Categories
Doctoring Health Care Health Care Reform Healthy Living Hospice/Palliative Care

New post up on theHeart.org — Dr Emanuel’s Death Wish Harms Rather Than Helps

You know the story on US healthcare and the elderly: Our current default is an American tragedy. It’s devoid of truth and candor; it’s inhumane and it’s wasteful. Recent gains in longevity have come by extending the period of disability right before death. Aggressive care treatment is often hoisted onto the frail because caregivers lack […]

Categories
Cycling Stuff Cycling Wed Doctoring Healthy Living Hospice/Palliative Care Knowledge

Guest post — 10 observations from a 49 year-old falls risk.

It finally happened. After years of sitting at John’s bedside through multiple serious bike crashes, I had one of my own. I’ve had plenty of time to build up a ridiculous amount of smugness about why he crashes and I don’t. “John is reckless; Staci is cautious. John rides like an airplane engine on a […]

Categories
Doctoring General Medicine Hospice/Palliative Care Knowledge

Death-denial is something doctors can change

I’m not sure why so many doctors don’t get it. Death, that is. Where in medical school, or residency, or even in non-medical life, did this many smart people get the idea that death is optional? Theresa Brown is an oncology nurse and a writer. This weekend, her regular column in the New York Times […]

Categories
Doctoring Hospice/Palliative Care

Be courageous: help stop the pill madness

Medicine people give it a sterile-sounding name. Polypharmacy means giving too many drugs, usually to an elderly person. But this practice is worthy of clearer words: dumb, dreadful or doctoring at its worst. The idea to mention the growing problem of giving too many pills in combination came to me after reading this Medscape coverage […]

Categories
Doctoring Hospice/Palliative Care ICD/Pacemaker

ICD deactivation in the NY Times — with a quote from a blogger

The news came via a direct message on Twitter. “You got a plug in the NY times. Congrats.” (Thanks Dr. Jay Schloss.) Paula Span, author of the NY Times’ The New Old Age Blog, reported today on the issue of cardiac device deactivation in patients who are approaching end of life. The role I had […]

Categories
AF ablation Atrial fibrillation Doctoring Health Care Healthy Living Hospice/Palliative Care

Two gifts and a consolation prize

President Obama has a few good ideas. He wants Americans to discuss healthcare this holiday season. That’s actually a really good idea. This blog aims to do some good in the area of medicine and health. What follows are two incredibly important essays. The consolation prize is an excerpt from my recent Top Ten post. […]

Categories
Atrial fibrillation Doctoring Exercise General Cardiology General Medicine Health Care Reform Healthy Living Hospice/Palliative Care Social Media/Writing/Blogging

2013: Year-end summary of top cardiology stories

When the editors of Medscape asked me to write a Top Ten article on the best Cardiology stories in 2013, I jumped at the chance. I spent a lot of time thinking about Cardiology this year. I was invested. Plus, 2013 was a year for pivoting–big time pivoting. What made news in 2013 was not […]

Categories
Doctoring Hospice/Palliative Care Reflection

New post up over at TheHeart.org: Compassion and Control — Lessons from Dr. Donald Low

As some of you may know, theHeart.org has merged with Medscape Cardiology. This will be my first post on the new site. Dr Donald Low was a prominent Canadian physician. When Toronto faced a deadly SARS outbreak a decade ago, Dr Low was a voice of calm and reason. His research in cell signaling and […]

Categories
Doctoring Hospice/Palliative Care Reflection

Take fear and ignorance out of end-of-life decisions — A rebuttal to Dr Paul McHugh’s WSJ editorial

Perhaps it’s because I love the practice of medicine so much. Or maybe it’s because doctors (and teachers) have always been my heroes. I’m trying to sort out why I feel so offended by Dr. Paul McHugh’s editorial in the Wall Street Journal last weekend. His sensational and paternalistic view of physician-assisted suicide can be […]

Categories
AF ablation Athletic heart Atrial fibrillation Doctoring General Cardiology General Medicine Hospice/Palliative Care ICD/Pacemaker

Notes from ACC — Day 3 (Final Day)

Sorry this took most of the week to get out. (There was a good reason.) Better late than never I suppose. On Day 3 of the 2013 American College of Cardiology meeting, I woke up well rested and inspired to squeeze in as much learning as possible. The first order of business was putting the […]

Categories
Doctoring Health Care Health Care Reform Hospice/Palliative Care Reflection

New post up at theHeart.org: My Take of the Bystander Effect in Medicine

Healthcare looks much different than it did just a few years ago. When you let your mind wander about where we were, it’s shocking really. There’s cultural changes, including an explosion of complexity of care, an infusion of young doctors with different ideas about life, an evolving set of incentives, employment models and a heck […]