Uncategorized
The 10 Commandments of Medication Usage.
The 10 Commandments of medication usage
1. Understand that every single medication that you use can and will have side effects. There is no 100% “safe” medication. This may seem self-evident to many but as the case above illustrates, many people are too willing to believe that their particular medication is completely safe.
2. Understand the risk-benefit […]
The end draws near.
Understanding the Persistent Vegetative State - Terry Schiavo has been without nourishment and hydration for 11 days now. The obscene media circus and spectacle that usually feeds off celebrity scandals is now camped outside the Florida hospice where Mrs. Schiavo’s body awaits death.
Thus far entire tomes have been written on the blogisphere and in the […]
Medical eRecords, a must!
Paper, plastic, or electronic? The revolution in medical record keeping - The typical visit to the ER to see a patient whom I have never met before usually goes something along these lines.
Me: “What medications do you take at home?”
Patient: “Ohh, I take this little green one at night and the big white one in […]
Two Terminally Ill Cases and the Ethics Involved.
When doctors and hospitals decide to pull the plug - Physicians have an ethical obligation to honor the wishes of their patients and family (patient autonomy) but what if these decisions are clearly not in the patient’s best interests? What if the demands of the family members will only result in more pain and suffering […]
Ads and Whole Body Scans.
Misleading ads for whole body scans
(Via Bioethics.net) Using whole body scans (CAT or MRI) to screen healthy, asymptomatic patients for cancer or other diseases has not been shown to save lives, is very expensive, often leads to many false positive results that cause unnecessary anxiety on the part of the patient and lead to more […]
Illness Brings Bankruptcies Part II.
Follow up; Bankruptcy and medical bills
I’ll plug this story one more time because I think it’s important. First there was the Harvard study that found that about 50% of all U.S. bankruptcies could be attributed to medical bills. Then there was my critique of the study. In particular I raised the possibility that most of […]
Illness Brings Bankruptcies
Half of personal bankruptcies ASSOCIATED with illness/injury - (Via Carotids). A new Harvard University study raises some disturbing questions about catastrophic insurance.
More than 75 percent said they were insured at the start of their illness, but 38 percent had lost coverage, at least temporarily by the time they filed for bankruptcy. The researchers said health […]
Trumping Patient Autonomy.
Patient autonomy trumped by family . . and the lawyers!
I recently came across the story of a case in the hospital where I practice that brought up several ethical issues (Please note; no HIPAA statutes were harmed or violated in the making of this post).
The patient in question (not mine) was elderly and had several […]
What is the Doctor’s Role in theVioxx Disaster?
Vioxx disaster; Who do we blame for the extent of the damage?
DB has several posts this week about this antiarthritic pain medication’s fall from grace (grace in this case = Billion dollar per year sales). One particular post based on a New Yorker article on the subject spawned a comment that suggests that doctors share […]
Paternalism and Medicine Part II.
Should we abandon the prescription medication system?
In part I of this debate (which was in turn prompted by the FDA’s rejection of OTC Mevacor) I questioned the libertarian position that personal freedom is more important than a beneficial, paternal, medical prescription system. One commenter made the point that if consumers are aware of the […]
Recent Comments
- Dan on Drug Companies Create Their own Markets.
- Dan on Defensive Medicine.
- Dan on Antidepressants and Teenage Suicide.
- Dan on Stop Direct to Consumer Drug Ads!
- Dan on Ridiculous Malpractice Lawsuit.
Content
Most Emailed
- Are video games to blame for mass murder? - 1 emails
- Toxic Mold Hysteria. - 1 emails
- Undervalued MDs. - 1 emails
- Lawyers out of control in south Texas. - 1 emails
- On Passing Gas and Government Health Coverage. - 1 emails
