I’m spending a few days visiting my parents in Florida and brought along Dr. Jerome Groopman’s book, How Doctors Think. This is my second reading of this incredibly eye opening and wonderfully useful book. I’m a major fan. This time I’m actually highlighting and post-it noting and starring and turning down page corners. It will […]
Docs: It’s OK to Say You Don’t Know Read More »
You’d be amazed at the email and postal mail I receive from patients who have been hurt by the medical system. Perhaps not at the numbers — I receive a handful each week. Instead, you’d be amazed at what they ask me to do. I’ve put the people who write to me about medical errors
Blamers and Fixers: Which One Are You? Read More »
An article in US News and World Report quantifies the number of deaths and injuries that result from doctors’ handwriting and the abbreviations they use on prescriptions. Reassuringly, those errors cause only a small percentage of the 7,000 American deaths attributed to medication errors each year. It turns out that there are thousands of those
Drs Abr Can Mk U Sckr Read More »
According to yesterday’s newspaper, Gay Brewer died. If you are a golfer of a certain age or older, you’ll remember Gay Brewer as a hot shot on the PGA tour back in the 1960s. He was cool. I was a fan. Turns out that Gay Brewer died of lung cancer. Last week, I interviewed Dr.
Sad, BUT He Was a Smoker Read More »
What’s the number #1 reason patients don’t seek medical care? Because they can’t afford it. Recognizing that all the great technology, drugs, therapies and other cures in the world can’t help patients if patients can’t afford to go to the doctor for diagnosis or treatment, the American Cancer Society has decided to go out on
Kudos to Cancer Society Read More »
My mom turned 80 years old on Wednesday. She lives 1500 miles away in an Alzheimer’s Memory Center. We did the usual things; sent a card, flowers, phone calls…. and she sounded good on the phone, although she couldn’t have told you it was her birthday, or who we were on the other end of
Study the Studies: Too Good to Be True? Read More »
Your no-brainer quiz for today: What do Monster.com, Visa, Marshalls and TJMax, Oklahoma Law Enforcement, Spotsylvania County, PA, and at least 500 other entities have in common? They have lost electronic information to hackers, scammers and phishers in the past three years. And there’s a good chance some of YOUR personal information was among the
Monster, Marshalls, Others Prove No Privacy Read More »
See if this doesn’t leave you shaking your head…. a story in the New York Times about access to dermatologists: If you have a mole, and suspect skin cancer, you’ll have to wait an average of 26 days to get an appointment with a dermatologist. If you want a botox injection to eradicate your wrinkles,
Of Melanoma, Botox and Rocket Science Read More »
