From the monthly archives:

June 2005

June 30, 2005

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)

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June 30, 2005

One in four adults between the ages of 50 and 64 said that they had failed to fill a prescription, visit a physician when needed or receive a medical test or follow-up treatment because of cost concerns

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June 30, 2005

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.”

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June 30, 2005

This study says that health-related e-mail spam can prod people to a healthier lifestyle
I still hate spam.

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June 29, 2005

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 [...]

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June 29, 2005

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 pressure monitor, within arm’s [...]

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June 28, 2005

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 [...]

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June 28, 2005

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 [...]

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June 28, 2005

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 [...]

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June 28, 2005

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.

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"I practiced defensive medicine today" 6

June 27, 2005

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 [...]

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June 27, 2005

Get ready for the Dr. Death movie
Any suggestions for a tagline?

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June 27, 2005

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 [...]

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June 27, 2005

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. [...]

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June 26, 2005

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 [...]

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June 26, 2005

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 [...]

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