A meritless lawsuit in action. This story illustrates why caring for nursing home residents is risky:
I was shocked. After working 12-hour days, through weekends and holidays, always trying to do my best for my patients, I'd been accused of negligence without any basis"”and yet I might be found culpable! I still felt bad for John, but thinking about his father filled me with bitterness. What kind of parent ...
Taking a deeper look at frivolous lawsuits. "At the same time, Smarr says, unsubstantiated malpractice suits take a heavy emotional toll on physicians, because the doctor's reputation and professional capabilities have been called into question. The resulting distraction adversely affects the delivery of healthcare, says Smarr, who believes that overzealous lawyers play a major role in exacerbating the malpractice crisis. 'All you need to do is read the highway ...
News flash: ERs are overcrowded. "Emergency patients tend to be sicker and more unstable than others, causing some specialists to be reluctant to see them because of the higher liability and higher malpractice insurance rates, Epstein said.
The result is that some specialists, like neurosurgeons, leave certain states or refuse to provide emergency care."
Illinois has three times the amount of malpractice claims than Canada. "There are approximately 14,000 physicians in Illinois physicians versus 68,000 in Canada. And the lawsuits quoted in Illinois are only for docs with liability insurance from ISMIE Mutual. And of all the legal actions commenced against physicians in Canada, only 125 legal claims went to trial."
Some are saying that Sharon's stroke was caused by ill-advised coumadin use. "A doctor close to the situation told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the disease was diagnosed by doctors treating Mr Sharon at Hadassah University Hospital during his current hospital treatment.
The disease, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, could have greatly increased the risk of a brain haemorrhage, following the administration of the medication that he received after his first ...
Health care costs continue to spiral out of control. "Americans rejected the tougher restrictions of managed care in the late 1990s, and yet they want all the latest advances in medical technology."
And that is precisely the problem. You can't have it both ways.
Softening up the tone of ED ads. "A campaign for Cialis that begins Wednesday includes changes such as having an actual doctor appear on screen during the television commercials to recite the disclaimer warning about side effects. Cialis is sold by a partnership of Eli Lilly & Co. and Bothell-based the Icos Corp.
In altering its advertising approach, Lilly Icos joins Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, the leading brand ...
Are OTC cough medications useless? Apparently so, says the American College of Chest Physicians. The dose of dextromethorphan (a morphine derivative) in these medications are too low to suppress cough. Of course, because of the potential for abuse, they cannot make these any stronger.
The press and HIPAA. Just how much information can be revealed to the public? (via KidneyNotes)
More questions surrounding prostate cancer screening. I have always maintained that screening for prostate cancer does not save lives. The USPSTF supports this. However, these are case-control studies - randomized trials are needed for a more definitive stance.
The woes of an academic physician. "A growing number of academic physicians are stressed out and depressed because they are being pressured to treat more patients and generate more money, and they have less time for teaching and research, a report published this month concludes."
All I can say is - welcome to the real world. (via Health Care Renewal)
How are doctors combating declining Medicare rates? By doing more procedures:
Ginsburg also said stagnant reimbursement rates for Medicare patients does not mean Medicare patients are less lucrative than they were four years ago. Doctors are billing Medicare for more services per patients, such as lab tests, cardiovascular stress tests and echocardiograms.Expect this to continue as reimbursement declines.
The NFL has ended its partnership with Levitra. "Perhaps the NFL's recent move to end its $18 million contract with erectile dysfunction company Levitra will help the country alleviate its obsession with the four hour hard on and the penis as the only redeeming quality in men."
A double-standard. When it comes to law malpractice, lawyers don't want it tried in front of a jury:
Law firms have frequently sought to avoid having malpractice claims heard by jurors, who they fear will be unsympathetic.If lay-juries are "capable of deciding complicated medical cases", lawyer malpractice should be no different.
The cost of skipping medications: "$100 billion in direct health care costs and $1.5 billion in lost patient earnings each year."
Loss leaders: "Increased numbers of uninsured patients coming into Florida emergency rooms may worsen overcrowding, adversely affect quality of care and lead more ERs to close their doors." (via a reader tip)
Medpundit looks at how the Medicare cut affects her. "How does that translate into day to day life? It means that my staff didn't get a cost of living raise this year. It means that I'll have to drop their health insurance if the premiums increase. And it means that I'm working harder - double booking patients when I can and adding an extra half day to my work ...
Behold the super-soaker to remove ear wax.
"D.K. (a family and emergency physician) assessed the utility of the Super Soaker Max-D 5000. He was surprised to note that it was able to deliver a superbly pressured narrow stream of water equivalent to, or perhaps exceeding, the quality of that achieved with standard ear-syringing ...
A version of this column was published on April 24, 2012 in USA Today. There has been a recent uptick of elderly men...
The following column was published on April 1, 2012 in USA Today. I recently saw a middle-age man in my primary care clinic...
The following column was published on March 25, 2012 in the Nashua Telegraph. Medical malpractice historically has been a contentious issue. Doctors...
The following column was published on April 11, 2012 in CNN. When you visit the doctor, chances are you are given a...
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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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This example of a disaster waiting to happen, in the form of an error-promoting CPOE, is a poster example of why the...
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...
Prior to 1794, farms across the world could only pick cotton as fast as humanly possible. In the late 18th century, Eli Whitney...
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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It was my first ER shift in charge of the resuscitation area. Needless to say, my adrenaline and nerves were firing like...
