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Professional Sports Team Physicians: Do They Follow Proper Procedures?

The Cleveland Browns have been in the news this week, and not because of newfound success on the gridiron. While sports is not among my highest priorities, I have developed increasing interest over the years since professional sports is religion to so many here in Cleveland and in Ohio. Cleveland sports teams all enjoy great success, provided that success is not defined by victories. It’s not if you win or lose but how…
I watched the Cleveland Browns compete against the Pittsburgh Steelers two Thursdays ago. I cringed as I witnessed our young quarterback, Colt McCoy, take a blow to the head that could have landed the perpetrator a 10 year prison sentence had this act occurred on the street. I wasn’t worried that McCoy would have to miss the rest of the game. I feared that he might have to miss the rest of his life. Violence sells tickets.

If an activity requires a participant to don a helmet and a coat of armor, then clearly it is an unwise activity for a human to engage in.

McCoy was taken off the field and reentered the arena 2 plays later, after an exhaustive evaluation that was completed in about 100 seconds. Since everything in sports and medicine is now measured, we know that McCoy was sidelined for a total of Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at MD Whistleblower*

Misdiagnosis Happens All The Time: Tips To Avoid It

Billionaire Teddy Forstmann has apparently been diagnosed with a serious form of brain cancer.  There’s a tragic twist to the story: according to Fox Business News, Forstmann believes that for more than a year, he had been misdiagnosed with meningitis.

ABC News wonders:

How could such a misfortune befall a billionaire —- a man able to afford the best doctors, best technology and the most sophisticated diagnostic tests?

They’re missing the point.  Misdiagnosis happens with shocking regularity – as much as Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at BestDoctors.com: See First Blog*

Strokes Are Quite Common In Pregnant Women: How Can They Be Prevented?

According to CDC, there has been a 54 percent increase in the number of pregnant women who’ve had strokes in 1995 to 1996 and in 2005 to 2006. While this may surprise some researchers, it certainly would not surprise clinicians who take care of pregnant women who have risk factors such as obesity, chronic hypertension or a lack of prenatal care. Ten percent of strokes occur in the first trimester, 40 percent during the second trimester and more than fifty percent occur during the post partum period and after the patient has been discharged home. Hypertension was the cause of one-third of stroke victims during pregnancy and fifty percent in the post partum period. Hypertension accounted for one-third of stroke cases during pregnancy and fifty percent in the post partum period. Many stroke cases might be prevented if blood pressure problems were treated appropriately during pregnancy.

Pregnant women who have high blood pressure during the first trimester are treated with medication and are classified as having chronic hypertension. The problem occurs when Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway*

The Perils Of Offering A Second Opinion On A Botched Boob Job

A mother called the office today. Her daughter had breast implants placed by a surgeon in another state and the two ladies are not happy. They called for a second opinion.

It is dicey dealing with situation like this as a second opinion consultant. The first question is whether or not the first surgeon did anything wrong. A botched boob job is not any boob job that the patient or mother do not like. “Botched” indicates fault. Sometimes there is fault on the part of the surgeon and sometimes there is not. Sometimes patients ask for surgery on the cheap and decline breast lifting or other associated surgery that might have made things look better. Sometimes the patient choose a surgeon of limited skill or qualifications. Sometimes infection, cigarette smoking or scarring can distort an otherwise good procedure. It is not always clear.

The second question for a consultant is whether or not the patient wants him or her to fix things or just wants to return to the original surgeon. No smart consultant wants to end up embroiled in a patient’s lawsuit with the original doctor. It is a waste of time and time is money.

*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*

A Second Opinion Is Good, But A Third Or Fourth?

A few years ago I started writing a book on what it was like to be a cancer patient and an oncologist. This morning I came upon this section on second opinions:

Is It OK To Get A Second Opinion?

Definitely. And there’s no need to be secretive about it, or to worry about hurting the doctor’s feelings. Second opinions are routine in fields like oncology, and are often covered by insurance. Be up-front: Any decent oncologist can understand a cancer patient’s need to find a doctor who’s right for them, with whom they’re comfortable making important decisions. And in difficult cases, some specialists appreciate the chance to discuss the situation with another expert. So a second opinion can be beneficial to patients and physicians alike.

When things can get out of hand, though, is when patients start “doctor shopping.” For example, I’ve cared for some patients with leukemia who’ve been to see over 10 oncol­o­gists. If you’re acutely sick, this sort of approach to illness can be coun­ter­pro­ductive — it can delay needed therapy. From the physician’s per­spective, it’s alien­ating: Who wants to invest her time, intel­lectual effort, and feelings for a patient who’s unlikely to follow up? Besides, oncology is the sort of field where each con­sulting doctor may have a dis­tinct opinion. (If you see 10 oncol­o­gists, you may get 10 opinions.) Beyond a certain point, it may not help to get more input, but instead will cloud the issue. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Medical Lessons*

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

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How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

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