From the monthly archives:

February 2006

February 28, 2006

A rant on patient expectations vs patient entitlement:
A patient could expect to be seen on time but is not entitled to this. An expectation not an entitlement. We actually could not think of any more entitlements than the one we came up with. Most of what we discussed seemed to be expectations.
Patients with a displaced [...]

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February 28, 2006

“Which positions are best during sexual intercourse so I don’t strain my new knee implant?” Dr. Kirschenbaum answers this interesting question.

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February 28, 2006

Twins were born to a UK couple – one black, one white.

(via kottke.org)
Update:Welcome FARK.com users. Feel free to take a look around and explore other health-related news and commentary.

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February 28, 2006

More care does not equal better care. A journalist sees first-hand the fundamental problem of American health care:
I wondered, as I sat there, if I was witnessing a key problem with our increasingly-costly health care system: Patients with insurance don’t have to weigh the actual cost of most procedures against the likelihood of benefit.
This [...]

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February 28, 2006

How concierge medicine saved this physician’s life:
And because of reduced reimbursements, the practice began losing money. “She was running herself down physically and mentally,” says Moore. “At the end of this particular day, she just collapsed. She was barely conscious. Her skin was silver-gray. I rushed her to a nearby emergency room, and they revived [...]

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February 28, 2006

The nurse-to-patient ratio in the Philippines is 1-to-26.

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February 28, 2006

NY Times case – When a complaint is really a complaint:
These are the people who can tolerate a bit less discomfort or uncertainty than the average person. These are the patients who cry wolf. The only trouble is, sometimes there really is a wolf. The challenge for the doctor is knowing when.

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February 28, 2006

More quackery – the maker of Airborne is changing its packaging:
Airborne said that a double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted with “care and professionalism” by a company specializing in clinical trial management, GNG Pharmaceutical Services.
GNG is actually a two-man operation started up just to do the Airborne study. There was no clinic, no scientists and no [...]

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February 28, 2006

Dr. Reese looks at a case of tinea versicolor on Survivor: Exile Island.

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February 28, 2006

More attacks on the Canadian health care system:
In an interesting parallel with socialist arguments against school vouchers in America, socialist defenders of “free” health care in Canada warn that allowing private clinics will “drain the public system of doctors and nurses.” This is tantamount to an admission that doctors, nurses, and patients are unhappy with [...]

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February 28, 2006

Dr. RW talks about how the absurd (aka complementary and alternative medicine) is often looked at uncritically:
Detractors are fond of saying ““but medical students need to know about these things”” or ““they’Â’re doing research”. Trouble is, much of this so called “education and research” amounts to little more than uncritical promotion of quackery. I’Â’ve given [...]

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February 27, 2006

Dedication: A 96-year old physician continues his duties as chair of the OB department.

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February 27, 2006

Tort reform in Texas is improving physician access. “Physicians and other health care providers are pleased with the results so far.Citing Texas Department of Insurance figures, a Texas Alliance for Patient Access analysis of Proposition 12’s impact noted an 11.7 percent average cut in the malpractice insurance rates.
The alliance is made up of health care [...]

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February 27, 2006

OBs say that Washington’s mini-mal reform isn’t enough:
“These proposals really do nothing to lower the exposure risk for obstetricians,” said Anton-McIntyre, who had confronted Gov. Chris Gregoire last month during a state medical association meeting in Olympia.
Anton-McIntyre, who said she has never been sued for her obstetrical care, told Gregoire that she needed to see [...]

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February 27, 2006

This physician takes follow-ups seriously. And rightly so:
Nobody wants to cross Dr. Mayda Melendez.
It’s not that her patients in the Tiny Steps prenatal program at St. Francis Hospital fear her, they just know they’ll never hear the end of it.
If they don’t show up for their appointments, a nurse will call and ask why. [...]

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February 27, 2006

Frivolous? An interesting case where parents are suing a doctor for a Munchausen syndrome by proxy diagnosis:
The parents of 3-year-old boy have sued a prominent pediatrician at the Cleveland Clinic who accused the couple of faking their son’s illnesses.
Scott and Tricia Beam of suburban Chippewa Lake were outraged when their son, Tyler, was placed [...]

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