From the monthly archives:

September 2005

September 30, 2005

Why do IBS patients have so many additional procedures that rarely help them?
“According to Spiegel, IBS patients often suffer from somatization. Since patients with somatization are sometimes perceived as ‘complainers’ by their doctors, the researchers hypothesized that physicians might respond to these complaints by ordering excessive tests instead of treating the somatization itself.
Researchers found that [...]

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September 30, 2005

Pfizer is sued because its studies of Lipitor did not include the women or elderly
I’ll have to check this up myself: “However, there is a lack of proof that Lipitor’s effect on cholesterol protects against heart attacks and strokes in women and the elderly with no prior history of the diseases, according to the suit. [...]

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September 30, 2005

The Democrats’ solution to malpractice
“Now Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., have introduced the ‘Medical Error Disclosure and Compensation Act,’ which would provide funding to doctors, hospitals, and health systems that put in place mechanisms to promptly disclose medical mistakes or other mishaps to patients, offer compensation if the health provider is [...]

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September 30, 2005

There are not enough specialty residency slots in Canada
“Keen to become an emergency-room doctor, Nick Rose knew that with only 27 residency spots available across Canada, he faced fierce competition. To boost his chances, he travelled the country doing unpaid work in five hospitals, hoping to impress.
To keep costs down, the Ottawa medical student slept [...]

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September 30, 2005

US News and World Report: Congratulations to Harvard Pilgrim Health Care on being the top health plan in the nation

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September 29, 2005

Vioxx update: This cardiologist’s testimony can be damaging to Merck
“Dr. David Sim, an Idaho cardiologist who has treated plaintiff Frederick ‘Mike’ Humeston since his heart attack, said he was able to eliminate many of the most common high risk factors for causing a heart attack.
‘He had a paucity of risk factors for having an event,’ [...]

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September 29, 2005

“It was never about getting the highest amount . . . It’s about seeking justice.”“She hopes the hospital’s doctors and nurses will learn a valuable lesson through the boy’s death and “take their job more seriously.”
To ensure that, a plaque in memory of her dead son, Torajee, must be placed inside the hospital’s emergency room [...]

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September 29, 2005

The one-year anniversary edition of Grand Rounds is up
Congratulations on a great year of Grand Rounds. Here’s to many more editions of the best in medical blogging.

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September 29, 2005

“Nurses at a leading hospital deliberately exposed the patients of an Egyptian consultant to MRSA in a racist attempt to harm his career”

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September 29, 2005

Another pain management specialist is sued for “turning a patient into a drug addict by recklessly prescribing her painkillers”

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September 29, 2005

Dr. Bennett fights back: “They picked the wrong guy because I am not going away; I will not shut up.”“Bennett has been accused of telling a female patient that she was fat and if her overweight husband died, no one would want her except maybe a black man. Bennett denies saying anything about a black [...]

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September 29, 2005

The UK is also taking steps to reduce residents’ work hours

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September 29, 2005

Can group doctor visits be an answer for decreasing wait times?
“Backlogs in medical care are a frustrating fact of life for both the doctor and patient; however, some clinics are helping patients save time by seeing those with similar medical issues in groups.”

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September 29, 2005

A pioneering heart surgeon turned to DaVinci drawings for inspiration

“Mr Wells has used this understanding to modify current repair operations, and has successfully treated 80 patients.
The drawings allowed him to work out how to restore normal opening and closing function of the mitral valve, one of the four valves in the heart.” (image via BBC [...]

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September 28, 2005

The dangerous precedent of DNA tests in sports

The Chicago Bulls’ center, Eddy Curry, has had inconclusive tests for his arrhythmia. The Bulls want him to take a DNA test to determine if he is genetically predisposed for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This obviously has some far-ranging effects: “More important for pro sports — and perhaps [...]

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September 28, 2005

Unfortunate: A 30-year old man, already paralyzed from the waist down, suffered further damage after falling off the gurney during a chest X-ray
“Nathan Ogden, 30, whose lower body had been paralyzed by a 2001 skiing accident, sued the hospital after his neck was broken in a gurney accident in 2003, causing him to lose most [...]

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