July 22nd, 2010 by David H. Gorski, M.D., Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Alt-Med World, American Nurses Association, Andrew Wakefield, Anti-Vaccine Propaganda, Anti-Vaccine Quackery, Autism, CAM, Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Dr. Kimball Atwood, Dr. Rashid Buttar, Dr. Rolando Arafiles, Family Physician, H1N1, Health2Fit, License To Practice Medicine, Medical Quackery, Morgellons Disease, Naturopathy, North Carolina Board of Medical Examiners, North Carolina Integrative Medicine Society, North Carolina Medical Board, Nutritional Supplement, Pseudomedicine, Pseudoscience, SBM, Science Based Medicine, Shruggie, Suzanne Somers, Texas Medical Board, Texas Nurses Association, TMB, Unscientific Medicine, Urine Therapy, Whistleblowing Nurses, Winkler County Memorial Hospital, Zrii
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I can’t speak for anyone else who blogs here at Science-Based Medicine, but there’s one thing I like to emphasize to people who complain that we exist only to “bash ‘alternative’ medicine.” We don’t. We exist to champion medicine based on science against all manner of dubious practices. Part of that mandate involves understanding and accepting that science-based medicine (SBM) is not perfect. It is not some sort of panacea. Rather, it has many shortcomings and all too often does not live up to its promise.
Our argument is merely that, similar to Winston Churchill’s invocation of the famous saying that “democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried,” science-based medicine is the worst form of medicine except for all the others that have been tried before. (Look for someone to quote that sentence soon.) It’s not even close, either. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
July 21st, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: ADHD, Autism, Bible of Psychiatry, Bipolar Disorder, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Dr. Allen Frances, Dr. Daniel Carlat, DSM-IV, Duke University School of Medicine, Gary Schwitzer, HealthNewsReview.org, Mental Disorder, Mental Disorder Epidemics, Mental Health, Mental Illness, National Institute of Mental Health, NIMH, Normality, Overdiagnosis, Psychiatric Fads, Psychiatric Times, Psychiatry, Psychology, Unhinged
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There’s a noteworthy column in Psychiatric Times, “Normality Is an Endangered Species: Psychiatric Fads and Overdiagnosis,” by Allen Frances, M.D. He was chair of the task force that worked on the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual — DSM-IV — one edition of the “bible of psychiatry.” He is professor emeritus of psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine. There’s a lot of common ground between what Dr. Frances writes and what Dr. Daniel Carlat (the subject of an earlier blog posting) writes about. Dr. Frances is concerned about the directions that might be taken in the authoring of DSM-V, now underway.
Excerpts:
“Fads in psychiatric diagnosis come and go and have been with us as long as there has been psychiatry. The fads meet a deeply felt need to explain, or at least to label, what would otherwise be unexplainable human suffering and deviance. In recent years the pace has picked up and false “epidemics” have come in bunches involving an ever-increasing proportion of the population. We are now in the midst of at least 3 such epidemics–of autism, attention deficit, and childhood bipolar disorder. And unless it comes to its senses, DSM5 threatens to provoke several more (hypersexuality, binge eating, mixed anxiety depression, minor neurocognitive, and others). Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
July 21st, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News
Tags: Doctors As Industry Marketing Agents, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Industry Support, Internal Medicine, Medical Advertisement, Medical Marketing, Pri-Med East 2010, Primary Care, Primary Medicine Conference
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Harvard’s annual primary medicine conference, Pri-Med East 2010, will move the industry-supported portion of the program off-site, and marketing will be further restricted (advertisements had been allowed in bathrooms, for example.) A Harvard official said the new rules are meant to keep doctors from becoming or appearing as industry marketing agents. (The Boston Globe)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
July 19th, 2010 by JenniferKearneyStrouse in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News
Tags: Avandia, Diabetes Screening, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, Healthcare reform, Higher Insurance Premiums, Mammogram, New Healthcare Legislation, New York Times, Preventive Services, Tobacco Cessation Counseling, Wall Street Journal
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An FDA advisory panel has voted that the diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone) can remain on the market, but recommended further warnings associated with its use. The panel was divided, the New York Times reported, with 12 of 33 members saying the drug should be removed from the market, 10 voting to restrict sales and strengthen the warning label, 7 recommending only strengthening the warning label, and 3 voting for no change. One panel member abstained. (New York Times)
The White House yesterday announced which preventive services would be available at no charge to patients under the new healthcare legislation. Adult patients who choose a health plan after September 23 will receive mammograms, diabetes screening, and tobacco cessation counseling, among other services, at no increased cost, but insurers have said patients will eventually pay in the form of higher premiums, the Wall Street Journal reported. (Wall Street Journal)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
July 19th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Cardiac Surgery, Cardiology, Central DuPage Hospital, Chicago, Chicago Tribune, Cleveland Clinic, Healthcare Competition, Healthcare Market, Heart Care, Heart Surgery, Hospital Medicine, Hospital Systems, Winfield
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All I can say is, best of luck. From the Chicago Tribune:
In a move likely to shake up the market for heart care in the Chicago area, the well-known Cleveland Clinic’s cardiac surgery program said Thursday that it has signed an affiliation agreement with Central DuPage Hospital in the western Chicago suburbs.
The internationally known Cleveland Clinic draws patients from more than 85 countries around the world for everything from open-heart surgery and valve replacement to heart transplants. Its deal with Central DuPage, in Winfield, is designed to enhance the heart care provided at the 313-bed community hospital and potentially bring Cleveland Clinic patient referrals at a time heart surgeries are less needed than they were a decade ago.
This won’t shake up the market in Chicago. After all, when you have a bunch of Cadillacs in the garage, why go after a Ford? Unless, of course, it costs a whole lot less to buy a Ford.
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
