An old-timer bemoans the demise of the physical exam, or hyposkillia:
We need teachers who truly comprehend the value of a good medical history, the rewards of a pertinent physical examination, the power of knowing how to think, and the importance of accountability; teachers who first use the stethoscope, not an echocardiogram, to detect valvular heart disease; teachers who first use the ophthalmoscope, not magnetic resonance imaging, to detect ...
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition goes disease-hunting for its families:
Based on the ABC e-mail, it appears that victims of hate crimes and violent home invasions and families coping with the loss of a child killed by a drunk driver make for good television. And the show would also absolutely love to feature those battling skin cancer, Lou Gehrig's disease, and muscular dystrophy. Oh, and families with multiple children with ...
Here's a case where OB's were sued for using an FDA category C medication (propranolol) in a pre-natal death. The problem is, many safe medications don't have, and never will have, studies demonstrating pregnancy safety - thus leaving them category C. This lawsuit will further limit the medication choices for pregnant women.
No one's happy with their pay raises in the UK. Hey, just be thankful you're even getting a raise. It could be much worse.
Would you trust your physician more if you knew how they were paid?
A psychiatrist reveals some things that you may not have known about Mozart.
A patient constantly wonders if she obtained Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease from surgical equipment. The solution to her daily worry? A lawsuit:
"There are no cases in the medical literature of CJD having been transmitted following the routine measures of surgical instrument sterilization that we employed," said Sauder said.
If any of the patients are infected, it could take years before the symptoms, including rapidly progressing dementia, are detected. There are ...
"Anyone who has not taken money from Merck." That is how Mark Lanier defines a "mainstream" cardiologist.
Nice try - a felon turns himself in hoping to get medical help. But his plan may go awry:
However, his change of heart may be in vain, as law enforcement sources said the case is so old, there may not be any witnesses or evidence left to bring him to trial, meaning it could be dropped.
The Canadian town of Port Alice does not have a doctor, leading to closure of their ER.
Gullible - doctors can be so easily manipulated:
Emily, 22, got a prescription for Ritalin during her last year of college. She giggles as she recounts exaggerating her symptoms during 15-minute meetings with a "bottom-of-the-barrel" doctor her school provided. (The drugs can only be prescribed by seeing a doctor in person.)
The doctor become suspicious when she admitted that she wasn't taking Ritalin every day, Emily says. But he ...
Can it be that the ivory tower realizes that the medicine they practice differs from the real world?
Randomized controlled trials are used to support clinical practice guidelines, but their results may have limited relevance to physicians in the trenches.(via Medrants)
Newt Gingrich thinks the Medicare drug plan is going really well.
Is Reebok trying to poison the children?
Health Canada is warning parents to get rid of a charm bracelet given out free by Reebok with the purchase of children's shoes because it contains very high lead levels.
The bracelet has been linked to the lead-poisoning death of a four-year-old boy in Minnesota, who swallowed its heart-shaped charm. The charm, imprinted with the word Reebok, was manufactured in China and ...
Join the club - insurance companies are destroying the mental health profession:
Mr. Berman said that when he went into private practice in 1990, participating in the provider networks of various health insurance companies, his maximum allowable hourly billing rate was $95, with about half of that paid by the insurance company and the rest by the patient. Today, he said, rates have plummeted to the point that the ...
Paramedics wants to treat patients in the ER. I wonder what Dr. Crippen has to say about that? Speaking of the good UK doc, Dr. Crippen pleads that you should immunize your children.
Home diagnostic tests are surging:
"If a test is (positive), then they obviously go in to the doctor to have further evaluation," said Adams, who founded the company 10 years ago. "If everything is fine, then you don't have to waste half a day going to the stupid doctor."
Mark Lanier attacks a cardiologist in the Merck trial:
Mark Lanier, who used the metaphor of a person being shoved off a cliff in his opening statement to jurors March 6, returned to that theme with his first question.
"If a person's standing at the edge of a cliff, do you think it's OK to go ahead and push him off?" Lanier asked.
"Absolutely, it's not appropriate to ...
Jailed for revealing fetal gender in India:
Government officials sent in three pregnant women as decoy patients to find out if the clinic would carry out abortions based on sex selection.
Audio and video evidence showed the doctor telling one woman that tests had revealed that she was carrying a "female foetus and it would be taken care of".
New Orleans health care is still in shambles:
While emergency care is available, auditors noted that patients at two hospitals waited up to two hours to be unloaded from ambulances. They also found patients being kept and treated in the emergency room because beds weren't available elsewhere.
Ovarian cancer screening clearly touches a nerve. No one doubts that ovarian cancer is a devastating diagnosis, often found when the disease...
According to a recent study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, primary care physicians are referring more patients to specialists than ever...
One of the reasons there is such a movement against vaccines is the democratization of information, perpetuated by search engines like Google....
In a widely circulated CNN article, many radiologists have been found to cheat on their board exams: "Doctors around the country taking an...
I've only had to declare death a couple of times. Once in a three-year-old and once in an adult. In each case...
Billionaire Teddy Forstmann had been diagnosed with a serious form of brain cancer. There’s a tragic twist to the story: according to...
One of the things I love about family medicine is that I get to care for people of all ages. I almost...
I just finished reading George’s recent post on Evelyn Lauder, who recently passed away from ovarian cancer, and am still stirred by...
Here is a toast to the miracle of love. Not to the romantic, chocolate, dance club nightlife type of love. Not warm...
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet...
One morning this May, I woke up with a stiff neck. I applied hot and cold therapy all day and took an...
Visiting someone who is dying or critically ill is an experience many of us will have in the course of our lives....
A guest column by the American Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com. This week, I’m joining hundreds of physicians and medical students in Washington, DC...
Everyone in the world is talking about “value-driven health care.” Or so it might seem if you pick up a medical journal...
CNN recently posted an article titled "Doctors Going Broke." It described several cases of independent physicians who are near bankruptcy although they once...
One of the things that I like most about my job is engaging with ACP’s physician leadership—the internal medicine doctors who dedicate...
As a follow-up to my post on why patients with implantable defibrillators should have access to their device’s data, I am going...
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reviewed the emerging role of email in healthcare, arguing that doctors should more aggressively...
Paul Conslato, MD, director of clinical affairs for Lancaster General Medical Group, recently was quoted in the PAMED Better Health Network eZine...
Don’t get me wrong, EMRs (electronic medical records) are inevitable. Over the long-run they are almost certainly good for physicians, patients and...
I have decided to spam for public health. Phone calls, text messaging, and even apps have been shown to help improve health...
Does your medical practice allow anybody to post links and comments on your Facebook page? The short answer is yes. We do....
As a physician, technology cannot replace you, but it can make you more efficient and effective. This was the message from Richard...
Looking ahead to the next several months, I’ve found myself frequently wondering how many physicians will make this their year to take...
