If you don’t have high cholesterol, but you do have a high level of inflammation in your blood, you are about to be targeted by a new marketing campaign for Crestor, the statin drug. You will be told the drug can lower heart attack risk by as much as 50 percent. Should you swallow this….
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The Facts about Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform
It’s helpful to look at the actual facts, not supposition, about so-called “tort reform” and medical malpractice, because so many medical leaders persist in arguing that curbing victims’ rights to accountability for medical injuries would make the health care system better. The following discussion is courtesy of Joanne Doroshow, the head of Center for Justice….
Continue ReadingA New Look at the Radiation Dangers of CT Scans
It’s a wonderful, Star-Trek kind of fantasy: have a machine scan your body and turn up any abnormalities in minutes, with no pain, no inconvenience and little fuss. Some patients actually do it: with whole-body CT scans, or more targeted CT scans aimed at the colon (often called virtual colonoscopy — President Obama had one)….
Continue ReadingNew Health Care Law Will Expose Drug Manufacturers’ Gifts to Doctors
The free meals, trinkets and other goodies now lavished on doctors by the prescription drug industry will soon be a matter of public record for each doctor in the United States, under a provision of the new health care reform law. A searchable database goes into effect in 2013 that will let anyone plug in….
Continue ReadingSafer Health Care, But at a Cost
American medicine is moving rapidly from small doctor-owned medical practices to large corporate-run clinics, a trend that will likely mean safer care for patients, but with a loss of close relationships with personal doctors. Just since 2005, the percentage of doctor-owned practices has declined from over two-thirds to less than half, as doctors face a….
Continue ReadingMalpractice and Patients with Body Dysmorphic Disorder
An article by Jane Brody in the New York Times, “When Your Looks Take Over Your Life,” draws attention to a tragic mental health issue called “body dysmorphic disorder.” These are people who are obsessed about a “flaw” in some aspect of their bodily appearance, and who sometimes subject themselves to repeated rounds of cosmetic….
Continue ReadingHow to Speak Up When Health Care Goes Wrong
A new website has tools for learning how to speak up effectively when you’ve had a bad health care experience. That can be anything from being on the wrong end of someone’s rudeness to being the victim of a serious malpractice event. The website is called The Assertive Patient. Click here for the link. It….
Continue ReadingMagic Bullet Prevention for Heart Attacks Still Not in Sight
When a 44-year-old male friend dropped dead the other day from a massive heart attack — no prior symptoms, no warning of any kind — I wondered if modern medicine could have done anything to prevent the tragedy. The answer I learned is that low-tech still beats high-tech hands down in preventing America’s No. 1….
Continue ReadingMedical Malpractice Crisis Is Not in Dollars Paid to Victims, but in Number of Errors
A new report from Public Citizen puts the lie to claims that doctors and hospitals are burdened by excessive payments to malpractice victims. The report finds that as health care costs have soared, the total payments to victims of preventable errors has continued to decline. The consumer advocacy group concludes that Congress should focus on….
Continue ReadingRemoval of Healthy Breast in Cancer Patients: Overtreatment or Peace of Mind?
More and more women with cancer in one breast are now opting to have the other healthy breast removed as well, even though the statistics show survival odds don’t improve by having both breasts removed and most patients end up with chests that are numb to sensation. Peace of mind is cited by many of….
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