October 23rd, 2010 by Lucy Hornstein, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Humor, Opinion, True Stories
No Comments »
Regular readers have heard me rant about the fragmentation of medical care in this country. Each body part not only has its own medical specialist, but in some cases its own allied health profession. Such is the case with the feet.
Doctors of podiatric medicine have to complete a four-year course of study after college, followed by a three-year podiatry residency. At the end of all that, I grant, they are expert in the care and management of complex disorders and conditions of the foot, ankle, and lower leg. I refer to them regularly, especially for stubborn ingrown toenails. (I did indeed learn how to remove offending portions of nail bed, but over the years I’ve gotten away from it.) They fail, though, when they try to extend their reach beyond their grasp, which is the case of the podiatrist above the knees. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Dinosaur*
October 23rd, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
No Comments »
Joe Boyd hated the Yankees. “Those damn Yankees. Why can’t we beat ‘em?” Then he got the opportunity to save his beloved Washington Senators by making a deal with the devil — giving up his soul in exchange for being transformed into “Shoeless Joe” to propel his team to win the World Series.
Interesting. I think a lot of doctors are making their deal with the devil. They are looking for a small gain in comparison to a long-term of misery. True — Joe Boyd made out in the end, but that will only happen if someone from Hollywood writes our script.
Here’s the problem: At the core of our problems with healthcare is the total lack of cohesive communication. Doctors have no idea what other doctors have done with a patient. Tests get ordered, medications get changed, procedures, hospitalizations, even surgeries are done without communication to other doctors who would benefit from this information. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
October 23rd, 2010 by AndrewSchorr in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research, True Stories
1 Comment »
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 Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Research, True Stories
No Comments »
This weekend is the Western Carolina Walk for the Cure for Juvenile Diabetes. Our son Seth is 13, and has been diabetic since age five. The Walk is one of our favorite yearly events. More than that, the idea of a cure is one of our favorite dreams!
Seth has come a long way. He wears an insulin pump, and is now wearing a continuous glucose monitoring system. His chances of long-term complications, such as blindness or renal failure, are remarkably low compared to what kids faced in past decades.
His physician, Dr. James Amrhein of the Greenville Hospital System, is outstanding. He and his outstanding nurse practitioners brought us through the shock and trials of diabetes with great compassion and understanding. He offered us that precious commodity: Hope. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
October 22nd, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
No Comments »
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*
