From the monthly archives:

October 2005

October 31, 2005

KidneyNotes hosts this week’s Grand Rounds. Come get the weekly best of the medical blogosphere.

October 31, 2005

Some conservative groups think the cervical cancer vaccine will promote teenage sex. “What the Bush administration has done has taken this coterie of people and put them into very influential positions in Washington. And it’s having an effect in debates like this.” (via FARK.com)

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October 31, 2005

The more things change, the more they stay the same:
Drug makers have come under fire for “ask your doctor” style advertising and have vowed to change their ways, but research data shows they are spending more on direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertising in 2005 than they did last year.

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October 31, 2005

A doctor wants to drug test all high school students for marijuana. “Perth doctor George O’Neil suggests that high schools should test students for marijuana use as part of an annual health check and if they fail, they would be forced to undergo monthly tests.” (via FARK.com)

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October 31, 2005

Doctors offices in Florida still have no power – emergency rooms are swamped. “Six days after Hurricane Wilma, more than 1 million people are still without power and many doctors offices have been closed for a week. That leaves hospitals – now the only source of medical care in some communities – swamped with routine [...]

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October 31, 2005

Skewed priority: Grocery stores are receiving flu vaccines before doctor’s offices. “The patients are asking why don’t we have it if Stop & Shop is saying they have vaccine available.”
I’m asking that same question too. (via Medpundit)

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October 31, 2005

Immigrant populations are practicing some dangerous health practices. “Teresa MuÃ±oz of San Bernardino died last year following an injection of an antibiotic she’d purchased from an unlicensed practitioner at a Rialto swap meet.
Rialto police said MuÃ±oz bought the antibiotic and a syringe in September 2004, and the merchant showed her how to inject herself at [...]

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October 31, 2005

The FDA is taking a look at celebrity endorsements of drugs. “It’s hard to imagine a setting in which a celebrity endorsement of a drug conveys any meaningful information to patients in terms of either efficacy or side effects.”

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October 31, 2005

News flash: Ordering more tests increases health care spending. “Dr. Brenda Sirovich, assistant professor of medicine at Dartmouth Medical School, published a report last week in which she and her research team concluded that higher health care spending is driven in large part by physicians ordering more tests, referrals and treatments.”

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Quicken Medical Expense Manager

October 29, 2005

I would like to welcome Quicken Medical Expense Manager as the newest partner to this blog.
The NY Times recently wrote about the bewildering array of paperwork that accompanies the patient anytime they use the medical system:
Medical paperwork is a world of co-payments and co-insurers, deductibles, exclusions and contracted fees. Nothing is as it seems: patients [...]

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October 29, 2005

New Jersey keeps feeding the plaintiff lawyers. “And of course whenever this topic comes up here, someone always trots out the red-herring study showing that plaintiff-bar parasitism only increases the cost of health insurance by one or two percent. The real costs are indirect, as providers overprescribe diagnostics and procedures designed more to insulate themselves [...]

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October 29, 2005

A home health company was giving out fake flu shots. “As many as 1,000 Exxon Mobil employees and 14 residents of a senior citizens home were injected with fake flu vaccine, authorities said Friday, and the owner of a home health care company was arrested.
Preliminary tests indicated the syringes were filled with purified water, U.S. [...]

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October 28, 2005

GruntDoc links to the best emergency nurse rap video I’ve seen.

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October 28, 2005

Someone knitted a digestive system.

(via Boing Boing)

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October 28, 2005

Not a misprint: Doctors and lawyers are working together in Tennessee. “Doctors and lawyers _ often natural-born enemies in the courtroom _ are joining forces in Chattanooga in an experimental effort to keep junk science and dubious malpractice cases out of court.
Under the program, judges presiding over malpractice cases will select an independent doctor from [...]

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October 28, 2005

Supporters of Dr. Bennett picket at a pretrial hearing.
“We have to stick up for Dr. Bennett. If he retires, I’ll have to take up witchcraft. He speaks his mind, and if you listen to him, he’ll add a lot of years to your life.” (image via Portsmouth Herald)
Update:Said by one of Dr. Bennett’s black patients: [...]

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