If the staff of any particular work site should be required to get a flu shot, it’s the people working in a hospital. Guarding against the flu in the hospital isn’t just a matter of personal protection; it’s a matter of patient protection and safety. So why do so many doctors, nurses, technicians, service workers….
Continue ReadingArchives for January 2013
Should Mehmet Oz Operate on You?
If you’re a patient facing serious heart surgery — a transplant or a valve replacement, say, anything that requires surgeons to stop the heart from beating while they repair it — you want the most skilled, experienced hands working inside your chest. All other things being equal, nobody wants a part-time doctor working on them…..
Continue ReadingDoctor Who Performs Colonoscopies Questions Their Worth
“The medical arena, like society at large, is permeated with self-interest,” says Dr. Michael Kirsch writing on MDWhistleblower, a website whose name pretty much tells you where he’s coming from. Like us, he’s a big supporter of comparative effectiveness research, which means comparing different treatments for a given illness and compiling a body of knowledge….
Continue ReadingHospital Medication Errors—What the Patient Doesn’t Know
Despite efforts by the government and conscientious health-care facilities to promote the proper prescribing and administration of medicine, the incidence of hospital medication errors is more frequent than believed, according to new research published in the journal Critical Care Medicine. Possibly even more disappointing is that patients and their families often aren’t told when such….
Continue ReadingDeath of a Young Mother on Downton Abbey: An All-Too-Realistic Plotline
When Downton Abbey’s Lady Sybil died of eclampsia seizures just after giving birth, many viewers wondered: Could it really happen? The answer is yes. Lady Sybil had undiagnosed pre-eclampsia, a condition that affects as many as one in ten pregnant women. It causes high blood pressure (typically at or above 140/90) and protein in the….
Continue ReadingInternal Memos Focus Spotlight on Hip Implant’s Design Flaw
How does a medical device company talk internally about design flaws discovered in a hip implant it is promoting to thousands of surgeons? “We will ultimately need a cup redesign, but the short-term action is manage perceptions.” That’s what one sales official of DePuy, the Johnson & Johnson unit that makes hip implants, wrote in….
Continue ReadingLawsuit Over Hip Implants Shows Company Hid Own Estimate that Huge Numbers of Patients Were Harmed by Defect
In 2010, Johnson & Johnson recalled an all-metal hip implant device because of a high failure rate and because the grinding of its components released tiny bits of metal that damaged tissue and bone. The company conducted an internal review of the device in 2011 that showed the implant would fail within five years in….
Continue ReadingAn Oncologist Tells You What to Ask Your Doctor
We’re fond of the old saying, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.” It’s not always true, but we still like it. Especially when it pertains to a medical appointment. Writing on KevinMD.com, Dr. Naoto Ueno, an oncologist and cancer survivor, suggests questions you should ask your doctor during an appointment. As Ueno says,….
Continue ReadingThe Trouble with Tamiflu
With the constant appeal of “get a flu shot” echoing throughout the news media, and with so many Americans reeling with the flu, you begin to wonder what you’ll do if you fall victim. One thing you might consider, but probably should reconsider, according to Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz writing on Forbes.com, is Tamiflu. Krumholz,….
Continue ReadingKidney Disorder Often Treated with Unnecessary Surgery
The authors of an unsettling study recently published in The Lancet concluded that thousands of people have had kidneys removed unnecessarily because doctors misdiagnosed their disease. As interpreted in a story on ScienceDaily.com, 1 in 5 people with kidney tumors, which are common in patients with a genetic disorder known as tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC),….
Continue Reading