A study finds that not all infants with Apparent Life-Threatening Events (ALTE’s) need to be admitted. However, Flea finds that practicing evidence-based medicine has its consequences:

Somehow the message got transmitted to mom that Flea didn’t want the child to be admitted at all (this was true, but we agreed to the admission nonetheless). The next morning at 5:30 mom told us she didn’t want Flea to be the flea for her twins any more.

Never mind that sending the child home was the right thing to do.

Here’s the “take-home message”: In the real world, evidence-based medicine often doesn’t make a dime’s worth of difference. It doesn’t matter to parents and it doesn’t even matter to some of Flea’s colleagues. This is especially true in the current climate of over-test, over-diagnose, over-treat, and over-admit.

EBM-practicing physicians are fighting an uphill battle, especially with the media bias against EBM and the pervasiveness of defensive medicine. A major reason why health care costs are soaring. (via White Coat Notes)