This week’s Medical Grand Rounds–Indecision 2010: Politically (In)Correct Edition–was hosted by the prolific medical blogger, Dr Wes Fisher. Check it out. And yes, in the spirit of self-promotion known to all bloggers, yours truly has a mention. JMM
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I have heard this for years, “Doc, that stuff is rat poison!” But only lately have I heard this, “Doctor M, that company who can’t talk about their drug brought lunch again today.” Well, it is finally here (well almost), the first warfarin substitute, dabigatran. Sine antiquity, or at least it seems that long, the blood […]
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A Doctor’s Touch
How important is a doctor’s skill in the physical examination of a patient? To the lay person, a doctor’s examination might seem really important. “Of course it is, Dr M…Come on.” But is it so? Or, perhaps, is the examination a charade, a show, a necessity to complete the medical record. It turns out […]
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One year!!!
One year ago, this weekend, what started as some simple commentary on a bike race, or a ride, has morphed into opinion statements on many different aspects of what life presents to me. Since what I know the most about is electrophysiology, writing on matters of the heart seemed logical. Even after nearly two decades, […]
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Have a heart America…
As an American, I was proud when I heard the news. I grinned to myself. It was on my way to work, through a beautiful city park, with the sun rising over the hillside. The morning radio program reported the news that a California judge overturned their state’s ban on gay marriage. I know what you […]
The first link from an email source of medical news reads, “better patient-centered care reduces mortality risk.” It made me think, exactly what do they mean with this new verbiage, “patient-centered care?” And so I learned. Thank goodness, I think my care is indeed patient-centered, even though the terms patient- and family-centered are news to […]
The heart of a woman may be much different than that of a man. The “Go Red” campaign would surely agree. As would most masters of the obvious. But in the case of whether female hearts garner the same benefit from a prophylactic implantable defibrillator (ICD), women may be much different than men. As published […]
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Double counting…
The implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) is a life saving therapy. But, like any medical treatment there are potential adverse effects. With ICDs, we are trying to prevent this…(a slide from the 1980s) But in doing so we sometimes get this… Which is supposed to look like this…(same patient–hours later, with no intervention) ICDs have been […]
It happened. Guilty. I confess. Reading about Dr Berwick’s recess appointment to lead CMS induced me to watch a Fox news clip. Gosh, I feel bad about it. It felt good, though. Patients–that’s you and me–should know that CMS controls doctors, nurses and especially hospital/practice managers. They are ten times more scary than the radar […]
“Hey John, I hear there is a new ICD out…without any wires,” came the question in the doctor’s lounge. That’s cool, they are reading the NEJM, I thought. It is true that a very preliminary report on a subcutaneous-only ICD was published in the print version of the NEJM this week. The print version of anything […]
After reading this Washington Post story on the complexity of AF ablation decisions, I wrote, and wrote, and it just didn’t come together well. Â Not well enough to do the topic of AF ablation justice. Â Then this thoughtful email came. My question: How does a patient have even the faintest idea whose advice is better […]