September 21st, 2011 by Peggy Polaneczky, M.D. in Opinion
Tags: Backup contraception, Birth Control Pill, Disclaimer, FDA, General Consensus, Gynecology, Individual Approach, Medical Advice, Medical Blogging, News feed, OB/GYN, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Package Labeling, Pregnancy Tests, Unplanned Pregnancy
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Just yesterday, I put up a post about the recent birth control pill recall. This recall is a big deal – millions of women are potentially impacted, and the adverse effect – an unplanned pregnancy – is very significant.
I knew women taking these pills would be very worried, and wanted very much to do more than just spit out the press release from the FDA. I wanted to both reassure women and give them information that they could use other than just a link and a phone number. I also needed to figure out how I would be handing the recall in my own practice. So I combined the two and posted what I’ll be telling my patients to do if they find that they are taking a recalled pill pack.
As soon as the post went up, I got worried.
What if the advice I was giving my patients was not what other docs might do for their patients? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Blog That Ate Manhattan*
September 21st, 2011 by GarySchwitzer in News, Opinion
Tags: Alarmist, Apple Juice, Arsenic, Breakthrough, Breast Cancer, Dr. Oz, Fair and Balanced, FDA, Fear Mongering, Food and Drug Administration, Fox News, Irresponsible, Manny Alvarez, MedPage Today, Misleading, Richard Besser, Sensational
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MedPage Today reports:
Mehmet Oz, MD, the Columbia University thoracic surgeon who gained fame first in books and more recently with his syndicated television show, has run afoul of the Food and Drug Administration with his report about levels of arsenic in popular brands of apple juice.
The FDA called the report “irresponsible and misleading” and another TV doc, ABC’s Richard Besser, MD, accused Oz of fear-mongering.
Fox News’ Dr. Manny Alvarez rushes to Oz’s defense, though:
“I’m very proud of Dr. Oz for his report today on potentially dangerous levels of arsenic found in certain brands of apple juice, which may classify some of them as unsuitable for consumption. He’s sounding the alarm for an issue that I believe needs to be brought to attention.
…
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
September 21st, 2011 by Michael Kirsch, M.D. in Opinion
Tags: Annals Of Internal Medicine, Convenience, Ear Infections, Fast Food, Medical Quality, Minute Clinics, Nurse Practitioners, Patient Safety, Pharmacy, Physician Shortage, Public Demands, Serious Medical Issues, uninsured
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All of us have been to fast food establishments. We go there because we are in a hurry and it’s cheap. We love the convenience. We expect that the quality of the cuisine will be several rungs lower than fine dining.
We now have a fast medicine option available to us. Across the country, there are over 1000 ‘minute-clinics’ that are being set up in pharmacies, supermarkets and other retail store chains. These clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners who have prescribing authority, under the loose oversight of a physician who is likely off sight. These nurses will see patients with simple medical issues and will adhere to strict guidelines so they will not treat beyond their medical knowledge. For example, if a man comes in clutching his chest and gasping, the nurse will know not to just give him some Rolaids and wish him well. At least, that’s the plan.
Primary care physicians are concerned over the metastases of ‘minute-clinics’ nationwide. Of course, they argue from a patient safety standpoint, but there are powerful parochial issues worrying physicians. They are losing business. They have a point that Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at MD Whistleblower*
September 20th, 2011 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Opinion
Tags: ACE-inhibitors, AFib, Atrial Fibrillation, Barry Manilow, Beta Blockers, Breathlessness, Effectiveness, Electrophysiology, Fatigue, GetBackInRhythm.com, health care, Heart Failure, Inactivity, Multaq, Obesity, over-hyped, Poor Exercise Tolerance, Pradaxa, Rhythm-control, Sanofi, Sleep Disturbances, Statins, Stress
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Did you know September is AFib awareness month?
As a believer in education as the first, and best treatment of AF, I think it’s great to enhance the public knowledge of this highly-misunderstood disease.
By all means…
Tell people about AF’s risks: stroke and heart failure.
Tell them that their fatigue, poor exercise tolerance and breathlessness might not be old age; it might be AF.
Tell them about the importance of early intervention.
Tell them that obesity, inactivity, sleep disturbances, alcohol, and incessantly worrying about everything makes AF more likely to occur, and to stay.
Tell them that Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
September 19th, 2011 by Stanley Feld, M.D. in Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Accountable Care Organizations, ACO, Affordable Care Act, Benefits, CMS Director, Don Berwick, Federal Register, Final Rules, HMO, Incentives, Mayo Clinic, Medicare, Patient Protection, Penalties, PPACA, President Obama, Rewards, Savings, Startup costs
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As we get closer to January 2012, the originally scheduled implementation date for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), the time has come to reexamine the showpiece of President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010.
The final rules for ACO’s are now scheduled for release on January 2012. The implementation was originally scheduled for January 2012. As the original rules are being studied and interpreted the program for ACOs implementation became more confusing. Dr. Don Berwick (CMS Director) has refused to discuss the final rules until they have been published in the Federal Register.
“The ACO program is based on the hubristic assumption that the federal government can design the best organizational structure for the delivery of care, foster its development, and control its operation for the entire country.
The federal government has big-footed health system reform. Although there is no one right way to organize care, the federal government (Dr. Don Berwick and President Obama) thinks it has found one—and exerts top-down, bureaucratic control through PPACA to implement it.”
ACOs are supposed to be organizations that improve coordinated care. If an ACO decreases the cost of care Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
