Critics of the Canadian health system often cites numerous examples of how that system is worse than ours: Canadian doctors are fleeing the country, doctors are unhappy, patients have hellish wait times, health outcomes are worse, care is rationed, etc… But are these examples true? Is the Canadian health system simply a deadly system with … Continue reading
Professor Victor Fuchs at Stanford and Dr. Arnold Milstein at the Pacific Business Group on Health write a great perspective piece in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine on why cost-effective care diffuse so slowly from a few organizations that practice high-quality care with lower costs to the rest of the medical community. The … Continue reading
Kevin Drum at Mother Jones describes an interesting personal experience of having to decide whether he should undergo a prostate biopsy. Aaron Carroll, from the Incidental Economist, persuasively shows that even physicians have a hard time fighting their own biases when talking about cancer screening. Good read.
It was 4 o’clock in the morning when I picked up the phone to call the phone number of the only contact listed in his “demographic” section. “Next of kin” was a woman an out-of-state area code. I hated to call anyone at that hour, but I needed to talk to his family, or someone … Continue reading
Last week I took care of a young woman, around my age, who was admitted for the umpteenth time because of complications from her metastatic cancer. Despite her horrible prognosis, she was surprisingly the most cheerful patient on the floor. “I didn’t do drugs, I never smoked, I exercised. I am a nice person. Is … Continue reading
Nature spoke up last week. No, not nature, but Nature, one of the world’s premier scientific journals. Lamenting the anti-science ideology of the American political right, the journal warns that such ignorant rhetoric, if unchecked and un-countered, can have lasting “societal and political impacts.” The editorial starts by quoting Rush Limbaugh: “The four corners of … Continue reading
“As you might have heard from the Emergency Room doctor, the spine MRI showed tumors in your spine, compressing on your spinal cord, causing this pain.” Silence. “I’m going to give you steroids, and the neurosurgeon will see you as soon as possible to evaluate the need for surgery.” “What do you think, honey?” He … Continue reading
Despite some high-profile mistakes, e.g. disallowing the American Maurice Edu’s goal against Slovenia, the refereeing at this World Cup has been pretty good, I think. And good referees help reduce negative plays. I have not seen so many dives at this World Cup. Still, dives exist, and one wonder why a player would dive in … Continue reading
Folk lore has that sad people eat more chocolate. (I, however, eat chocolate regardless of my mood. My chocolate consumption is proportional to the availability of chocolate around my house and independent of my mood.) Dr. Rose and colleagues at the University of California just published a study in the April 26, 2010 issue of … Continue reading
“She’s anxious and wants her vitals to be checked again,” said the nurse, approaching me at the computer workstation. “She thinks she’s having a fever again.” Another crazy patient, I quickly passed judgment, flipping through the sign-outs from the day team. Ah, here she is. And guilt rushed through me. “30-year-old woman 8 weeks postpartum … Continue reading
