April 29th, 2011 by Bongi in True Stories
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The consultants didn’t always need to know what was happening on the floor. But sometimes keeping things away from them became downright clandestine.
I was a senior registrar at Kalafong (hell). An old friend of mine had just taken up a post as consultant in the department of Internal Medicine. One day he approached me.
“Bongi, what are the chances you can do the occasional open lung biopsy for me?” Now there was no thoracic department in Kalafong so it seemed to me to be a reasonable request. In fact I was quite excited. It would give me a chance to do a few thoracotomies, something us general surgeons don’t do all that regularly.
“Sure! Anytime. Just let me know and I’ll book them on my list.”
“Uhmmm, there is just one small problem,” he continued, “I’ve already asked your consultant when the previous registrar was here and he bluntly refused, so I suppose you would need to convince him.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at other things amanzi*
April 29th, 2011 by GarySchwitzer in News, Quackery Exposed
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On the NPR Shots blog, Scott Hensley reports: “This Just In: Fake News Is No Way To Sell Acai Berries.” Excerpt:
“Some marketers of weight-loss products containing acai berries are also purveyors of news you shouldn’t use, the Federal Trade Commission says.
The FTC has asked federal courts to put a stop to the activities of 10 different outfits that the commission alleges use “fake news websites” to tout acai berry weight-loss products.
Chances are you’ve stumbled across the sites, which often sport the logos of major mainstream news organizations, such as ABC, CNN and Consumer Reports. (See this example posted by the FTC.)
Take, for example the FTC’s complaint against Beony International LLC, a company based in San Diego.
The company allegedly ran sites with names such as “News 6 News Alerts,” “Health News Health Alerts,” and “Health 6 Beat Health News.” The sites feature purportedly objective investigative reports of acai products by reporters, who supposedly tried the stuff “and experienced dramatic and positive results.”
The blog post also includes links to examples and complaints posted by the FTC, a Consumer Reports feature on acai scams and this Better Business Bureau video warning about free trial scams.
Unfortunately, every day in our nationwide scan of health news stories, we see REAL news stories that look like advertising. So advertising that is made to look like news is not surprising.
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
April 28th, 2011 by PeterWehrwein in Health Tips
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Recently, about 27,000 runners began the annual 26-mile, 385-yard (42.195 kilometers) mass run from suburban Hopkinton to Boston.
But if past marathons in Boston and elsewhere are any indication, perhaps up to 40% of these optimistic and determined souls will slam into a sudden sensation of overwhelming, can’t-do-this fatigue several miles (typically about five) before they get a chance to experience the glory of crossing the finish line.
It’s called “hitting the wall.”
Getting through, around, or over hitting the wall is part of the mystique of marathon running, although there’s a physiological explanation that’s not all that mysterious: when runners hit the wall, their bodies have run out of the carbohydrates needed to sustain intense physical activities like long-distance running.
Benjamin I. Rapoport believes many runners could avoid hitting the wall if they put a few key facts about themselves and their target marathon time into the online calculator he created, which can be found at www.endurancecalculator.com. The calculator will tell them how many extra calories they should get from pasta, rice, or other high-carbohydrate food or drink before (and in some cases, during) running a marathon. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
April 28th, 2011 by AndrewSchorr in Health Policy, Opinion
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Imagine you’re a pharmaceutical company product manager and your specific product helps people with a chronic illness, or a cancer that can be managed by taking a pill or an injectable medicine over many years. You want to be part of the dialogue patients have with each other. You want to be part of the community. Facebook users, and other social media participants, are increasingly forming groups around health conditions, big and small. You want to be there, because, after all, your company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars developing the approved drug and hopes this medicine, and perhaps a successor, will be on the market for a long time.
This is an exciting time on the Internet and pharmaceutical product managers want to be part of health discussions. But it is fraught with legal pitfalls and penalties that can range into the millions of dollars if the product manager, or associated marketing agencies, make even an innocent mistake. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
April 28th, 2011 by American Journal of Neuroradiology in News, Research
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Improved visualization of the posterior fossa structures has led to an increased recognition of cerebellar malformations, including the Dandy-Walker malformation, Joubert syndrome, rhombencephalosynapsis, tectocerebellar dysrhaphia, and so forth. New anomalies continue to be discovered, highlighting the fact that cerebellar anomalies are poorly understood and have largely been ignored in the literature. We present a structural anomaly of the cerebellum, which we believe has not been previously reported.
A 16-month-old girl presented to the pediatric outpatient department with some delayed developmental milestones. She was full-term with a normal vaginal delivery and no history suggestive of perinatal asphyxia. The motor milestones were delayed, and the child could not stand. The other milestones, including language and socialization, were normal. Examination revealed a bony hard swelling in the occipital region, which, according to the mother, was noticed soon after birth. The occipitofrontal circumference was 52 cm, and the anterior fontanelle was open. There was generalized hypotonia, and the deep tendon reflexes were depressed. Mild truncal ataxia was observed, but there was no nystagmus. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at AJNR Blog*
