The U.S. government is launching an ad campaign to promote a website where consumers can check to see how good their hospitals are, measured by such things as patient satisfaction and cooperation with recommended care guidelines. The website, called Hospital Compare, can be found here. But the federal government is not the only such purveyor….
Continue ReadingArchives for May 2008
Disclosure Means Fewer Lawsuits
A recent New York Times article discusses how doctors, patients and lawyers are discovering that apologizing for medical errors often helps both doctor and patient. The patient gets closure and a sense of acknowledgment, and will receive a settlement more quickly. The doctor does not have to suffer the psychological pressure of denying any wrongdoing….
Continue ReadingAdvice from a Cancer Patient for Getting the Best Care
President Jimmy Carter’s former chief of staff, Hamilton Jordan, died this week of mesothelioma after 24 years of fighting and surviving cancer four different forms of cancer. His memoirs include a top ten list of recommendations for cancer patients. The whole list is worth reading, but in principle it could be boiled down to the….
Continue ReadingWishful Thinking and Procrastination Play Role in Delays of Cancer Treatment
Tara Parker-Pope discusses a Tower Cancer Research Foundation survey of 500 cancer survivors that showed more than half of them delaying treatment for two months or more after having symptoms. Fifteen percent delayed treatment for one to five years. Some delayed treatment because of lack of medical insurance, or insufficiency of coverage. But others had….
Continue ReadingThe Dark Side of Drug Advertising
Many doctors believe that the recent sharp increase in drug advertising has altered the doctor-patient relationship for the worse. From the article: Like many doctors, Ron Ben-Ari thinks ads on TV for prescription drugs frequently go too far in touting a particular pill’s benefits without adequately presenting the risks. But Ben-Ari, who has a practice….
Continue ReadingDennis Quaid Defends Right To Sue Pharmaceutical Companies for Injuries
After his newborn twins were given near-fatal doses of the blood-thinner heparin, actor Dennis Quaid testified in front of Congress defending consumers’ rights to file suit against pharmaceutical companies. From the article: Beginning with the Bush administration, the Food and Drug Administration has stepped into suits on the side of defendant pharmaceutical companies, arguing that….
Continue ReadingThe Drug Industry and the DSM-IV
Tara Parker-Pope of the NY Times has an article on how more than half of the writers of the DSM-IV–the Diagnostic and Statisical Manual of Mental Disorders–have financial links to the drug industry. The DSM is the most commonly used handbook of psychiatric disorders. Clearly these financial links suggest a conflict of interest. From the….
Continue ReadingA Growing Trend of Patient Advocates
There is a growing industry of hired patient advocates. Patients are hiring people to defend their interests when they go to the hospital. The impetus from this comes from the huge number of patients who die because of medical error, and the growing consensus that going into a hospital as a patient alone is one….
Continue ReadingLasik’s Painful Side-Effects
Lasik is a popular laser surgery done on the eyes to correct vision. However, last week Lasik patients went to Washington D.C. to speak to the Food and Drug Administration on harmful side-effects that they experienced as a result of the surgery, including the following: (1) Severe eye pain (2) Dry eye (3) Blurred vision….
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