September 18th, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
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I’m trying to get off the topic of fatness, but just when it seems right to move on to something less hopeless, we hear that even doctors can be felled by obesity’s resilience.
To the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group of well-meaning doctors who are buying expensive TV ads blaming McDonald’s for heart disease, I have just 5 words: McDonald’s is not the problem! Gosh. It’s maddening to think that such smart people could be that misguided — a whole committee of doctors completely devoid of any master-of-the-obvious is hard to fathom.
Don’t misunderstand — I’m not advocating McDonald’s food as overly nutritional, but blaming MacD’s for our obesity epidemic is like blaming guns for violence (for the record, guns scare me), brew pubs for alcoholism, or religion for war. (Sorry, that last one is a bad example.) Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
September 18th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
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The New York Times asks: “Should the doctor hold a patient’s hand” during emotional times? The comments that follow the short article are the most interesting. Most readers say this question shouldn’t even be asked and that human compassion should always win out. Touch is a human gesture of comfort and understanding.
But some readers disagree. One said she recoiled when the doctor reached out to touch her hand after telling her that her cancer had returned. It felt really creepy to her. Another asked: “What if the physician is also a Catholic priest or a pediatrician and a priest?” Whoa. It becomes more complex when you get into the psyche of the abused.
I have often thought that one of the appeals of chiropractors is that they “lay on hands” and touch and manipulate patients. With 21st century modern medicine, physicians can treat entire episodes of illness with tests, scans and robots and never actually touch the patient. No wonder people feel “dehumanized” and wonder if doctors really care. Touch and compassion are part of the entire human experience and the physician is present during a patient’s most stressful time. But wait, there’s another side. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
September 17th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, News, Research
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Patients won’t confront doctors if they think there’s been a mistake. They’ll just find a new doctor, even if there’d been no medical error.
Researchers looked at adult visits to seven primary care practices in North Carolina during 2008. They asked patients about their perceptions of medical mistakes and how did it influence the choice to switch doctors.
Of 1,697 patients, 265 (15.6 percent) reported a mistake had been made, 227 (13.4 percent) reported a wrong diagnosis, 212 (12.5 percent) reported a wrong treatment, and 239 (14.1 percent) reported changing doctors as a result. Results appeared in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
But anecdotes cited by patients as mistakes were often normal diagnostic or therapeutic challenges. A typical scenario might be the patient reported symptoms, the doctor did not correctly diagnose it at first presentation, and a specialist or second physician offered a specific diagnosis. Other scenarios included medication trials or side effects from the prescription. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
September 17th, 2010 by DavedeBronkart in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion
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On Monday, NPR’s Scott Hensley posted:
“Between the Internet and all the data insurance companies and the government collect on doctors, you’d think it would be a lot easier than it used to be to find a good one. But it’s not.”
Sound familiar around here? See his thoughts: “3 Tips For Picking A Slightly Better Doctor.”
(Thanks to friend Cindy Johnson for the tip.)
*This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net*
September 17th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Humor, News, Opinion
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An excellent opinion piece by Sally Satel, M.D., a psychiatrist, appeared in the Wall Street Journal this morning about white coat ceremonies as ways to reinforce the humanistic qualities of medicine. The best part, however, was this perspective:
But the question of whether empathy can be taught—and, in particular, whether a white-coat ceremony is a good means for promoting that virtue—is a matter of some debate.
Judah Goldberg, a young doctor at Chilton Memorial Hospital in New Jersey raises an intriguing paradox. He asks how the white coat can bring doctors closer to the subjective experience of patients when, as an icon of the profession, it is meant to isolate and distinguish them from the lay community.
“To the extent that empathy can be taught through a ritual,” Dr. Goldberg told me, “a hospital gown, the common garb of human frailty, would be more fitting than a distancing white coat.”
I must say, the thought of everyone seeing each others’ posterior sides as they paraded across the stage at such a ceremony did make me smile. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
