What do you think of those prescription ads you see on TV, in magazines, newspapers and other places? Do you think they are helpful? Do you get frustrated because you know you can’t purchase those drugs directly anyway? Did you go to your doctor to ask about one of them? Do you think they are […]
Prescription Drug Ads – Your Help Needed Read More »
Last week was National Patient Safety Awareness Week. Seems like the press just caught up this week. From MSN and NBC, to Reuters, and hundreds of news outlets that are more regional or local in nature…. this week patient safety is the bulk of what I see in the headlines. Most of us patients don’t
Hospitals, Never Events and Your Bill Read More »
Forbes Magazine this month includes an exhaustive and question-inducing series of articles about hospitals and their ability to best take care of the patients who trust them. And the picture isn’t pretty. Even the titles make us pay attention: Bad Medicine Dirty Tricks Hospitals’ Nightmare And the subtitle under Bad Medicine is — The heart
Forbes: Patients Lose Thru Lack of Hospital Competition Read More »
(Find a follow up to this post, Lessons Learned) What you are about to read is my own personal experience, having taken place over the past 10 days with a psychiatrist from Naples, Florida who works in addiction psychiatry through his “Healing Institute.” Many of you regular readers know that my blog used to be
When the Psychiatrist is a Bully Read More »
Put yourself in Patsy Bates’ shoes. She is a hairdresser who had health insurance coverage with Health Net, a large insurer in California. In 2004, Patsy was diagnosed with breast cancer, and part way through her chemotherapy treatments, Health Net decided to cancel her insurance. At the point where she owed almost $130 thousand for
Health Net Pays $9 Million for Canceling Patient’s Policy Read More »
Questions began circulating about the Pfizer TV and magazine commercials for Lipitor earlier this month. You’ve seen them — Robert Jarvik, the supposed “inventor of the artificial heart” touts his use of Lipitor as his way of controlling his cholesterol levels so he won’t have a heart attack like his father did. He runs. He
Jarvik’s Lipitor Commercials – Was Any of It True? Read More »
This New York Times letter to the editor caught my eye… Second opinions are so very necessary in a case of a difficult diagnosis, or when treatment will be needed for chronic recurrences of a disease, or in particular when a patient needs surgery. Patients are way too often intimidated at the thought of telling
Three Cheers – Cardiology and Second Opinions Read More »
The subtitle reads, “Good physicians know the bad ones in their midst. Why don’t they point fingers?” Good question, don’t you think? The article, entitled Doctors Who Do Harm, tells about doctors who maim and kill — as their colleagues stand by, watch, and don’t tell a soul. Why? According to Arthur Levin, of the
Reader’s Digest “Outrageous” Tells Michael Skolnik’s Story Read More »
