As treatment for breast cancer becomes more refined, more personalized for each patient, one kind of breast cancer continues to be misunderstood and often mistreated – ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS. DCIS is diagnosed when abnormal cells are found inside a milk duct in the breast. According to the Mayo Clinic, it’s considered the….
Continue ReadingArchives for December 2014
Better Outcomes for Heart Patients When Their Doctors Are Away
Boy, talk about less is more! A recently published study showed that if you’re having symptoms of serious heart trouble and your cardiologist is out of town, you’re more likely to live. The report, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, followed frail patients who were admitted to teaching hospitals with two common types of heart problems…..
Continue ReadingTV Doctors Are Entertainers, Not Medical Professionals
There could be many reasons why an accomplished cardiac surgeon like Dr. Mehmet Oz chooses to dish out the foolishly dangerous bunk he does on his TV show – money; ego; a free lifetime supply of green coffee bean extract… We’re longtime critics of Oz using his medical credentials to peddle snake oil, a practice….
Continue ReadingDoctors Overprescribe Dangerous Drugs to Medicare Patients
Despite increasing awareness of prescription drug abuse over the last several years, too many Medicare patients have been prescribed potent controlled substances, and certain doctors regularly write these prescriptions even though they’ve been scrutinized by medical boards. A study by the investigative news site ProPublica for 2012 found that Medicare covered nearly 27 million prescriptions….
Continue ReadingArrests Are Made in Contamination Case Resulting in Meningitis Deaths
Two years ago, an outbreak of meningitis resulting from contaminated injections supplied by a compounding pharmacy killed 64 people. (See our blog, “Your Money or Your Life: Injury Toll From Pain Injection Drugs Climbs.“) Last week, 14 owners or employees of the New England Compounding Center (NECC) were arrested for their alleged crimes. According to….
Continue ReadingReport Fails Most State Doctor Information Sites
If you want your state’s help in assessing the quality of a doctor, good luck. Only a handful of states are adequate in providing such information according to a newly released report by the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute (HCI3). The outfit is a wonky nonprofit whose mission is to help providers, employers and insurers….
Continue ReadingWhy One Medical Size Does Not Fit All Patients
Treatment guidelines help doctors and other health-care providers understand and follow the best clinical practices, but as a recent commentary in the New York Times points out, they also can undermine the best care for some patients. In “Don’t Homogenize Health Care,” Dr. Sandeep Jauhar denounced the lack of flexibility for practitioners to diagnose and….
Continue ReadingIn Military Hospitals, Whistle Blowing Is Bad for Your Health
Another takeout in the New York Times’ coverage of poor quality in our nation’s military medical system has this quote about what happens when doctors and nurses on the inside complain: ” … brushed off, transferred, investigated, passed over for promotion or fired after they pointed out problems with care.” The Times had asked anyone….
Continue ReadingDrug Company Employee Paid for Her Honesty with Her Job
An employee of Sanofi, a major pharmaceutical company, spoke up about the company’s kickback scheme intended to boost sales of its insulin medicines, and was rewarded by being fired. That’s what Diane Ponte, a paralegal in the French company’s New Jersey office, claims in the whistle-blower lawsuit she filed against Sanofi. According to the Associated….
Continue ReadingRousing ICU Patients Shows Benefits
The most seriously ill hospital patients reside in the intensive care unit (ICU), a necessary treatment that nevertheless presents serious risks of its own. (See our blog, “Brain Problems Can Endure Long After Leaving the ICU.”) Recent research shows that waking up ICU patients and encouraging them to breathe on their own decreases both their….
Continue Reading