Sometimes my best contribution to the topic of the dysfunction of the American health care system has more to do with asking questions that can’t be answered than providing answers. Remember — I’m not a medical professional. I’m simply an empowered patient who reflects on this dysfunction daily. This week there was a sudden flurry […]
Kids, Colds and Bad Assumptions Read More »
You know I’m a fan of Jerome Groopman, the author of How Doctors Think. In his incredibly eye-opening book, he tells of trying to get a correct diagnosis for his own health problem, and the fact that four doctors had four different diagnoses for him, and four differing ideas of how to treat it. As
One Woman, 6 Missed Diagnoses, A Lesson for Us All Read More »
I’ve talked before about blamers and fixers. Here’s a way of looking at that concept that may make you a wiser patient. One of the big questions about medical mistakes is whether practitioners should own up to them. Until recently, doctors were highly discouraged from admitting any kinds of problems had taken place, whether it
How Apologies Lead to Fixing Read More »
For the past four weeks, listeners of my radio show have heard a series of tips I’ve given about PHRs – personal health records. The underlying message has been: keeping your personal records in digital format can be a good thing. But do not — under any circumstances — move them to the web! No
Microsoft offers Health Vault – Don’t Do It! Read More »
For the past four weeks, listeners of my radio show have heard a series of tips I’ve given about PHRs – personal health records. The underlying message has been: keeping your personal records in digital format can be a good thing. But do not — under any circumstances — move them to the web! No
Microsoft offers Health Vault – Don’t Do It! Read More »
My heart goes out Darrie Eason, the woman who appeared on this morning’s Today Show who was diagnosed with breast cancer, had a double mastectomy, and learned later that they had made a mistake — in fact, she had no cancer at all. In her case, her biopsy specimen was mixed up with another woman’s
Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis on Today Show: Learnings Read More »
Were you a victim of the Vioxx deceptions? Did you ever take Phen Fen or Ketek or Avandia, only to find out you were at increased risk for heart attack or stroke or liver damage — or whatever medical horror may have been the true result of taking the drug? I could write reams about
Patients: Report Problem Pharma Drugs Read More »
CNN’s Empowered Patient, Elizabeth Cohen, provided more tips this week about what to do if you think you’ve been misdiagnosed. My own misdiagnosis speaks to four of her five points — and if you have just a seed of a doubt about whether your doctor has diagnosed you correctly, please take Elizabeth’s advice. Here are
CNN and Misdiagnosis: Part II Read More »
