August 13th, 2010 by AndrewSchorr in Better Health Network, True Stories
Tags: A Second Life, Andrew Schorr, Aortic Dissection, Cardiology, Dr. Alphonse DeLucia, Ed Dunifin, Patient Power, Patient Stories, Survival Story
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I had not been to Indiana for 42 years. But last week I found myself on a commuter train in Michigan City, Indiana, taking my family on the South Shore Line to Chicago for the day. We were vacationing not far away on the shores of Lake Michigan.
The train was crowded so my group of six spread out where there were vacant seats. I found myself sitting with two men, father and grown son, on the way to a day at Wrigley Field and a Chicago Cubs baseball game. Before long the chit-chat turned to my work, and my explanation of Patient Power sparked the telling of an incredible medical story from the older of the two men, a story of good luck and great medical care that has given him a second life. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
August 13th, 2010 by DavedeBronkart in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Dermatology, Doctor-Patient Communication, Doctor's Notes, E-Patients, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Help Patients Help Themselves, Internal Medicine, Internet-Based Medicine, Joint Working Document, Medical Charting, Medical Records, Medical Speciality, Medicine and Healthcare Online, Medicine and the Internet, Online Medical Records, Open Notes Study, Participatory Medicine, Patient Empowerment, Patient Records, Patient-Doctor Partnership, PatientSite, Personalized Medicine, Primary Care, Specialist Care
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Next in our series on my experience with OpenNotes, a project sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio.
This item has nothing to do with OpenNotes itself –- it’s what I’m seeing now that I’ve started accessing my doctor’s notes. In short, I see the clinical impact of not viewing my record as a shared working document.
Here’s the story.
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In OpenNotes, patient participants can see the visit notes their primary physicians entered. Note “primary,” not specialists. I imagine they needed to keep the study design simple.
So here I am in the study, going through life. Five weeks ago I wrote my first realization: After the visit I’d forgotten something, so I logged in. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net*
August 13th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Humor
Tags: Allergic Reaction, Allergic Response, Allergy And Immunology, Medical Humor, Prednisone, Steroids, Systemic Fibromyallergia
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Happy: Ma’am, I noticed you have an allergy to prednisone listed.
Ma’am: Oh, I can never take prednisone again. I’m allergic to it.
Happy: Really? Huh. What happened when you took prednisone?
Ma’am: It made my tongue swell up really bad.
Happy: Huh. What did they give you to reverse the allergic reaction?
Ma’am: Some sort of steroid through my IV.
I’m thinking this qualifies as a raging case of systemic fibromyallergia.
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
August 13th, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: ACS CAN, ACS Pulls Campaign Ad, Ad Campaign, Ad Is Pulled, Alzheimer's Test Stories, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Cancer Prevention, CDC, Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, Disease Mongering, Early Detection Tools, Evidence Based Medicine, Fear Mongering, Fundraising Ad, Gary Schwitzer, HealthNewsReview.org, National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, NBCCEDP, Oncology, Preventive Medicine, Preventive Screening, Screening Tests, Vague Medical Ads, Women's Health
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Following Gary Schwitzer’s HealthNewsReview.org August 11th blog post below entitled “American Cancer Society: ‘Only’ A Fundraising Ad, Right?”, the American Cancer Society pulled its “Screening Is Seeing” ad the next day.
See Schwitzer’s follow-up post “Screening Is Seeing” Ad By American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network (ACS-CAN) Is Pulled” and a related article by Mary Carmichael of Newsweek: “The American Cancer Society’s Misleading New Ads.”
Also see “Common Themes In The Alzheimer’s Test Stories And The Cancer Society Screening Ad” by Schwitzer.
(ORIGINAL POST)
American Cancer Society: “Only” A Fundraising Ad, Right?
A well-intentioned ad campaign run by the American Cancer Society is too vague, and therefore may leave impressions that are imbalanced, incomplete and unsubstantiated — the kind of common tactic seen in many drug company ads. That’s my opinion based on my analysis of the ad and based on my reading of the text.
An American Cancer Society news release states:
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is launching a new print and online advertising campaign in congressional districts across the country this week, urging lawmakers to fully fund a lifesaving cancer prevention, early detection and diagnostic program that is celebrating 20 years of screening low income, uninsured, and medically underserved women for breast and cervical cancer. The ads also send the message that when it comes to increasing your odds of surviving cancer, access to evidence-based early detection tools is critical.
The ads reference the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP), which has a track record of reducing deaths from breast and cervical cancer. The program has provided more than 9 million screening exams to more than 3 million women and diagnosed more than 40,000 cases of breast cancer and more than 2,000 cases of cervical cancer since it launched in 1990. But with limited funding, the program is able to serve fewer than 1 in 5 eligible women.
The accomplishments of the CDC NBCCEDP are noteworthy. So this blog entry is no knock on that program. It’s a criticism of the ad. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
August 12th, 2010 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Cancer Cure, Dangerous Side Effects, Deadly Product, Death, Dietary Supplement, Evidence Based Medicine, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, FTC, Health Canada, Health Fraud, HIV Cure, Industrial Bleach, Miracle Mineral Solution, Miracle Mineral Supplement, MMS, Operation Cure All, Oral Liquid, Science Based Medicine, Serious Harm, U.S. Federal Trade Commission
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On the heels of Scott Gavura’s superb post on dietary supplement regulation in the U.S. and Canada, I bring you one of the most egregious and obscene product cases I have seen in 15 years of teaching on botanical and non-botanical products: Miracle Mineral Solution. Please accept my apologies in advance for not having a scholarly post for you — this is just too unbelievable not to share with science-based medicine readers. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
