November 30th, 2009 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Quackery Exposed
Tags: Canada, Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Drugs, Medicines, Naturopathy, Pharmacists, Prescribing, Pseudoscience
2 Comments »
Two weeks ago, Canadian Skeptics United published on their Skeptic North site a piece by an Ontario pharmacist criticizing a proposal by the province to grant limited prescribing rights to naturopaths. The essay, which was reprinted in the National Post on Tuesday, outlines the intellectual and practical conundrum presented by allowing those with education that diverges from science-based practices to prescribe drugs.
The naturopath lobby came out in force and was relatively unopposed in the 54 comments that followed, primarily because the NP closes comments 24 hours after online posting. Therefore, those with a more rational and considered viewpoint based in facts were locked out from commenting. This is quite disappointing to me personally and professionally because of the wildly emotional appeals, strawman arguments, and smears and attacks on the author himself without, of course, addressing his well-founded criticism of the prescribing proposal before the provincial government.
At the Skeptic North post, the piece even drew a naturopath who equated the criticism of his/her field with the Nazis and Mussolini. However, you can’t write critiques of these practices without attracting attacks ad hominem, especially Godwin’s Law, that are the resort of those whose arguments are logically flawed. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
November 30th, 2009 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Bundled Payments, Exam, History and Physical, Hospitalists, Internal Medicine, Listenting, Psychiatry
2 Comments »
I remember very clearly as a medical student hearing my attending hammer home the importance of the history and physical examination. Everyday I heard the same thing
The history and physical examination is the most important part of patient care
After seven long years of hospitalist medicine, I gotta say my attendings were right. If you listen to what the patient is telling you, the answer is often staring you in the face. Unfortunately, in this volume driven world of fee for service we live in, time is not on the physician’s side. Most elderly patients are incapable of separating important medical information from irrelevant medical information, which can make history taking a very painful part of being a doctor. So they just talk and talk and talk. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist Blog*
November 30th, 2009 by DrWes in Better Health Network, True Stories
Tags: Beeper, Cardiac Arrest, Cardiology, Code Blue, Computer, Hospital, Intercom, Internal Medicine, Pager, Running A Code, Technology
No Comments »
Code Blue Then & Now…
Then:
11:30 pm – Cackling though the overhead intercom system:
“Code Blue, Three East, Room 236”
A thunderous herd of medical students, residents, anesthesiologists, cardiologists, social workers, security personnel descend on the scene. Arriving, the chief resident is in charge at the foot of the bed. IV’s have been started, some young well-muscled individual is bobbing up and down on the unseen’s chest, brow glistening with sweat, but focused. An anesthesiologist, noting the agonal rhythm, works to secure the airway, then a central line. Nurses administer drugs, bring line kits. Airway secured. “EKG? Where’s the EKG?” Electrode replaced. “Story? Who’s got the story?” Ten. Twenty. Thirty. The minutes pass. Finally, silence, as the monitors removed and the group departs. Like sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
November 29th, 2009 by Richard Cooper, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: CMS, Dartmouth Atlas, Dual Eligible, Geography, Healthcare reform, Inequities, Medicare, Poverty
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In a recent Health Affairs blog, Wennberg and Brownlee lamented that op-eds, blogs, letters to members of Congress, broadsides in the press and now a report from the American Hospital Association decry the Dartmouth Atlas as a lot of “malarkey.” Once again they tried to defend their work by proving that race and poverty don’t matter, but they do. Even the “impartial” introduction by the editor of Health Affairs, a member of Dartmouth’s Board, couldn’t save the day: “Wennberg and Brownlee rebut claims that variations among academic medical centers are due to differences in patient income, race, and health status.” Wrong, again! That’s exactly what variations are due to. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at PHYSICIANS and HEALTH CARE REFORM Commentaries and Controversies*
November 29th, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Apologize, Apology, Medical Error, Medical Malpractice, Sorry, Sorry Works
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The movement for physicians to say “I’m sorry” when things go wrong in patient care has been under debate for the past few years. In the past, physicians were advised to never admit to a problem or to apologize for clinical errors with the thought that it would lead to more lawsuits. Saying “I’m sorry” might be taken by a lawyer as an admission of guilt and malpractice. Attorneys advised, “Say nothing” but that left patients with unanswered questions and often the feeling that the doctor just didn’t care.
Numerous studies have shown that patients want physicians to disclose harmful errors and they want information about what happened, why it happened and if something has been done to keep it from happening again. There has been a gap between what patients want and what actually occurs. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
