As I sit down to write, Smudge arranges himself restlessly in my lap. Eventually he seems happy with the Feng Shui of things and plops down. Intent on mushifying a knotted rawhide chew, he occasionally looks up from under raised eyebrows to check on my typing or to release an operatic burp. Rather annoyingly, he […]

So. Who was the nurse who ducked out the other night with a police patrol on a mercy dash to obtain some hot chips for his colleagues? Only to find himself up to his rapidly retracting testicles in knife fights and gang wars. I just hope that was tomato sauce on those chips. Published by impactEDnurseContinue reading: […]

It’s good to know that the FDA is using its resources wisely. Published by KevinContinue reading: FDA approves a drug for dog carsickness

Dr. Rob looks at the morass we call E/M coding. He points out one fatal flaw with the proliferation with EHRs: One of the solutions to this is to use an electronic medical record (like mine). These programs often include tools to properly match the coding to the documentation and suggest how to document in […]

The artist behind the satire: “The thing that amazes me is that it has been folded into real Web sites for panic and anxiety disorder. It’s been folded into a Web site for depression. It’s been folded into hundreds of art blogs,” he added. The parody is in response to the tactics used by the drug industry […]

Rising rates of genital herpes and other STDs are making these sites more popular. Published by KevinContinue reading: STD dating sites

Don’t know how I missed this earlier this year. Charity Doc tells of an ER encounter with a malpractice attorney: “Yeah, I’m a personal injury lawyer. I have no problems telling doctors that. I get better care that way, actually. Makes you guys more careful around me.” Another lawyer falling for the “more care = […]

Seems like another physician-senator from Tennessee is throwing scientific thinking out the window for politics: Now we have a state Senator, Raymond Finney, M.D. (Maryville), who is behind a resolution that, if passed by the Senate (the House need not be involved), will demand that the Tennessee Department of Education respond publicly to a series of […]

The first attempt protected about 45 percent of patients in a hasty clinical trial. Published by KevinContinue reading: Bird-flu vaccine: Better than nothing

What they’re not telling us: 4 to 6 grams of trans-fat per doughnut. Published by KevinContinue reading: Krispy Kreme’s whole wheat doughnut

New York physicians are encouraging patients to support malpractice reform: “We’re not trying to scare anyone,” Conway said in a conference call with the Freeman and other society representatives. “We have a moral obligation to inform our patients the system is under stress. High malpractice premiums are already creating access problems for patients. It is driving […]

It’s neurosurgeon vs neurosurgeon as one is sued for his testimony against the other in a malpractice suit. Published by KevinContinue reading: Expert witnesses are immune from defamation suits

A multi-million dollar business that is kept alive by unscrupulous physicians: In Internet chat rooms, people exploiting the rules often discuss the laws and assure one another that it’s OK to break them. They think they’ve got the system wired, and they’re usually clueless — or don’t care — that the doctor doling out the prescriptions […]

The FDA is considering these new, expensive, wave of devices to remotely track those who have chronic diseases: The device, known as a “hemodynamic monitor,” is designed to measure pressure inside the heart, along with body temperature and heart rate. The information is transmitted wirelessly via the Internet to a doctor’s office. There, medical personnel can […]

A fortunate 40-year old woman where an emergency landing probably saved her life. (via GruntDoc) Published by KevinContinue reading: Emergency landing for a stroke

More on the controversy, and possible motivations, of the obsession with psychiatric labels: And parents who in the past might have fought ferociously against giving their children labels — particularly for once-stigmatized conditions such as learning disorders — sometimes actually seek such diagnoses for their children to get them extra time on tests, to receive insurance […]

Anti-oxidants, like vitamins A, C, and E, don’t have any mortality benefits. Published by KevinContinue reading: More slamming of dietary supplements

The story of a baby who come back after suffering a heart attack and 30 minutes of resuscitation. Published by KevinContinue reading: The "miracle baby"

We often find ourselves standing over a person at the very moment they die. Sometimes we are expecting it, other times it snaps our heads around. Sometimes we fight it with a formidable scrum of latex and blue. Sometimes we let it slip through with dimmed lights and whispered release. And we try our hardest […]

Warning: If you are easily offended, have a weak stomach or not impressed by crass unprofessional practical jokes, best you proceed no further. For I am going to give you a step by step guide on how to construct your very own fully functional, user friendly hyper-realistic piece of crap. Once completed the faux-poo will be […]

In order to collect Social Security benefits. Another anecdote that may explain the rise in the incidence of autism. Published by KevinContinue reading: A woman teaches her kids to fake retardation

The child may go into protective custody because of his weight. A reader suggests Prader-Willi Syndrome. (via a reader tip) Published by KevinContinue reading: The 200-pound 8-year old

Have the politicians use publicly financed systems. Given the choice, would they? Of course not: Stephen Robertson is Minister of Health for Queensland, the third most populous state of Australia where he oversees the taxpayer-supported, government-run, public health care system. Australia has long waiting lists for diagnostic tests, appointments with specialists, and surgery. Mercifully, Australia […]

Liliana Pezzin regarding the CT-angiogram for the evaluation of chest pain. She clearly isn’t an advocate of the routine history and physical by asking patients to demand this new, expensive test. Published by KevinContinue reading: Advice to ER patients: "Say, ‘I need to be tested.’"

Possibly, but I’m not holding my breath. MedPAC will release suggestions this week: Congress is facing a bleak choice this year: Cut payments to doctors and reduce Medicare beneficiaries’ access to care, or let physician payments grow and raise beneficiaries’ premiums and co-payments. Lawmakers are looking for a third way out: revising Medicare’s system of payment […]

The recent spotlight on Anna Nicole Smith has shed light on this growing problem: A synthetic opiate, methadone is similar to heroin in chemistry, curbing a user’s craving for the illegal opiate by blocking the sensors that heroin stimulates without producing a heroin high. In recent years, methadone has proved lethal to a growing number of patients […]

It helps physicians to be more specific when describing symptoms. Published by KevinContinue reading: "All the time"

Why a single-payer health care system is the wrong way to go: The great majority of universal health-care systems are not single-payer. They allow private coverage into the mix. Why is that better? For one thing, patients who use private medical services reduce the load on the public system. In New Zealand, for example, private hospitals do […]

This phenomenon in the UK is sparking concerns about a generation of potential health problems. Published by KevinContinue reading: The boom of 45-year old first-time mothers

Published by impactEDnurseContinue reading: dead beds.