Culture clash?

Overradiated Brain Scan Patients

From the New York Times article:

A large West Virginia hospital seriously overradiated patients suspected of having strokes with CT scans for more than a year after similar episodes prompted federal officials to alert hospitals nationwide to be especially careful when using those types of scans, interviews and documents show.
...
“The events of the past year have certainly raised awareness of the issue,” said Karen Riley, a spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration. “However, we suspect that overexposures continue to occur and that incidents are underreported.”

Click here to access the NYT article.

Read further if you'd like to vote for Erik Gist

as Best Artist of the Year (Pro) in the Rondo Awards which celebrates the best in classic horror.  Click here for more information.  Thanks!

Health Affairs

Looks like there are a number of good articles in the February issue of Health Affairs.  Click here to access the TOC (subscription required).

Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Medical Meetings magazine

now available online...click here to access.

Misuse of ICDs?

From the JAMA article "Non–Evidence-Based ICD Implantations in the United States":

Conclusion Among patients with ICD implants in this registry, 22.5% did not meet evidence-based criteria for implantation.

Click here to access the article abstract.

Paleopathology

From the New York Times article "Unearthing Prehistoric Tumors, and Debate":

Often thought of as a modern disease, cancer has always been with us. Where scientists disagree is on how much it has been amplified by the sweet and bitter fruits of civilization. Over the decades archaeologists have made about 200 possible cancer sightings dating to prehistoric times. But considering the difficulties of extracting statistics from old bones, is that a little or a lot?
...
As scientists continue to investigate, there may be comfort in knowing that cancer is not entirely civilization’s fault. In the normal course of life a creature’s cells must be constantly dividing — millions of times a second. Sometimes something will go wrong.

Click here to access the NYT article...interesting stuff.

Fantastic Voyage?...Google's The Body Browser

Google "Body Browser" to access.  I haven't looked at it yet but it might be a good patient education tool.

Rethinking the placebo effect

From the Plos One article "Placebos without Deception: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Irritable Bowel Syndrome":

Placebos administered without deception may be an effective treatment for IBS. Further research is warranted in IBS, and perhaps other conditions, to elucidate whether physicians can benefit patients using placebos consistent with informed consent.

Click here to access this interesting article.

November/December 2010 Issue of The ACCME Report now online

Included in this issue is the executive summary of the ACCME Board of Directors meeting, held November 18 – 19, 2010.  Click here to access the newsletter.

To stent or not to stent or if I could turn back time...

From the New York Times article "Doctor Faces Suits Over Cardiac Stents":

The Senate Finance Committee, which oversees Medicare, started investigating Dr. Midei in February after a series of articles in The Baltimore Sun said that Dr. Midei at St. Joseph Medical Center, in Towson, Md., had inserted stents in patients who did not need them, reaping high reimbursements from Medicare and private insurance.

The senators solicited 10,000 documents from Abbott and St. Joseph. Their report, provided in advance to The New York Times, concludes that Dr. Midei “may have implanted 585 stents which were medically unnecessary” from 2007 to 2009. Medicare paid $3.8 million of the $6.6 million charged for those procedures.

Click here to access the NYT article.

Patty Cake Cats

Blogs and nepotism

Yep, definitely nepotism, but I wanted to let "my world" know about the new blog started by my nephew Erik's wife, Meadow.  Both Erik and Meadow are art teachers at Watts Atelier in the beach community of Encinitas, California -- both also freelance.  Meadow actually makes the period costumes for her paintings...her first blog posting is about how she is making a regency bonnet for a client...click here to check it out!.  Click here to see some of her paintings.  And, if you're missing Halloween, check out Erik's blog and his website (not for the faint of heart!).  Yes, I suppose my posting these links on my blog will be considered a "conflict of interest"...no resolution needed, however.

Nov/Dec issue of Medical Meetings magazine now online

This issue contains an article on team-based continuing education!  Check it out by clicking here.

NPs as independent PCPs...has the future just arrived?

From the FierceHealthcare article:

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) today announced that, effective immediately, it will permit nurse practitioners (NPs) to participate in its health care provider networks as independent primary care providers. Previously, CareFirst permitted NPs to participate in its networks, but they were only permitted to practice independently of physicians in certain medically underserved areas with limited access to primary care physicians.

Click here to access the article.

NAAMECC transforms into NAMEC

The North American Association of Medical Education and Communication Companies (NAAMECC) recently changed its name to the National Association of Medical Education Companies (NAMEC).  Click here to access their website.

Academic Medicine Supplement - Free!

September 2010 - Volume 85 - Supplement, A Snapshot of Medical Student Education in the United States and Canada: Reports from 128 Schools

Happy Halloween!

Erik, you've hardly changed at all! 

A lost art?

From the New York Times article "Physician Revives a Dying Art: The Physical":

He is out to save the physical exam because it seems to be wasting away, he says, in an era of CT, ultrasound, M.R.I., countless lab tests and doctor visits that whip by like speed dates. Who has not felt slighted by a stethoscope applied through the shirt, or a millisecond peek into the throat?

Some doctors would gladly let the exam go, claiming that much of it has been rendered obsolete by technology and that there are better ways to spend their time with patients. Some admit they do the exam almost as a token gesture, only because patients expect it.

Medical schools in the United States have let the exam slide, Dr. Verghese says, noting that over time he has encountered more and more interns and residents who do not know how to test a patient’s reflexes or palpate a spleen.

Click here to access the NYT article.  As my stepfather, who was a large animal veterinarian, always taught me...H&P, H&P, H&P!

October issue of Health Affairs now online

This issue is packed with a number of articles on health reform and comparative effectiveness research.  Click here to access the TOC (sub. req.).