October 23rd, 2010 by AndrewSchorr in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: AndrewSchorr, Cancer of the Blood Cells, Cancer of the Bone Marrow, Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, CML, Dr. Brian Druker, Empowered Patients, Gleevec, Greg Stephens, Hematology, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Living With Your Disease, National CML Society, Onocology, Patient Power, Patients' Grassroots Leukemia Mission, Spread of Infection, Tasigna, Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Drugs
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I am just back from Phoenix where I spent the weekend with people living with CML, chronic myelogenous leukemia. The operative words are “living with” because it wasn’t very long ago when people did not live long with this disease. However, medical science and dedicated researchers like Dr. Brian Druker at OHSU in Portland, Oregon have brought us what first appear to be “miracle” pills (Gleevec, Sprycel, and Tasigna) that can keep patients alive and doing well.
My weekend was spent with several people, all taking one of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor drugs, as they were planning next steps for a new advocacy organization, The National CML Society. The Society is the creation of Greg Stephens of Birmingham, Alabama, a business consultant who lost his mother to CML. Now he has devoted his life to giving voice to patients, researchers, and building a vibrant community.
CML is not common. There are just over 4,000 new cases in the U.S. each year. And, now that there are three powerful and approved medicines, some people feel the disease is “cured” and not in urgent need of public discussion. The patients I met with said this was “baloney” and they were driven to support the new society because they felt the obvious advocacy group, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, was not giving them enough attention nor listening carefully to their stories. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
October 22nd, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Adequate Vaccine Training For Doctors, Anti-Vaccine Movement, Anti-Vaccine Quackery, Autism, Children's Vaccinations, Community Health, Dangers of Not Vaccinating, Dr. Kevin Pho, Dr. Rahul Parikh, Dr. Robert Sears, Family Medicine, General Medicine, immunizations, Immunology, Internal Medicine, Journal of Pediatrics, KevinMD, Misrepresentation of Vaccine Science, More Time With Patients, Overuse of Antibiotics, Patients' False Beliefs, Paul Offit, Pediatric Diseases, Pediatric Medicine, Pediatricians, Primary Care, Public Health Fears, The Vaccine Book, Unvaccinated Children, Vaccine Controversy, Vaccine Development, Vaccine Education, Vaccine-Averse Parents
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Dr. Robert Sears’ The Vaccine Book, is, as Dr. Rahul Parikh puts it, “a nightmare for pediatricians like me.”
In a piece from Salon, Dr. Parikh brings his issues to the author. The controversy of the book is the so-called “alternative vaccine schedule,” which, as vaccine developer Paul Offit puts it:
…is “misrepresentation of vaccine science” that “misinforms parents trying to make the right decision for their children” in the Journal of Pediatrics. And yet, as a pediatrician myself, I have seen an increasing number of caring, reasonable parents hold it up like a bible in my practice (and that of my colleagues).
This post, however, isn’t about the vaccine controversy — I’ll leave you to read Dr. Parikh’s excellent piece for yourself.
What I found interesting was a passage discussing the public health fears stemming from an increasing number of unvaccinated children. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
October 22nd, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor, News, Opinion
Tags: Doctor's Office Waiting Room, Dr. John Mandrola, General Medicine, Healthcare Crisis, Long Waits for Patients, Medical Complexity, Medical Humor, Practicing Quality Medicine, Time With The Patient, Wait Times, Waiting In Doctor's Office, Waiting Too Long, Wall Street Journal
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I have an easy solution to a vexing problem in today’s healthcare crisis. A problem so widespread that it’s worth hundreds of words in the Wall Street Journal: Long wait times at the doctor’s office.
But first, before I give my simple, pragmatic, master-of-the-obvious solution, let me say something truthful: I try. I try really hard — to run on time, that is.
I’ve been there myself — a patient in a gown, in a cold room with only big pharma-sponsored propaganda on the walls to stare at.
At the risk of a sounding like a…blogger, let it be said that practicing quality medicine in the current luxury of technology is much more complicated than it used to be. Such complexity devours our most precious treasure: Time with the patient. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
October 22nd, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Dr. Wes Fisher, EHRs, Electronic Health Records, Electronic Medical Records, EMRs, Health Disparities, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Healthcare's Facebook, HIPAA, Invasion Of Privacy, Online Personal Information, Patient Privacy Laws, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, PPACA, Privacy Breech, Privacy Policy, PSQIA, Social Media Privacy, Wall Street Journal, WesMusings
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[Recently] the Wall Street Journal‘s front page story exposed a significant privacy breech of online personal information via the world’s most popular social networking site, Facebook:
Many of the most popular applications, or “apps,” on the social-networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information—in effect, providing access to people’s names and, in some cases, their friends’ names—to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.
The issue affects tens of millions of Facebook app users, including people who set their profiles to Facebook’s strictest privacy settings. The practice breaks Facebook’s rules, and renews questions about its ability to keep identifiable information about its users’ activities secure.
How could they? Imagine the nerve of marketers using Facebook ID’s to develop profiles on people using little socializing games! Facebook has a privacy policy! I was assured that if I set my privacy settings to “maximum,” this would never happen! To which I say: “Duh!” When it comes to money, people get awfully creative.
So while Facebook grapples with its latest public relations nightmare, we should realize our electronic medical record app vendors are doing exactly the same thing. Worse, it’s perfectly legal, even though each of use has been assured our privacy settings are set to “maximum” through the reassurances of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIA). Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
October 21st, 2010 by Stanley Feld, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Complications of Chronic Diseases, Disruptive Physician, Doctors and Social Media, Dr. Stanley Feld, General Medicine, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare reform, Medical Malpractice, Non-Compliant Patients, Patient Lifestyle, Patient Responsibility, Patients Must Own Their Disease, Patients' Central Role In Healthcare, Personal Responsibility For Illness, Physician Frustration, Physician Leadership, Physicians' Social Network, Preventive Care, Preventive Health, Preventive Medicine, Sermo, U.S. Healthcare System
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It is important to listen to what physicians are saying. An article appeared in SERMO, a physicians’ social network, which expressed a physician’s frustration. It is appropriate to publish some of that physician’s thoughts:
“I first heard this statement over twenty years ago, when I was an intern in general surgery, struggling to find my professional self.”
“My chief resident said; “The patient owns the disease,” “You’re not trying to make them suffer, you’re trying to help. They’re sick, you’re not.”
“The human body is unpredictable. Disease complications happen.”
The author thought his chief resident was heartless and callous. In a way, he was but he was getting at the heart of the matter. What is the patient’s responsibility in the evolution of disease? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
