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October 2005
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LeBron James is hospitalized two nights for a strained pectoral muscle. "They're going to test everything."
Update:
His final diagnosis is pleurisy.
Did doctors debate whether to euthanize patients in New Orleans?
The NY Times on the mysterious world of medical bills. "Suppose you walk into a restaurant, and you don't get a menu, you don't get any choice of what food you'll eat, they don't tell you what it is when they're serving it to you, they don't tell you what it's going to cost.
Then, weeks or months later, you get a bill that tells you all the ...
A missed case of testicular torsion by an exhausted physician. "When the nurse contacted Dr B at 1.50am he was asleep after working 60 hours in the previous three days because of a shortage of doctors. He advised her to give the teenager pain relief and monitor his condition till morning."
A doctor and nurse are sued for a tragic case of amniotic fluid embolism.
Handcuffs in an unnecessary arrest may end this aspiring craniofacial surgeon's career. "Dominick Golio was released on $100 bail about 1 a.m. and issued an appearance ticket requiring him to appear in City Court on Oct. 31. The suspended license charge was dropped after it was determined his driver's license was valid and had never been suspended.
After his release, Golio had his left hand examined at the ...
A doctor is sued for a failed vasectomy leading to a couple having a disabled child. A vasectomy has a 99% success rate. Apparently the physician didn't order a post-procedure sperm count.
Lyme disease sufferers want to legislate ways for more doctors to correctly diagnose the disease. "One woman said her son's confusion and inability to concentrate in school cleared up after he was treated for Lyme disease by New Haven pediatrician Dr. Charles Jones. She said her son's doctor in Massachusetts had refused to prescribe antibiotics for her son, but did not hesitate to offer him a drug for hyperactivity and ...
A vet was deported from Canada from his hospital bed and foley catheter still attached. "An Army veteran who fled to Canada to avoid prosecution for growing marijuana to treat his chronic pain was yanked from a hospital by Canadian authorities, driven to the border with a catheter still attached, and turned over to U.S. officials, his lawyer says."
Are doctors too negative when diagnosing Down syndrome? "Amniocentesis revealed that the fetus had Down syndrome, a genetic condition that causes developmental disabilities. But what disturbed Allard more than the diagnosis was the way the doctor told her the news.
'They called me at work to tell me, and then said, 'You have two weeks to decide if you're going to keep this child. Either way, it's an ...
An interesting new blog about dermatology in the media. Here's what they say about the recently released Phantom of the Opera movie:
Close inspection of actor Gerard Butler's prosthetic makeup reveals a red, swollen area of the right face, affecting the eyelid. This is an attempt to re-create Sturge-Weber syndrome. Named after long gone dermatologists presumably unrelated to Sir Andrew Lloyd, the condition includes port wine stain ...
Tort reform is being challenged in Georgia. "At tomorrow's hearing, lawyers for a neurologist and his former practice group will argue that a lower court was correct when it ruled that a malpractice suit against the doctor should be tried in Bartow County, where the alleged malpractice occurred. The plaintiff had filed suit in Fulton County, which is known for high awards to plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits." (via
Doctors report that about seven of every 1,000 parents resist immunization for their children.
Doctors run a serious liability risk when treating patients over the phone. "Errors in telephone communication can result in outcomes ranging from inconvenience and anxiety to serious compromises in patient safety."
A medical ethicist outlines some dilemmas that physicians face. "There are, however, ways to avoid or reduce the most common ethical problems in medicine. And often it is the patient who can supply the solution."
Just say no. Some want to vote against both malpractice initiatives in Washington state: "We think having the voters turn down both initiatives will send a clear message to both sides that they need to come to the table and find a real solution."
Dear Abby advises on bedside manner. "I am a 55-year-old female who competes in triathlons for fun, fitness and health. I consulted my doctor because I was having foot pain. When I told him I was preparing for a marathon race, his response was, 'At your age, you could hardly call it a race.'"
Does pay-for-performance work? Maybe:
The study compared use of pay-for-performance for multi-specialty physician practices in California with practices in the Pacific Northwest that didn't use pay-for-performance over more than two years.
It found that cervical cancer screenings grew 5.3 percent for the California practices, compared to 1.7 percent among the doctors in the Pacific Northwest.
Mammography screenings rose 1.9 percent in California against a 0.2 percent climb in the ...
The inaugural issue of Massachusetts Medical Law Report. Just got this in the mail today and there are some pretty interesting malpractice cases (the link is in .pdf format):
* a 10-year old girl loses her ovary when a CT scan isn't done early enough, despite several ER visits.
* a primary care physician settles for over half a million dollars when a patient who died of colon cancer didn't ...
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...
