
As a physician, technology cannot replace you, but it can make you more efficient and effective. This was the message from Richard...
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5 ways doctors can benefit from professional connections
Looking ahead to the next several months, I’ve found myself frequently wondering how many physicians will make this their year to take...
